Rainin' in Richmond

I am apparently on my way home. I don’t even know where home is anymore!!! I’ve been gone from Oklahoma for so long that my dog isn’t even going to recognize me. I’m just glad she’s still breathing (as far as I know.)

I’ve been in Richmond, VA the past week and a hot and humid one it was! We were rained on for many of the days and I felt like I was sweating like Shaq on a basketball court. I played with some nice girls that I’ve never met before and once again, my caddy and I had a blast out there. It makes things much more enjoyable when you have someone consistently out there that you can laugh and get your mind off of golf. I hope that we will never be mic’d up on anything because we are the most inappropriate team out there. People who know me know I enjoy the dirty jokes, inappropriate stories, etc. so that’s why if anyone sees me laughing on the course, it’s probably a reaction to what Paulie said.

Our first round started off well with a few birdies out of the gate. I found a few bogeys throughout the day and finished the round with a bogey on 18 to finish one over. That bogey left a sour taste in my mouth but I knew I had work to do on Saturday if I wanted to make a check. Saturday afternoon was another solid start and found back-to-back birdies to get myself -1 for the tournament. I had one dumb bogey on a par 5 but that was it for the entire day. We finished the second round at -2 for the tournament sitting 4 back of the leaders and in 17th place. Sunday rolled around and I had the start I was not wanting. I flared a par 3 tee shot a little to the right and nailed the cart path, sending the ball in the air over pine trees and out of bounds. I walked away with triple and knew I had tons of work to do over the next 16 holes. Life wasn’t going to be easy for me if I wanted to make a decent check. I found one more dumb bogey on #8 but made birdies on #11, #12, and #14 to get more score back to +1 for the day, -1 for the tournament. I finished my last three holes like an idiot and finished the tournament at +2. I was not a happy camper. I proud myself on how I react to bad luck and poor golf shots but the last three holes really ate at me and I showed it outwardly, so my mom claims. She’s a bit hard on me so I’m sure it was not that bad but I learned a lesson that I need to finish stronger and remind myself that there are little kids watching me and looking up to me. I hate it when my brother or whoever else has a temper on the golf course so I need to grow up and realize I’m responsible for my actions, both golf and personally, and to accept the outcome no matter what.

Another cut made so I can say the past 4 tournaments have been a great success with my new caddy Paulie. It’s looking like I won’t have to go back to Futures Tour Q School in November…meaning another week and a half at home not traveling and more money in my pocket. Yay!!!

Paulie will be caddying for me at LPGA Q School in September so that’s one relief I have. Home for two weeks then back out to Albany, NY for the last tournament of Futures Tour. Both of my parents will be there and I’m excited for my dad to see my improvements from the year. We are going to NYC afterwards to enjoy a mini vacay. My dad has never been so I’m excited for him to go.
Boarding the plane! Thanks for all the encouragement. I know I’m growing and getting better, good things are to come!

Coming Down the Home Stretch

Now I’ve never run in a marathon and probably never will, but I feel as though I’m coming down the home stretch of one as this 2010 Duramed Futures Tour season comes to an end.

I feel as though this year has been a long rollercoaster but with only a few elevation changes. I started off the year great with a win in Phoenix at a Cactus Tour event and a second place finish at a Suncoast Tour event in Orlando. I made the first three cuts on the Futures Tour and the next few months looked promising. The summer came around and I hit a wall, a mental block, and missed a few cuts by as little as one stroke.

I believe things happen for a reason and during the first week of July at the US Women’s Open, I was reunited with a guy who I had met months before in Florida. He was caddying for a friend of mine and had a few weeks off in the coming weeks. He offered to help and I jumped at the opportunity. I’ve talked about Paulie before in a previous blog or two but I feel like with him on the bag, I’ve been producing some scores that I knew I was capable of doing. We haven’t missed a cut together and he continues to tell me that I have what it takes to make it to the next Tour so that only gives me confidence in myself and in my own game.

Last week we were in Harrisburg, PA. My mom flew in so I had my old roommate back for the week. The tournament was played at a resort course that was on a side of a mountain. It was pretty difficult to walk but Paulie and I got off to a great start by shooting three under in the first round. I could have taken it nasty low with plenty of opportunities but three under was a decent score for a difficult course. The next two days were not as easy for me and I quickly fell out of the top 10 but made a check and learned that I have what it takes to win every week, I just need to stay patient and believe in myself. My aunt Cathy and high school teammate Rosie came to watch as well. It was great having them there!

My mom and I drove down to Winchester, VA Sunday night to see her mom, brother, sisters, brother-in-laws and my cousins. I have a brand new baby cousin Zoe so I was able to play with her and learned how to change a diaper! Not that I changed it or anything but I watched and took notes… It was great seeing them and was a nice two-day vacation of no golf!

We drove on down to Richmond Tuesday morning where I met Paulie at Kinloch Golf Club to rate for Golf Digest. It was a gorgeous course and we had a great time trash talking one another. I’ve spent the past two days practicing at Richmond Country Club where we will tee up tomorrow afternoon for the first round of the Greater Richmond Golf Classic. I plan to play smart and consistent and if I keep the faith, I feel like Paulie and I will be hard to beat.

My mom and I will head home Monday afternoon for TWO FULL WEEKS!!! I’m sort of excited because I haven’t been home that long in months!!! I have a lot of hard work ahead of me before I get to go home but I’m looking forward to playing some great golf! Have a great weekend everybody!

Only I Do the Things I Do...

I was really proud of my recent purchase for my caddy. He looks like a fan!

113th to 45th to 14th. That’s how I played in this past week’s tournament in Syracuse, NY. Who in the world does such a thing? Talk about putting yourself in a MAJOR hole. I had my caddy Paulie worried. He won’t admit it but I could tell he was one frustrated “parent” with his child at dinner following my awesome performance in the first round.

I was struggling with my swing early on in the week and had no clue how to control my golf ball. I was praying for a miracle that all I needed was to go to bed and wake up with a new golf swing. It didn’t work but thankfully I made it through my first 10 holes in even par. #11 decided to hate on me and gave me a triple to really set the tone for the back 9 of the first round. I finished my final 8 holes in 7 over par. There was a pond to the left of 18 green and I thought about chunking my ball in it after I putted out. Instead, I saw a nice little grandma sitting in her wheelchair watching us come in so I walked over to her and said “I thought about throwing this in the water but instead I’m going to give it to you. Thanks so much for coming out and supporting us.” She was thrilled and so was I…to be done with that round.


#11

Paulie and I escaped to a Mexican restaurant and I decided to have a strawberry margarita because I needed something good in my life that day. I’m a bit superstitious…when I was in Denver in June for the Colorado Open I had an awful round and decided to have an adult beverage or two and the next day went out and shot 66. That was my thinking after Friday’s performance, what could be worse than sitting in 113th? The next morning, Paulie and I went out and shot 3 under to put us in 45th and playing on Sunday! It wasn’t a perfect round but clutch coming down the stretch. I made the putt of my life on my 17th hole because I knew I needed to get it back to four over par in order to know for sure that I was going to make the cut. It turned out that I didn’t need to make the putt but it felt good to know that I did it. I stood over that putt and never prayed so hard in my life. I actually pray A LOT over putts. It’s not a swing thought so I figure it’s a good place for your mind to go during the process.



I teed off bright and early Sunday morning off the 10th hole for the final round. I got off to a steady start with a lot of pars and found 3 birdies in a row on 16, 17 and 18. The back nine is really goofy so getting through there at even par is a great goal. The first round I was 7 over on it, second round 1 under and final round 3 under. Much better. The front nine has two back to back par 5s that are reachable in two so those are legit birdies if not better. Sunday was my best opportunity for birdies being just short of the green in two but walked away with two pars. I was not a happy camper. Paulie and I got to the third hole, which has one of the goofiest greens on the course. I was looking at a 20 footer and read it the complete opposite way that Paulie did. I trusted him and hit it the way he wanted me to. It went in. I looked to him and yelled “you suck!” That’s how we work. It's a love/hate relationship. That was a gift from him because that was not a birdie putt. He probably had a few cuss words for me which makes me laugh and gets me going. I could now forgive myself a little for the two par 5s that I played in even par. I found my one and only bogey on the 4th hole but got it right back by almost holing the 5th par 3. I had a few more opportunities for birdie coming in but finished the day at four under and the tournament at even par. I was really fighting for one more birdie because I thought that would be great to be 7 over at one point in the tournament and coming back to finish under par but getting it back to even was pretty good I guess.


25 yard elevation...not an easy par 3 but birdied it the final 2 rds!

Enough about golf, more about what we did off the course! Syracuse is a cute town with some nice suburbs. We stayed in Fayetteville, NY with the best host housing! They had a big family with a full house of other relatives, friends, and pets. The place had its own golf simulator room, ping pong table, movie theater, hot tub, and every sport equipment you could think of. My heaven. Lucy and I played about 100 games of ping pong during the week. I won a total of 4 games and gave it my all. I’m not a bad ping pong player!!! That’s the thing. I consider myself decent to good. She’s just really really good. It’s a secret talent of hers and I really dislike her for it. It was a blast though and I found my love for the game all over again. We conquered the left-handed golf swing during the week. I’ve always said that I wanted to get good at left-handed golf but now I really think I can get it down, I just need a set of clubs. Also, what was most exciting is that I learned how to play lacrosse. In my 23 years of living, I’ve never touched a lacrosse stick (or whatever you call it.) I learned that if you are good at lacrosse, you come from Syracuse. It was a lot of fun but I only have one speed at throwing it and I’d like to compare it to the movie Rookie of the Year when the kid breaks his arm. I was zipping it to Lucy and she didn’t appreciate running down the street to retrieve the ball…my bad Lou! We are planning on buying some sticks in the next town to use during any free time we have. I’m bringing the sport down to Oklahoma!


My first time at Lacrosse


Where we spent most of our downtime


I couldn't decide which sport I wanted to play.


We drove around forever so we could jump the fence to get a picture with the bear.

We saw Salt and Dinner With Schmucks. Don’t waste your money on Salt but I thought Dinner With Schmucks was hilarious! We ate at the famous Dinosaurs BBQ in downtown Syracuse so I could get my weekly ribs. It was delish! I was able to get on the Aric Lee Show on ESPN Radio last Wednesday night. My caddy is a good friend of his and they claim I get to be on weekly now. Everyone should tune in! ESPN is a dream place for me to work so anything to do with it, I’m all for it. I only had one major "uh oh" during the week at the house and that was yesterday. I was going to use the family’s big TV to show Lucy some videos from my camera. The plugs weren’t working and the TV had a slot for my Sony memory stick. I stuck it in there but it was too small for the opening. CRAPPPPPPP!!!! I used tweezers, my own mouth, a cuticle utensil, and a return address sticker to get the dang thing out. Don't ask. It was a miracle. Lucy watched me from afar for cheap entertainment and came to the conclusion that I shouldn’t stick my things in places it doesn’t belong. …that’s what she said.


My enemy...but I outsmarted it!


I'm a happy girl


The host family's dog Ashley! This was her every morning.


Lucy loved this cat and the cat loved her...can you tell?

We are currently on the way to Philadelphia to run the steps of Rocky and see the Liberty Bell. I want to visit this cute market place and then we will head over to Harrisburg, PA for the week. I’m crashing at Lucy’s host housing for two nights then Mama Dye is flying in for this tournament and the next. I can't wait to have my mom back out here with me! I have my aunt coming to watch as well as my high school teammate Rosie. I’m excited to see some long lost faces. Kris Allen (my husband in my next life) is coming to Hershey, PA Friday night with Daughtry so I’m planning on stalking him to score some free tickets. It’s been in my planner for many months…I gotta see him!

Hope everyone is enjoying their last few weeks of summer. I get sad thinking that I have missed my entire summer in Oklahoma but I can’t be too selfish, all I know is summer and nice weather all year round.

On to the next one!!!


I found this hilarious...people who know me will understand

What I’m Reading: Eat Pray Love
What I’m Listening to: A little bit of everything right now!