I know I know I know. I’m terrible. I’ve had so much to say but so little time to say it. Quick update:
I played in Springfield, IL June 13th for my first Monday qualifying for the LPGA State Farm Classic. I didn’t qualify but it was awesome to put myself in that setting and knowing that being there week in and week out isn’t that far away.
Afterwards I drove over to Mason, OH to play in the LPGA Futures Tour at King’s Island Golf Center. I had a decent tournament but didn’t finish the way I had liked. I was able to have dinner with Cole, my best guy friend from childhood. I hadn’t seen him in years and we finally were in the same town at the same time. It was so great to see him and catch up. The next night I was able to enjoy a full rack of ribs at the famous Montgomery Inn with Steve, my pro am partner from last year. I also had breakfast with DJ, another pro am player from last year. I LOVE FREE MEALS! It was nice seeing people I hadn’t seen in a while. My pro am group from this year featured an Oklahoma State grad. I think the Tour does this on purpose…pairs me up with enemies and in return, I have to be nice to them. Just kidding, kind of. Rain delays were a major story in this tournament and wore a lot of people out but my wave lucked out pretty good in terms of how many holes we had to play on Saturday.
From Cincinnati I drove back west to Decatur, IL. It was our third LPGA Futures Tour event in a row and thankfully it cooled off a little bit for us. This event was our Tour Championship so they always host a wonderful event. Grand stands, good crowds, good food. I was paired up with the President of the title sponsor Tate and Lyle’s wife in a pro am. (That was a mouthful.) What a great lady! Judy! She made all of our putts so I loved having her as my partner.
My boy caddied for me this week so I picked him up from Peoria’s airport Wednesday night. Thankfully I had an afternoon tee time the next day so we weren’t exhausted. I played solid for 4 days and once again rain was a factor. It was such a fun week and I was so happy to have him on the bag. I wish every tournament would put up a grand stand on 18 green like Decatur did. I love grabbing free lunch and sitting up there to watch my fellow competitors finish out their round.
The following Monday I said goodbye to the boy and headed north to Madison, WI to stay with my good friend Ben and his girlfriend Chelsey. They were so nice to let me take a 6-hour nap at their place before heading up north to Harris, MI. I made a pit stop at Lambeau Field in Green Bay and I’m glad I did. What a neat place! I would love to go to a game there. My boy Sammy B supposedly plays there this fall (if the NFL has a season.) I might have to schedule a trip up there for that. The Jeep and I headed north another two hours to the heavily populated town of Harris, MI! I’m just kidding about it being heavily populated but I had no clue what we were in for when I pulled up and it was pouring rain.
It was an inaugural event at Sweetgrass Golf Course at the Island Resort Casino. We never had to move our cars all week! Well, my friend Lucy did because her dad was insistent that he drive their Honda from the hotel entrance around the building to the golf course entrance. He’s a funny man. The players were so pumped when we registered. We all received a $200 visa card just for playing! It paid for my flight that I’m currently on, golden! We had player hospitality in the hotel every day for all meals, we were given coupons for free gambling money, bingo and drinks every day. We were ecstatic!!! I was paired up with my good friend Lucy Nunn in our first round. It happens about once a year for us. I played solid minus three holes. Two three putts early on and an 8 on a par 3. ….. ….. ….. oops. Like I told Lucy as we walked off the island green, “hey, it’s okay, you can laugh.” If you play this game long enough, everything is going to happen to you. I’ve made a 12 on a par 3, a 10 on a par 3, a 12 on a par 4, a 9 on a par 3, and now an 8 on a par 3. I have always said only the talented can do stuff like that. Five over on one hole can put you slightly behind the 8 ball. I am proud of the way I handled myself. You wouldn’t of known whether I made a 2 or an 8 walking off that green. I shot an 80. It was my first time for me to shoot that in a long, long time. I still had a ridiculous amount of confidence in my game and myself. I really didn’t have a reason to but something inside me told me to keep on trucking, look ahead, and focus on the positive and important things. Dwelling on the 8 and the 3 putts were going to only harm my next round so I kept reminding myself how sweet I was hitting the ball. I went on to play a solid second round and I ended up missing the cut by 4. One hole really ruined it for me, that and the fact that I didn’t make a whole lot of birdies that week.
I packed my things up and made my way down south to a place called Whistling Straits. Yup. A little reward pit stop for no reason. Man oh man I cannot describe how spectacular this piece of land is. You would never guess that you are in the United States. Grandpa Pete Dye designed it a few years back and I must say it is his best course that I’ve ever played. It was just me and my golf bag on my back, hardly any wind, sunshine, and a few other male golfers around me. I couldn’t of picked a better day. The marshals were on their walkie-talkies wondering who this “Dye” girl was playing by herself. Everyone treated me nicely and now I know why!!! They thought I was Pete’s granddaughter. I mean that’s how I introduced myself to everyone but they actually believed me. I shot 78 from the men’s tees with a double on 7 for a lost ball left and bogeying 18. No birdies but I was pretty pleased with how I hit the ball.
Once I finished up playing out of Dustin Johnson’s infamous fairway bunker on 18 I hustled down south through Milwaukee and Chicago to Crown Point, IN. This event was a late addition to our Tour schedule but we were thankful for it. I had two practice rounds in preparation for our Thursday-Saturday tournament. It was different because we normally play Friday-Sunday. I like playing on Thursdays. I like getting the show on the road. Too many practice rounds bore me to death. Some players have started making fun of me because I introduce myself to the practice putting green and driving range the day of or the day before a tournament. That may or may not be a good thing but I’d much rather be on the golf course than on the range pounding balls, critiquing and analyzing my golf swing. I think by now it’s a well-oiled machine. It doesn’t take long to warm up a Cadillac. Ha! Just kidding but I did practice for a full hour and a half on Wednesday leading up to the tournament! I was proud of myself. I don’t remember hitting it any better than I did that day.
That night a big group of us went to Downtown Chicago for a Cubs-Giants game. I won’t get into detail about it because you can read about it on my blog for the Tour here:
http://lpgafuturestour.com/player_results.aspx?id=27232. Wednesday’s good practice session carried over into my first round Thursday. I shot 71 (-1) but it was one of the worst scoring days of my career. It did not reflect how well I hit it but knew there were lots more birdies to come. Friday was flat out ugly weather wise. I played 2 holes and came in and never went back out. I haven’t seen a storm like that in quite some time. There was lots of pretty lightning and loud thunder. We were all left in limbo about what the next day or two was to bring. I bought a second flight just in case I missed my original flight (I love Southwest, I have it on credit now since I made the original!) The Tour decided to wash out everything that happened Friday and cut the tournament to a 36-hole event. The course was so wet that the ball needed to be played lift, clean, and place and since my second round from Saturday was played down, everyone would have to play the ball down, therefore, the Tour scratched the 2nd round. That was the most fair way to do it. I got off to a hot start, parred the easy par 5 10th but made a putt from off the green on 11. Birdied the par 5 13th and par 4 14th. Bogeyed the par 3 15th and parred the rest coming in on the backside, hitting two of the last three lips. We made the turn and I discovered that I didn’t have the front side’s yardage book in my bag. Ruh-roh. However I always make a homemade yardage book for extra notes and such so I wasn’t completely SOL. I found out that I was able to ask my playing partners for numbers such as what it was to the front of the greens but I did okay without the official yardage book. I made a long bomb on 1 green that shocked me. I don’t ever make putts that long except on the practice putting green (when I’m warming up for a tournament round.) My second hiccup came on the 6th green when I 3 putted for a bogey. I know I can’t play a perfect round but I hate three putting! I later found out that that 3 putt cost me $5,000. Gah!!! My playing partner put two in the water on the par 3 island green so we waited for about 15 minutes to be able to play our putts. I didn’t put it close to the hole because I was playing more conservative there and just didn’t hit the putt hard enough to get all the way down to the hole. I missed my 6-foot par putt on the low side and tapped in for bogey. I had three good pars coming in and finish 6th. It was my career best finish on this Tour so I can say it was a successful week. I’ve been reading some of my old Bob Rotella notes that I keep in my bag but hadn’t brought out in a while. I have figured out a few things about my swing and putting stroke this week and I tell you what, as long as you’re getting better everyday, you can’t be upset with that.
The group at Wrigley Field
Aaron and I chowing down on our Chicago Dogs!
I am in desperate need for a break even though I’m dying to play in the US Women’s Open this week at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, CO. My good friend Jessi Gebhardt is playing so I get to cheer for her instead from the couch. I’m on my way to Phoenix and I can’t wait to get there. I don’t even care that it was 116 there today. I am spending the 4th with my boy and some friends. It’s going to be a chill week, spent by the pool and of course the golf course. I love what I do but 5 weeks in a row on the road is a lot for a person to go through. Everyone needs a break, especially our Tour Staff. They work so hard and never get thanked so THANK YOU!
I can’t believe that it’s July and our season is halfway over! Where has the time gone? I have had an absolute blast this year on Tour. I have bonded with so many awesome girls and guys (caddies and Tour staff) and I feel like we are one big family. I’ve met a lot of new people this year and let me just say that I am blessed! I know I am where I need to be right now. I’m learning, growing, and enjoying what I’m doing. I know that many people don’t feel that way about their jobs and once I start feeling otherwise, I’ll go on to plan b. Thanks for everyone who cares to read my blog and keep up with my crazy life. I can hardly keep up with it myself! Have a happy and safe 4th everyone!!!
What I’m Listening To: Beyonce - 4
What I’m Reading: One Day by David Nicholls
