Cornfield City!

It’s a new week!!!! Thankfully.

The past 10 days have been some crazy ones, that is for sure. I flew back from Portland, Oregon to Phoenix on a Tuesday, drove from Phoenix to OKC on a Thursday and from OKC to Iowa on a Monday. My precious 4-year-old Jeep went from 36,000 to 46,000 in a matter of 5 months. I guess she’s still on track for a nice, long life. Those 2012 models sure look pretty though, anybody want to donate to the Kendall Dye Golf Fund?

While I was driving to Iowa I started to feel sick and by the time I arrived to Cedar Rapids, I was miserable! I met my friend Jessi at the course that afternoon and drove around to map out the course. That was all I could handle for one day. Unfortunately I had to wake up early for a full practice round Tuesday morning with some friends. Jessi and I saw Hangover 2 that afternoon and came out very disappointed. It’s such a shame because the first one was so funny. I committed to helping with this clinic on Wednesday afternoon where you teach a group of guys on the driving range and putting green and then take them out on the course to play a couple of holes with them. By Wednesday I was in no condition to even talk because I was hacking so much but since I had to give instruction I gave it my best. I played 2 holes with some money on the line and thankfully didn’t lose to them. I had to leave early to race over to a local country club where a pro am dinner was being hosted. The pro am groups drafted the pros for Thursdays afternoon pro am. It was a big production but thankfully a great group drafted me and I headed back to the hotel for more sleep. I decided to go to an urgent care facility Thursday morning so I could get the right drugs to get better. The verdict: strep and bronchitis. Z pack was bought and I was on my way to recovery. Thursday afternoon rolled around and so did the storms. We were drenched for many holes and I should not have been out there playing. We ended up shooting -10, which doesn’t sound that great but it was the lowest score I heard all day. I skipped out on the dinner following because I had to get my body ready for the first round on Friday.

I’ve never withdrawn from a tournament but this was on of the times where I definitely contemplated it. I felt out of it in the head, physically worn out but I knew that I could still get out there and hit a golf ball. It was an extremely windy day, which made it pretty difficult. I didn’t have the energy for a single practice swing all day but made a birdie run late in the round but unfortunately finished with a bogey bogey finish. I hate when I do that. I left the course immediately, went and bought 2 cups of soup and went to bed. Saturday morning’s round came early and I got off to a nice start but had some hiccups halfway through my round. A late dumb dumb dumb double cost me making the cut by 1 single stroke. GAAAAHHH!!! Like any other professional golfer I dwelled on my mistakes and could count on multiple fingers all the strokes I could have saved but I also knew that I couldn’t make myself go crazy about it. I can honestly say I did not give it my all physically or mentally in preparing for the tournament. I know that sickness will come many times in my career and this week was one of them. I will learn from this past week and take the good with me. All things happen for a reason right?
I was able to get up Sunday morning and drive over to Springfield, IL to Panther Creek Country Club. For the first time I will be Monday qualifying for the LPGA State Farm Classic. There are 30 girls playing for 2 spots. I have an LPGA caddy on the bag and he knows this course well. I was able to practice for a couple of hours Sunday afternoon and then spent a few more hours walking the entire course and making notes. It’s in fantastic shape and I’m looking forward to a new experience and hopefully a positive one!

I feel like I’ve been going through a rough patch this year with a DQ, missing the US Open by 1, missing some cuts by 1 so I know that good things are to come if I keep a positive mindset and continue to work hard and harder. I know how important it is to have good health in order to perform my best. I feel like it’s coming around so hopefully this golf game of mine can as well!!!

On a side note, my 13-year-old Yorkie Penny had an emergency acl surgery last Friday. She was on her nightly walk when all of a sudden she yelped and had my dad carry her all the way home. She apparently had an old fracture in there and it finally gave way. It was an expensive butt shave but she is doing pretty good. She hops like a bunny down the hall and has been drinking grape Gatorade like an athlete. Hopefully she’ll be back to herself in no time. In the past year Penny, my dad, my sister-in-law and me have all had surgery. Hopefully this is it for a while!

Thank you to everyone for their continued support. I can’t do it without you all!!!