Hola - Spain 2012!

Welp, so far 2012 has been pretty sweet.

I loaded up the airplane with my boy and friends and headed east to Spain for the first three weeks of January. I played in the Ladies European Tour Qualifier. Two stages: prequalifying and final stage. 72 and 90 holes in back-to-back weeks. That’s a lot of golf!

The 11-hour flight from LA to Madrid was a piece of cake. We had great, back of the bus seats and I never once got up to go to the bathroom!!!! I’m kind of proud of that accomplishment, especially for people who really know me.

All but one bag made it to Murcia, Spain which kind of stunk because I didn’t have my golf shoes to play in for the first couple of days. The airlines also made me spend $60 on a taxi to pick the bag up at the airport. Iberia will be hearing from me this week about a refund…

The first handful of days consumed of getting to know the two golf courses at La Manga Golf Resort and getting our rest. Actually, the entire trip (and my life) was revolved around golf and sleep. I bet I averaged 10 hours of sleep a night, with an occasional nap in the afternoons out on our patio and roof.

I shot rounds of 76, 73, 73, 73 (+7) in prequalifying and made it on to the Final Stage! I played with girls from all over the world, which isn’t unusual for me, but I finally felt like the foreigner. I asked a girl from France what the stereotypes of Americans were and she said cocky and obese. From that moment on, I hardly spoke and ate like a bird out on the golf course. Sort of kidding but I definitely was aware of how others might view me.

After the 4 rounds we took the next day off to travel over to Cartagena and enjoy some of the Spanish life. I invested in a great camera and finally got a chance to take some great pictures. We ate lunch on a boat and enjoyed the best calamari and paella. We had some hot chocolate on our way back to the car and it was literally a cup of thick, melted chocolate. It was really good but my gosh, I have had enough chocolate to last me the rest of the year.

I had two days of practice before the Final Stage began so I played 9 each day and had light practices. La Manga’s range consisted of limited flight yellow golf balls and most of us hit off mats so my warm up lasted about 20 minutes each morning. I liked to hit 3 shots with each club, starting with sand wedge and work my way up. I might throw in a few more swings if I feel frisky and want to work on my knock down shot for when the wind wants to pick up. I finish with a couple of 60 degree wedge shots then I’m good and warm.

Final Stage rounds were 72, 73, 73, 71, 74 (+2) which put me in a tie for 9th. I ended up earning full status for the year and now I have a lot of decisions to make. This was the whole reason for coming over to Spain. I wanted to give myself a few more options of where I could play because I failed to make the LPGA for the third year in a row and the LPGA Futures Tour was not exciting me at the end of last season. I am not sure where I will play but I know for sure I will be in the US for a very short time this week then head over to Australia and New Zealand to play in two great tournaments in February.

God works in mysterious ways but I know that everything will always work out just fine as long as I keep the faith and continue to work hard. I have the best support group in my life and I’m thankful for each day I have.

What I’m Reading: One for the Money