Tales from the Tour

Hola - Spain 2012!

2012-01-21T16:44:00.000-08:00

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

Season in Review:

2011-11-03T22:34:00.000-07:00

I’m currently on a quick flight from Phoenix to San Diego to visit with my aunt and uncle therefore, I have no excuse, I must blog! As we were taxiing I found out that my childhood best friend Cole became a dad today. I can’t get over it. His baby girl is the prettiest little thing and I know she has the absolute best dad. I have such good memories of Cole and I growing up and I can only imagine what he will be like with his little girl, probably very similar to how my dad is with me. Cole and I have a weakness for Nikes so I bought her a pair of retro ones and I can’t wait to see them on her! Sorry for the side personal note but I’m ecstatic!!!

The past few weeks have supposedly been called “offseason” but it’s felt far from that. I’ve had a rollercoaster of emotions lately and it seems to be a perfect theme for the entire season.

I flew down to Venice, FL to qualify for the Final Stage of LPGA Qualifying School (a gruesome series of tournaments that get you on the LPGA Tour.) I took my Phoenix caddy Carl Laib “the Caddy Machine” down with me and knew without a doubt we were the best combination in the tournament. I played well my first and fourth round but the middle rounds were not so pretty. With my second and third round being ugly scores I knew my last round needed to be one or two under par. I was even par as we reached the 17th hole. We needed no worse than par. I ended up making a ridiculous 25 footer to save par and I was pumped! I’m not a fist pumper but in my head I did the biggest fist pump you’d ever seen. I had to hit the fairway on 18 because we needed to dunk it for a 2 or stick it close and make 3. I would have never gone for this pin because of poor choices in the past on this very hole but I didn’t have an option. I had to go right at it if I wanted to keep my journey of LPGA going this year. The green is covered with water in front and all right of it. The pin was tucked just behind a bunker and on the right edge of the green. From the fairway we had 160 yards to the pin with a slight breeze behind us. 7 iron it was. I stuck it pin high, just right of the flag about 7 feet away. I read the putt to break about a ball from right to left, Carl saw much less break. I told him there is no way I’m leaving this ball on the low side so I stuck to my read. ...lip out… First lip out in 72 holes. Any amount of adrenaline I had in me was gone in one second. I knew I had missed the cut of making it to the Final Stage for my third year in a row. How does that happen? I’m a much better player than I was a year ago. I had a veteran caddy who has won ungodly amounts of LPGA majors and tournaments. I never took one week off on the LPGA Futures Tour schedule this year. I have given too much time and dedication to this game and that’s what I earned…a missed cut? Season was over. I had nothing to work towards for the next few months.

My caddy and I were the saddest looking puppies you’d ever seen. We had lunch afterwards and he mentioned that I still had a chance at getting in to Final Stage as an alternate. The LPGA wanted a full field of 144 players at Final Stage this year and all I could do was wait it out for 3 weeks. From past experience of being an alternate, nothing positive has come from it so I put the thought of me making it into the field into the very back of my mind.

A few Fridays ago, I met Carl at 6am at a course I was playing for the Cactus Tour. We went around and made notes for the course instead of playing a practice round. When we got to the 18th hole, LPGA Headquarters called me. I started jumping up and down when they asked me if I would be interested in signing up for Final Stage because the field hadn’t filled. YOU BETCHA!!!

Carl and I were the happiest puppies you’d ever seen. Wow. Thank you dear baby Jesus. No sympathy needed here but this has been one of the hardest years in my personal life and I was tired of remaining positive about my game when the results were not showing my hard work. I took two full weeks off from the game after 2nd stage and had no desire to touch my clubs. I took up hiking by myself and have discovered a new hobby. I love it. I love the peace of it all. The sounds. The quietness. Golfers reflect a lot and I did a lot right after my Q School experience in Venice.

I drove down to Miami to visit my best friend Caitlan. Thankfully she took my mind off of golf but when she had to work and I laid on the beach for a few days, that’s all I could think of:

Will I ever arrive? Will I just always be an underachiever? Why am I playing this game and giving it all of me? For money? Fame? Life can get out of focus quickly for golfers but I have learned so much about myself and life this year. One thing I learned this year was that by living on the road, out of my Jeep, I could care less if I lose all of my belongings tomorrow, it’s not important. I used to think the worst thing in the world would be if my house burnt down and I lost everything. None of it’s important and a bad golf round isn’t important in the big scheme of things. I want to be able to pay it forward, help others like so many have done for me. I want my life to be more than just being known as a golfer. I love my God. I love hard. I appreciate. I care. I live.

I’m so thankful for the second chance at Q School this year. I’ve got two more tournaments in Phoenix to work on my game before heading back down to Florida for five awesome rounds and who knows, I might earn my LPGA Tour Card coming in as an alternate!

Third times a charm???

The greatest difficulties of life offer us our greatest opportunities to trust. – Tom Holladay

Q School Time!

2011-09-26T12:21:00.000-07:00

It’s gotten to the point in the year where it takes me an embarrassingly long amount of time to figure out where I am, what month and day it is as well as what the heck time zone am I in.

It’s a never-ending cycle and I’ve been bred to love it. It’s the tour life.

Since my last update I played in Concord, NH (finished 37th), drove to Syracuse (missed the cut), drove to Baltimore (flew home to OKC for 3 days), flew back to Baltimore, drove up to Harrisburg, PA (finished 59th), drove to D.C. (visited the Walter Reed Center), drove to Richmond, VA (finished 58th), flew to PHX (met Bones Mackay along the way…super cool), flew to Augusta, GA, played in Vidalia, GA (finished 8th), drove to Memphis (visited with my grandma for a few days…first time back in Memphis since 2004), drove to OKC, stayed for a week, flew to Albany, NY (missed the cut), flew to OKC for 4 days, drove to PHX, played in a Cactus Tour event (tied for 2nd), flew to Tampa, drove down to Venice and here I am now at the second stage of Q School!

We could say that my year on the LPGA Futures Tour was a roller coaster but a fun and memorable one! I learned a lot. Met some awesome people. I’m a better, smarter golfer than when I began the year and continuing to grow is the positive outlook I have after this season.

This week in Venice, FL is very important…Q School. I am feeling good about my game and am so relieved to have the best caddy on my bag. Carl Laib aka “The Caddy Machine.” Google him if you don’t know him. I am so honored and thankful that he came all this way to caddy for me. We work great together and he makes life easy for me. He keeps me loose and helps me play at my highest potential. We should have a fun 4 rounds together.

I thank my sponsors every single day for allowing me to get to live out a dream. I think about them every time I pull out my visa, even if it’s for something on the dollar menu, I think of them. They know who they are and I could not do any of this without their love and support. I’m truly blessed.

I pray everyone has a great week at Q School, stays healthy, and refrains from being disqualified (something crazy happens every year.)

After this I’ll be heading down to Miami for a few days to visit my best friend Caitlan and enjoy some beach time without the golf clubs! After that, it’s back to work in the desert and playing in some tournaments and pro ams. It should be a great off season until I decide on whether I’m taking my talents across the pond to Europe or staying in the US of A. I have a lot of decisions coming up.

Until then, have a great week everybody!!!

What I’m Reading: The Relationship Principles of Jesus by Tom Holladay
What I’m Listening To: Lady Antebellum “We Own The Night”

New England Adventures

2011-07-22T08:09:00.000-07:00

My dad has always said that I’ve led a very golden life. I am starting to think that he is right. It’s not anything that I do but it’s the people that I meet along the way who help me out in tremendous ways.

The past couple of weeks have been a whirlwind but a blast! We had one week off in which I flew to Phoenix to relax and play a little golf at some courses that I had not played. One was a Top 100 course called Estancia, home of Bubba Watson. I have been trying to get on to play for months and they finally had us out one afternoon when it was well over 105 degrees. One week off from the Tour was nice but I could have used an extra one. I flew back to Chicago to pick up my Jeep and headed east to Youngstown, OH for the night. The next day I headed on to White Plains, NY to stay with a friend from Edmond. He works at a country club and up there the clubs house their employees so I stayed the night at the golf course. It was a lot of fun because all of their employees are from Poland so I felt like I was in another country! The next morning I woke up early and drove to Winged Foot West Course to play a two-hour round with my caddy Jose. I didn’t play well but I met some great people and they treated me so well! The starter gave me a goody bag of a hat and Ralph Lauren polo! I met the GM Colin Burns who ended up helping me out in a great way the following weekend.

After I played Winged Foot I had a quick lunch at a cute diner in Stamford, CT then headed on to Bloomfield, CT. I decided to play an 18-hole practice round making that 36 holes in one day. I was tired but had to go to our weekly Meet The Pros Party at the course. I didn’t stay long because I had a 7:00am Pro Am the following morning. I decided not to touch a club on Thursday because it had been a crazy week and my body needed a rest. It turned out to work all right because my opening round went well and put me in great position for the weekend. I shot 67 but continued to score worse and worse as the tournament went on: 70 and 72. I ended up -1 for the tournament and finishing tied for 18th. A year ago I would have been happy with that finish but now that I’ve tasted blood with a top 5 finish I know that I should be toying with that leaderboard every week.

As soon as the tournament finished I hopped in my Jeep and headed north to Boston with some new tires on the baby! Tires are so expensive but since I am almost to 50,000 miles I decided it was time to make their feet feel a little better. It was my first time to Boston but I fell in love as soon as I arrived. The Winged Foot GM hooked me up with a place to stay at The Harvard Club downtown. It was way out of my league so I had to be on my best behavior. I cleaned up my room before the housekeeping ladies could get a hold of it. I don’t ever care to take hotel soap and shampoo but this place was so nice I took it every day! There were about 25 of us from the Tour who hung out in Boston Sunday night for dinner and drinks. I made it an early night because I woke up early and drove to Hingham, MA to play Boston Golf Club. It is a fairly new golf course but one that is new in the Top 100. It was gorgeous!!! I had a great caddy named Danny who was born and raised in Boston. We struggled to understand each other but it was another nice two hour round. I drove back to the city and found myself in Cambridge on Harvard’s campus. I bought a hoodie since I don’t own one and since their colors are similar to OU’s I figured it was okay. The traffic and roads are crazy and sometimes hard to maneuver through but I finally found myself back at The Harvard Club where I walked from to shop for the rest of the day. I had to make a pit stop at Nike Town. It’s a must for me at every large city I visit. I had delicious pad thai and ice cream on my way back to the hotel. The next morning I woke up super early to play The Country Club in Brookline, MA. It is a famous course and well in the top 20 on the Top 100 list. It has been around since the 1800s and a movie called The Greatest Game Ever Played was filmed after the club. I was lucky to be able to play it and once again I had a wonderful caddy named Tom who was a Boston native. We had a great time but my short and sweet trip to Boston came to a conclusion following the round.

My friends Cara, Jessi, and Tara

Boston Golf Club

#18 The Country Club

Cambridge

I made the quick drive up to Concord, NH where we are playing this week. It is night and day from Boston. Concord is very laid back and tiny! It’s been a relaxing week and I’ve only played the course once. I feel good about my game plan and will tee it up later this afternoon. It is going to be a hot one! Well over 100 degrees, which is hot for the northeast! Live scoring will be found on lpgafuturestour.com, check it out!

Hope everyone is doing well and beating the heat this summer! I want to thank my sponsors and everyone else who is making this all possible. I'm having fun and loving what I'm doing. I have met some wonderful people along the way and that is what makes it all worthwhile. I'm blessed.

Happy 4th of July!

2011-07-05T15:00:00.000-07:00

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

Cornfield City!

2011-06-06T09:16:00.000-07:00

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!!!

Got the Dub!

2011-05-25T13:07:00.000-07:00

Once again I have slacked off with updating my blog. A lot has happened since my last post!

I spent the past couple of weeks in Phoenix playing in a Cactus Tour event and getting ready for the US Open qualifier. Some girls decided to take it easy during May but by deciding to play I won my second professional golf tournament!!! It was a great win against LPGA players and a solid field. It was nice to see some of my work paying off. I’ve been learning a lot in Phoenix, spending some time with a long time LPGA caddy who has taught me how to chart courses and really think out there, by playing smart yet staying aggressive and using my advantages all at the same time. I’m really grateful for him.

After the tournament win with my friends Tara and Tracy

I flew out to Portland last week to play in my US Open qualifier. I traveled with fellow LPGA Futures Tour player Jessi Gebhardt. We visited the Nike campus in Beaverton, which is a dream place for me to work or at least to work for one day. Anyone who knows me knows how much I love the Swoosh. We woke up early Saturday and played Pumpkin Ridge Ghost Creek with my Oregon caddy. That course is the home of the LPGA Safeway Classic held in August. We will be taking a red eye from the east coast to Monday qualify for that tournament in August so we used Saturday’s round as a practice round. I had my qualifier yesterday at Royal Oaks Country Club in Vancouver, WA. It was by far the tightest golf course I’ve ever played. I didn’t play as well as I have been playing lately and it was a shame because I missed qualifying by one shot. My group finished our 36th hole last night and was told by the rules official that we were stroked one shot from our first round because we were 2 minutes late finishing the 18th hole. It had started to rain heavily on our 16th hole and my two girls shot 85 and 89. You can only play so fast when you hit that many shots and trees. What could I do? How can I be responsible for them shooting scores like that when you are supposed to have a 6 handicap or less to even play in the qualifier? I was furious because at the time my score was sitting in a playoff. It turned out that a late score came in and I missed the playoff by 1 shot not counting the ridiculous penalty stroke. I learned a lot on this weekend trip up to the Pacific Northwest and have realized HOW CLOSE I am to breaking through. It’s bound to happen. I’m not giving in that’s for sure.

Nike

Jessi and I

I’m en route to Phoenix currently to get my belongings and Jeep and head for the Midwest for more Futures Tour events. I’m excited to get back in the groove of things and playing some smart and solid golf! Happy Memorial Day everyone!

What I’m Listening to: Everything!
What I’m Reading: Play Your Best Golf Now - Pia Nilsson and Lynn Marriott

Meheeecooo!!!

2011-04-12T10:25:00.000-07:00

Holy Moly! I have never been so close to missing a plane as I was just a second ago! I’m currently on a flight from Houston to Phoenix but I have no idea how I made it! We took off late in Puerto Vallarta and had 45 minutes in Houston to make it through immigration, customs, security, and the longest walk of my life to my gate. Hallelujah!

I now have some time to write about my past week in Me-he-co!!! It was AWESOME! It was a relaxing week to say the least and much needed, especially after a crappy last week in Daytona Beach. I had my own room and read through 2 books and started working on a third…that was halted because someone dumped it in the pool and stole my towel while I was busy playing in the pool with a friend. I look like a fool reading it on the plane with the pages all damp and crinkled but it’s a good read so I’m gonna deal with it.

I believe everything happens for a reason and even though I thought last week in Daytona Beach was the worst week of my life, I believe it served a bigger purpose. When I left there, I felt like I had my back up against the wall, behind the eight ball, you name it, I just couldn’t see why some not so ideal things happened to me. However, once I got to Mexico, checked in to my room, spent some time under the sun near a pool, watching people enjoy their vacations I realized that I absolutely love what I do. There have been days when I didn’t feel that way. I get the opportunity to travel with my good friends around the country, and sometimes out of the country to places where people take their vacations and play golf for a living. Yes, right now the money is not great but if it’s in God’s plans, I might be playing for more money in the future. There have been days when I wonder if I have it in me to go low, keep it low, and for consecutive days in order to win a competitive golf tournament. Last week when I spent my weekend watching other girls play in the golf tournament that I was supposed to play in, it hit me square in the face. I love what I do. I love to compete. I feel like I can win on any given weekend even though I have not done so yet. It put so much fuel in my fire when I was watching girls play who don’t hit it as far as me, don’t make as smart of decisions as me, and don’t think like I do out there on a golf course. I looked at this tournament as 54 opportunities to make birdie and sometimes eagle. I can honestly say in the past I did not view every round that way. I was excited to get my putter in my hands, to walk on the green and believe that every single putt was going in, no matter the distance. Now I know confidence waivers like the sea but if I can continue this mentality and revert back to it on days when I’m not feeling so hot about my game, it will keep me grinding away.

I played much better than I scored, made more putts than I’ve made in a long time, and feel good about where things are headed. We have two weeks off until we play in San Antonio, TX. It’s a great track and I want revenge on it since I made poor decisions playing it last year. This will be the first time my folks will see me play live this year so I want to make them proud and show them that my hard work is paying off. Thanks for the great support and love everyone!

Lessons Learned

2011-04-04T17:55:00.001-07:00

Some days and weeks just don’t go as you had planned. This past week in Daytona Beach, FL was one of them...

Lucy and I drove from Plant City, FL to Daytona Beach in the pouring down rain last Monday morning. It was a good thing she drove because the entire way over, I worked on a Sudoku and continuously said, “I can’t see anything!” I was not any help so props to her for getting us there, safe and sound. We saw Lincoln Lawyer that afternoon since there wasn’t much going on that day. It was great compared to the movie we saw last week…Limitless. Don’t see it!

We stayed in Port Orange, FL with an awesome couple who is from Oklahoma City. We had a wonderful time with them and the week was filled with lots of laughs and stories.

I woke up early Tuesday morning and played a 12-hole practice round in the rain. I am part of the Player Marketing Team (PMT) this year and had a meeting and photo shoot to attend so the golf was cut short that day.

A group of us from the Tour were selected to ride around in a pace car on Daytona 500’s track so Wednesday morning, that’s where were! It was my second year in a row to be on the track and let me tell you, going that fast gets your heart beating! It was a really neat experience even if you aren’t a Nascar fan. I was an alternate for the pro am that afternoon so I practiced for a few hours and then was booted off the range due to a massive storm that hit Daytona.

All day Thursday was rain, rain, and more rain. It booted our opening round tee times back an hour on Friday but the golf course maintenance did a wonderful job at getting the course in playing shape. I played hard in my first round but it ended in disappointing news. I was disqualified for the first time in my entire life. I had always been proud to say that I had never been dq’d or withdrawn from a tournament but there is a first time for everything.

To briefly sum it up since a lot of people having been asking, I teed off on 17 which is a par 3. The wind was blowing extremely hard which took my ball left. I thought it caught the left side of the green and rolled down the hill into the water. The ball was lying close to the edge in the water so I called my other playing partner over to catch my ball as I was dropping so that it wouldn’t go in the water. I ended up doubling the hole and started walking to the 18th tee. The cart driver in the group behind me drove up close to me and I wasn’t sure what he wanted. He finally said for me not to sign my scorecard because the group behind me thought I did something wrong. I looked at my playing partners and they said not to worry about it because I did the correct thing. I was a little worried and discussed it a little longer. We ended up playing 18 and I actually finished with a birdie. I was expecting to meet our head rules official in the scoring tent to discuss what went down. Long story short, our group was wrong, the group behind me was right. The line was marked yellow instead of red and I was supposed to go back 100 yards to a drop zone but instead dropped within two club lengths of line. Complete brain fart by all three of us. I would have never thought twice by my drop so I learned a lesson and will never make that mistake again. By teeing off on 18, it put a stamp in my round and I was DQ’d from the tournament. I really appreciate my playing partners’ feelings towards the situation. They were very supportive and extremely apologetic for validating the incorrect drop. I take full responsibility for what happened so they should not feel bad whatsoever.

You’ll experience everything at least once if you play this sport long enough.

I had to get up early the next morning to take Lucy to the course so she could finish up her first round and begin her second round. As soon as I left the golf course parking lot at 6:30am, a deer sprinted out in front of our rental car and it caught the right corner of our gangster Chevy HHR. I screamed like I’ve never screamed before. I’ve never hit anything before and let me tell ya, those deer are dense! It was a blur because it was dark outside and the deer was extremely short and running fast. There was a median in the neighborhood road so I saw it for a split second before it got hit. I drove back to make sure it wasn’t a golden retriever or lab. Thankfully it wasn’t because the fur on the grill proved it to be a deer. I called Lucy to tell her I hit a deer but didn’t tell her it damaged the car so she wouldn’t be flustered for her rounds. I went back and watched Lou finish her second round and brought her good luck. She was -2 in her final 7 holes to make her first cut of the season.

We hung out with our housing’s family and friends from their club on the weekend nights and had a great time. One of their neighbors was a mechanic so he fixed the car for a much cheaper price than the insurance was going to charge us. Good news there. I practiced all day Sunday at the course while the rest of the field was finishing up their final round. It was weird being at the course, watching golf, and not being a part of the tournament, especially when I didn’t miss the cut. It was tough!!!

Lucy and I had a very exciting Sunday afternoon and night because Lucy’s roommate/former teammate, Stacy Lewis, won the LPGA’s first major championship of the year, the Kraft Nabisco. It was the most exciting round I’ve ever watched just because we have such an invested interest. I have never been more pumped pulling for someone in golf. It was awesome and something the LPGA needed! The lid is off for Stacy now and she will continue to win championship after championship.

It was one of the tougher weeks in my life. People can be hateful when making fun of other’s misfortunes. I learned that freak accidents, brain farts, bad luck happens. I also learned that when it happens to someone else I will not make fun of them just for the result of a laugh. I’ve got tough skin but after so much questioning, texts, emails, being the butt of jokes, and telling me that I need to spend more time reading the rule book, it got old. I learned a lesson and can only grow stronger from these adversities.

The good news is I am going with the Tour to Mexico for a week to play in Puerto Vallarta. I have turned off the phone and will enjoy my friends, the sun, and relaxation this week! It is needed more than ever. I’m excited to play and play well!

What I'm Reading: A Bend in the Road - Nicholas Sparks
What I'm Listening to: Rod Stewart

I'm Back at It!!!

2011-03-26T13:56:00.000-07:00

Where in the world have I been? EVERYWHERE.

I decided to take a break from blogging over the off-season but will do my best to keep it updated this season. I last left off in Palm Springs, CA by qualifying for the Final Stage of LPGA Qualifying School that was held in Daytona Beach, FL in early December. In between those qualifiers I jetted over to Miami, FL to visit my best friend Caitlan and enjoyed some R&R. We had a fabulous time together. I am so thankful she lives there so I have a place and car to use whenever I visit.

I traveled to Fayetteville, AR a few times to visit my good friend and fellow Futures Tour travel buddy Lucy Nunn. The golf facilities at the University of Arkansas’ home course, The Blessings, are too good to be true and with a short drive from OKC, I had to go up there and pretend to be a Razorback for a bit. My Sooners will always come first but the Razorbacks are my adopted golf team. I also traveled to Phoenix a few times to play in some events just to keep my game in check in preparation for the Final Stage of Q School. Shortly after those tournaments, I parted ways with my caddy of 6 months and quickly began to search for a looper for Q School.

My good friend Kelsey Cline helped me out in a big way. With less than a week before the tournament started, I booked him a flight to come out to Daytona Beach to help me for a week. We worked well together. He kept me loose but focused. We made the cut but did not finish high enough to receive any LPGA status for the 2011 season. I was deflated because it was my second time qualifying for Final Stage and not finishing in the top 40 was crushing. It takes a lot of hard work, time, and sometimes luck to get there so I was definitely down in the dumps about missing out once again.

KCline and I

I put the sticks up and flew back to OKC (losing my laptop along the way) just in time to get my foot operated on. I had shattered my sesmoid bone in my right big toe last February and played on it all season long. December was the only time I had to recover so that was my only option. It was my first time to be operated on due to an injury. I thought I was invincible. I woke up from surgery and asked for a Diet Coke and a refill but shortly regretted it as it all came up and out in the car. The next night my friend Egg Roll and I went to a Thunder game downtown. The next few days I felt like I had been hit by a semi so I decided to chill out and enjoy the Christmas holidays before packing up and heading back down to the Sunshine State for a New Years trip with my three best girlfriends (the Crew.)

Before I got cut on

Ouch!

The Crew consists of Caitlan, Whitney, Mindy, and myself. We are all on completely different tracks in life but that is what makes us tick and get along so well. It’s hard for us to coordinate our 4 schedules so we made a conscience effort months before our trip that we were going down to visit our lonely friend Caitlan no matter what, even if it was just for a few days. I was able to stay a little longer just because I was in the off-season and didn’t have to get back to an office job or PA school like the other two did. We enjoyed a romantic sunset boat ride with three other couples, spent our days out on the beach soaking up the sun, and partied with Caitlan’s co-workers on South Beach for New Year’s Eve. There really isn’t a better place to bring in the New Year other than the beach.

The crew on the beach

I flew back to OKC just in time to pack up and take my jeep west to Phoenix for a few months. It was time to get back to work and play some golf. Phoenix has a mini tour called the Cactus Tour, which allows girls to play all year long, especially when the main tours aren’t playing. I have a lot of friends who play in the tournaments so it’s good competition even if the money isn’t that great. I played in 4 events and finished 4th, 4th, 9th, and 2nd. I fell in love with Ping’s Anser irons so I put those bad boys into play while I was out there and will be playing those all year long. They are solid!

I was able to play all sorts of great golf courses while I was there but still have a laundry list of more that I’m dying to play. I met some wonderful people and love the city every time I visit. The weather is almost always perfect, the mountain views can’t be beat, the food is delicious (ahhhh), and the shopping is great! Other than playing in tournaments I was able to visit Sedona and see the gorgeous views, go on a hot air balloon ride, visit their zoo, meet Bubba Watson, volunteer at the TPC Scottsdale PGA tournament, go to my first Nascar/Nationwide race, hike a baby mountain to get in shape, play with LPGA players, drive indoor go-karts, and spent time with my best friend. My jeep fits in great there and I will be returning as soon as my third Futures Tour event finishes in Mexico. I love the desert if you can’t tell. It sure beat staying cooped up in Oklahoma with all the cold and snowy weather this winter. I’m very fortunate that I was able to be there for a few months and play every single day. I took one day off a week and by the time I left Phoenix last week, I had played 36 rounds. I’m going to keep track this year of how many rounds and holes I play. It could get scary.

Bubba and I

Sitting courtside at a Suns-Kings game

My friend and I working at TPC Scottsdale

I flew to OKC last week to spend some time with family and friends before my season on the LPGA Futures Tour began. It was my mom’s birthday, parents’ anniversary, and since I wasn’t home on my birthday, sort of celebrating mine as well. I got to see faces I needed and desperately wanted to see but with 4 days in 30+ mile an hour winds, I was ready to get on out of there and see some green grass.

My travel buddy Lucy Nunn and I met up at the airport and flew all day Monday to Orlando. We rented our expensive car (we need to be 25 now!) and headed to Plant City, FL where we are staying this week. Our family has strawberry fields and that’s what he’s been his whole life, a farmer! I might eat the most strawberries I’ve ever had this week. The downfall is we are staying an hour away from the course so our days have been filled with practice rounds, work outs, pro ams, parties, dinners, etc. I played in a pro am Thursday afternoon with a guy who won the lottery! He was the first and probably only person I’ll ever meet who has won the lottery.

Live scoring is on lpgafuturestour.com so if you all are bored out there, be sure to follow us. The game feels good, my head is good and if the putter wants to behave we should have a good weekend.

This has been a very hectic, crazy busy “off-season” if you want to call it that. I want to thank my true friends for always being there and being a continuous support system. Prayers were felt and things are looking up. I have grown a lot since last season and have learned so much about how important love and your own happiness is compared to other things that go on in life that shouldn’t matter. I guess that all comes with age but I am excited about this season. I am going to work extremely hard towards my goal of finishing top 5 on the money list this year and that happens with great focus and self belief every single day this season. Thanks to everyone who reads my blogs, supports me and my dream, and the positive people around me who keep me ticking. I love you all!

What I’m Reading: The Mulligan
What I’m Listening to: Adele

Headed to Daytona!

2010-09-20T22:13:00.001-07:00

Welp, most of you all know the good news but we finally did it! I qualified for the Final Stage of LPGA Q School! It was a great week of good, consistent golf. I haven’t been playing my best golf lately and a few months ago was contemplating not even trying to qualify but I had a some people who mean a great deal to me tell me that I should always give it a try. Thankfully, I took their advice and qualified out of the first sectional with 8 shots to spare before worrying about the cut line. I shot 73-69-71-72. When we reached the 72nd green, my caddy Paulie said “alright, you can ten putt this and still be okay.” He was kidding of course and I said “heck no let’s make it!” Paulie has been a huge asset to my golf game in the past few months. It was weird how we were matched up but I am so thankful that he has taken me on to work with. We have such a great time out there together and I feel like we compliment each other well. During my second round, I almost holed out for eagle. I couldn’t see the pin, only Paulie could. He didn’t make any kind of reaction and when I asked him where it went he said, “it lipped out, you have an inch putt now. Good shot.” Well geez Paulie thanks so much! Ha! He really cracks me up out on the golf course. The things we say to each other are thankfully not microphoned or else we’d be receiving huge fines or having reality television shows wanting us.

It’s such a huge relief that I don’t have to go to Venice, FL this coming weekend to try to qualify again for Final Stage so instead I’m switching my flight and going down to Miami, FL to see my best friend Caitlan and to get a little rest in. She lives on the beach and it seems like a really tough life down there so I need to go cheer her up. Ha! I will find some nice courses to go rate for Golf Digest and actually have a vacation.

I will be playing in the Arizona Womens Open in October and a Suncoast event in Florida leading up to the Final Stage of Q School but other than that, I will just be playing here and there and hopefully find some good competition along the way.

I really appreciate everyone’s support and I know that this is not an individual sport, especially at the professional level. There are so many crucial players in my life that affect my golf game in a positive way. Can’t do it without ya’ll!!!

Q School

2010-09-16T21:29:00.000-07:00

This will be a quick update because I am a tired, tired girl! This week has been a good one so far! I started off Tuesday on the Dinah Shore Course at Mission Hills in Palm Springs, CA for the LPGA Sectional Qualifier. It was a pretty solid day and finished at one over par. I didn’t shoot myself out of it on the first day, which was nice. I knew I had work to do in order to make the two-day cut.

Yesterday we switched courses and played on the Palmer Course. I got off to a nice start with a bunch of pars before I found my first few birdies. My ball striking was on and I had plenty of opportunities to make birdies. I finished the round at three under, two under for the two rounds. I sat in 11th place and made the cut with two more days guaranteed.

Today was the third round back on the Dinah Shore Course. I started off with a dumb bogey from 100 yards out. Not the way I wanted to start but thankfully stole a birdie back on the next hole with a long putt made. A gift! I haven’t been making a whole lot of long putts but it was nice to see one barely fall in. I found another bogey on the third but found back-to-back birdies on five and six. Made a dumb bogey on the par 3 eighth and another stupid one on the par 5 ninth from 75 yards out. I wasn't too extremely happy at the turn... I found a quick birdie on the tenth and thankfully calmed down my round with five straight pars. I had a few close calls at making them for birdie but I also had some great par putt saves. I put myself in jail on the fifteenth hole and took my medicine with a bogey but knew that I had three holes left and wanted to finish the day at even par at worst. Thankfully I didn’t have to wait long and made a great birdie putt on sixteen. I had popped in a blue jolly rancher before I made that birdie on sixteen and told my caddy Paulie that it was for good luck. They’ve been giving us candy on the first tee every morning and I’m a sucker for candy. I can’t help myself. I’ve been taking handfuls and it’s kept me entertained throughout the round. Well, the blue jolly rancher worked for one birdie so on the next tee, I popped in another blue one and missed the green just by 2 feet. I told Paulie that I was due to make one from off the green. It went in for birdie! I told him it was the candy, not the caddy or player. I popped in one more blue jolly rancher for the eighteenth hole but tapped in for par for a one under round of 71.

I’m currently -3 for the three rounds, tied for 9th. I have to finish in the top 30 in order to qualify for the Final Stage of Q School in December. I believe I have 6 shots to spare tomorrow but that’s not my plan. I’m going to stick to my game plan and hopefully continue to find a lot of greens and try to make the birdies when they become available. The heat is strong here in the desert but I’ve had a really good week with my family being here. My aunt and uncle from San Diego came over a few nights ago so we’ve been at the pool every afternoon at our resort, relaxing and catching up. It’s kind of nice to just be at the course to warm up, play, and leave immediately. We were laughing today at how my preparation was so different this year than last. I was in NYC last week and didn’t touch my clubs for almost a week before heading over here for two days of practice. It seemed to work out all right so far. I’ve always been a big believer in quality over quantity. Get your crap done then get outta there. Ha!!! I really appreciate everyone’s encouraging words this week. I’ve been on my phone constantly but it’s because I love hearing from you guys! I couldn’t do it without a lot of people in my life. I’m blessed.

The Season Comes to an End...

2010-09-13T21:58:00.000-07:00

I’ve procrastinated long enough; it’s time to update.

Two weeks ago, I played in Albany, NY for my final 2010 Futures Tour event. I made another cut with Paulie on my bag but unfortunately my ball did not find the hole as quick as I would have liked. The good news is that I moved up to 73rd on the money list and won’t have to play in Futures Tour Q School in November. That gives me a definite place to play next year but I’m hoping for bigger and better things.

My parents and I took a train from Albany to New York City last Sunday night. It was my first train ride and my dad’s first time to NYC. We were able to walk around that night and get our first taste of NY pizza. My mom and I like to sleep in but my dad has ADD and can’t, so he woke up Monday morning and without even changing out of his pjs, walked down to the Today Show, Rockefeller Center, etc. like a curious little boy. He came back to the room and said a man with three teeth came up to him and said “sir sir, is it morning or night?” My dad was a little confused and said “I’m sorry, what?” The guy said “sir, is it morning or afternoon?” My dad replied “uh morning.” Ha! Gotta love NYC!!! The rest of our day was filled with walking, walking, and more walking. It was crazy how much land we covered but I’m pretty sure my dad got to see everything he wanted.

Tuesday was a more leisurely day of sightseeing and that night we saw Mary Poppins on Broadway (my favorite Disney movie.) It was a short and sweet trip but we all had a good time.

I flew home for two days and spent my time practicing, seeing a few familiar faces, and packing up again for the desert, which is where I find myself today.

I’m playing in the LPGA’s Qualifying School this coming week in Palm Springs, CA. It’s going to be my second time trying to make it and hopefully my time is sooner than later. My folks and I flew out to San Diego last Saturday morning and made the drive over to Palm Springs that afternoon. I was able to get out on one of the courses and play about 12 holes. No one was on the course so it was wonderful. My caddy made it to town today because he was looping last weekend in Arkansas for the LPGA event. I was glad that he spent today with me getting a game plan together for this week’s little adventure.

The weather here is predictable. Hot, sunny, and hot. I haven’t been hitting the ball as far as I normally do but I’ve heard a few others say they are experiencing the same problem since we are close to sea level. I’m going to think it’s that and not me needing to do some more push ups. Q School is 36 holes, a cut to top 70 and ties, and then another 36 holes with top 30 and ties advancing to the Final Stage of Q School in December. If things don’t go well this week, I will travel over to Venice, FL in two weeks to give it another try at that sectional. That is where I qualified last year but I’m really hoping we can cancel those flights after this week. I’d be one happy girl! I hope everyone is looking forward to cooler temps and a great OU Football season : ) Proud of my Sooners last Saturday! I won’t be seeing them live for quite a while but as long as they keep winning, they don’t need my help. Ha! Take care everyone!

What I’m Reading: At First Sight by Nicholas Sparks
What I’m Listening To: A little bit of everything!

Rainin' in Richmond

2010-08-16T09:37:00.001-07:00

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

2010-08-12T18:56:00.000-07:00

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...

2010-08-02T20:51:00.000-07:00

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!

A Change Is Gonna Come

2010-07-20T20:41:00.000-07:00

My absolute dream job!

Well friends, thankfully my prayers and possibly other people’s prayers were answered and I finally played well this past week in Bloomfield, CT! It’s been a long time coming but I did it! I met a tour caddy by the name of Paulie back in Daytona Beach, FL in March when he was caddying for another player. I spent some time with him last week at the US Womens Open and revealed to him that I had been struggling to perform. He normally caddies out on the LPGA but had a week off and offered his help this week in Connecticut. I jumped at the opportunity because I know his record and his referrals were nothing but positive. I knew a change was gonna come!

Before we hit the links this week, Lucy and I had the opportunity to visit ESPN (my dream job) in Bristol, CT. We had a nice tour of the campus and met some nice people. We ran across a few famous faces and were able to take many pictures. I had no clue how stressful of a job it is but I believe the on-air talent have the easiest job. The people behind the scenes do it all and it’s a 24/7 stressful, stressful job! We went the morning that Steinbrenner died so it was complete chaos.

I'm in heaven!

Maybe one day...

Lucy and I made it to the course that afternoon but as soon as we arrived it started to pour so I rode around in the cart with my caddy just to see the place before we teed it up for our first practice round Wednesday morning. It was Paulie’s birthday on Thursday so we celebrated it at Buffalo Wild Wings Wednesday night with the entire Duramed Futures Tour staff. It was pretty fun to see them off the course and relaxing a bit and sharing stories. They are a funny bunch!

Thursday was an afternoon practice round so that morning I called Hartford Golf Club to see if Lucy and I could come out and practice. They were extremely gracious and allowed us to come out and use all their facilities. It was an old 1920s Donald Ross design and was gorgeous! As we were finishing up our practice session we met this man who offered to get our lunch at the club. Score! He even wanted us to stay with him and his wife at their big house this week but we felt like that would be a bit too much. It turns out his wife is from Oklahoma City and his in-laws still live there. Small world. Lunch was much better than what we are used to so we were happy campers!

Friday was the first round and Lucy and I both had early morning tee times. We had the better-conditioned greens but that didn’t stop me from missing putts. I ended up shooting two over and sat right on the cut line. That has been typical for me to shoot a decent round and then lose it in the second round to miss the cut. I had a different feeling this week with Paulie on the bag and never thought about the cut, just thought about the present and how I wanted to birdie every hole. I had read articles about Paulie’s past players and how he kept them so relaxed out there and I thought that was just typical of a caddy but for some reason, it’s really true about him! He’s very positive, hilarious out there, and knows his stuff! He may be tweeting during practice rounds and chatting it up with the other players before tournament rounds but once the gun goes off, he’s ready to work and is hardly off with distances. I’ve never laughed so much during a tournament than the past week, which I think is a good thing. I wish I could have made more putts for him but my number one goal for the week was to make the cut and have three consistent good rounds. Goal completed! I ended up shooting 72-68-69 for a three-day total of -1 and tying for 21st. It was my season-best finish on the Duramed Futures Tour but I still have some room to gain for the last four tournaments. I definitely need to finish in the top 90 on the money list but top 20 is still in reach to be able to forego the first stage of LPGA Q School.

We saw Inception on Friday night after our round and I must say it was crazy! The reviews have all been good but I think I had ADD during the movie because I was going stir crazy. It’s a good one, it makes you think, and I don’t think Leo ever puts out a bad movie. Saturday night after our second round Lucy and I went out to eat with my caddy, her caddy, and another LPGA tour caddy to a restaurant called Max’s Burgers in West Hartford Center. If you are ever in that area, go there! I had the best burger I’ve ever eaten in my whole entire life. Sweet potato fries, the whole nine yards. Yum! Last night (Sunday night), Lucy and I went over to Jane Rah’s host house (who was 98 years old) and had homemade sushi made by the one and only Mama Rah! It was delicious and we ate a billion pieces. As we were driving back to our hotel, I asked Lucy if she was still hungry. We are fat girls so we went to McDonalds and rewarded ourselves with a Big Mac! I haven’t had one in ages but it was a lot smaller than I remembered! We ate really well (as in didn’t starve) but hardly spent any money this week so we are learning how to use our sources haha! I am currently on an airplane back to Oklahoma City for an entire week. I’m so excited to be home for a short while and have a summer! I think I’m going to enjoy this week and maybe not put so much on my plate. I’m getting a shot in the toe this afternoon because the shattered bone is calling my name again so gotta get that taken care of. My mom has some kind of delicious dinner planned tonight because she has reservations. We don’t ever have reservations so I’m ind of interested to see what it’s all about. My dad has golf league so it’ll just be girls night out tonight. I’m planning on going to Norman to practice, see my college sports psychologist and have lunch with an old teammate. I really want to go lay on a float one afternoon in my best friend’s pool and work on the tan lines. It’s the simple things in life that I look forward to. I have a gig on Friday at an Edmond golf course where I have to hit tee shots for my high school and another Edmond high school’s football fundraiser scramble. They will put me on a ladies tee box on either a par 4 or 5 and be able to get it on the green or give the groups a short shot in on a par 5. It should be a fun time. Thanks for everyone who have prayed for me and given me encouragement during the rough past few weeks. I know things are getting better; I just have to keeping looking ahead.

Next up: Syracuse, NY July 26-August 1
Harrisburg, PA August 2-8
Richmond, VA August 9-15
Albany, NY August 30-September 5

US Womens Open

2010-07-12T19:52:00.003-07:00

Oh my goodness. What a week! I knew going into the week that caddying in the US Womens Open was going to be awesome but I had no clue how much fun we were going to have!

Lucy had a late first round tee time so we woke up early Thursday and went out to practice while the first half of the field was out playing. We had the place to ourselves and I think it calmed her nerves a bit. Nothing is worse than having a late tee time and sitting around all day. It’s hard not to think about your round and how you’re going to perform and trying not to watch the leader board as the morning wave plays.

The crowds were much much bigger and just hearing the applauses and roars were music to my ears. It’s kind of nice being on the other side of the bag because I didn’t have nerves the whole week. Lucy’s short game made Oakmont look easy leading up to the tournament. She was hitting the ball great and we had an awesome game plan for the course. We got off to a nice solid start and didn’t find any trouble until our 8th hole of the day, #17. It’s the short par 4 hole that Jim Furyk bogeyed in ’07 in the US Open. Our original game plan was to hit an iron up the hill to make sure we kept the ball in the fairway. She chose 5 iron which was the play and landed the ball in the left side of the fairway. We walked up there and had to get the gallery to yell at us to let us know where the ball ended up. An inch above the bunker on the side wall in thick US Open rough. No need to go into detail but we walked away with a triple followed by a double on 18. If we took 4 holes away or even changed them to bogeys it would have made a world of a difference. Instead her first round was an 83 and we had a lot of work to do the next day.

The second round we had another solid start. Had an understandable bogey on 3 but turned around and had back-to-back birdies on 5 and 6. We made the turn at even and found a double on 10. #10 flat out sucks. Not a fan of that hole. Lucy made another putt from off the green on #16 which was sweet. I told her it was going to be a quick putt and she nailed the putt pretty hard, not listening to her caddy. If it didn’t hit the pin it was going off the green. All I could do was throw my hands in the air, pretty much saying “it’s good!!!!” The round was called once we got to 17 green because of lightning. I heard Oakmont got at least 2 inches of rain that night and it was amazing how quickly they turned the course around for the next morning’s finish of the 2nd round. We woke up at the butt crack of dawn and finished our last two holes. She ended up shooting 78 and missed the cut. She was bummed but I had to tell her that she should be proud that she qualified for the Open…I didn’t and envied every shot she was able to hit. I’m really glad she asked me to caddy though. It was hard work and my back and feet hated me for it but I learned so much and realized that that’s my ultimate goal. I want to be in that atmosphere week in and week out. I’m going to work hard and do my very best to not get down on myself and to keep looking ahead for the ultimate goal.

I was able to meet Christina Kim in the locker room during the rain delay and got my picture with her. She was really sweet and I was happy I finally got to meet her. We were on the putting green early Saturday morning warming up and were putting at the same hole as Kristy McPherson. I like her golf game and since she’s American, I said “hey good luck today. We’re pulling for you.” I think she was slightly caught off guard because she said “who me? Thanks! Ya’ll have fun today!” …she went out and shot 78 I believe and knocked herself out of contention. I apparently jinxed her. Paula Creamer was walking past us that same morning and I said “good morning” in a cheerful voice and all she mustered out was a “morning” and didn’t even make eye contact with me. Hmm…I guess it was too early in the morning for her. I was able to give Wendy Ward a hug and had a quick chat before she headed out and played awesome on Saturday to put her in the final group on the final round. She’s a fellow Ping girl and veteran out there so I was pulling for her to play well the last day. I played with her in February in Phoenix and really enjoyed playing with her. She recommended me to this amazing chiropractor in Scottsdale because I had the worst crick in my neck. Very nice lady so I had to cheer her on. Sunday rolled around and of course I walked by Paula Creamer before she teed off so I told her “good luck today!” And she looked at me (finally) and gave me a quiet “thank you.” I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt and assume she was in the zone. Lucy thinks I was trying to jinx her but I was sincere when I said it! Lucy, her dad, her brother-in-law, and me went out and watched the entire final round. It was the coolest atmosphere and just a blast to watch them play the same course we knew. I’ve never seen anyone win a major championship in person so we stayed til the end, had a great view and afterwards snuck under the ropes and were on the 18th green with Paula when she gave her acceptance speech. I’m really glad an American won and it was definitely her time to win a major.

Lucy and I are on our way to Hartford, CT right now. We are taking a tiny detour because I thought going along the coast would be prettier than going through Scranton, PA. I’ve only been to NYC once so the whole northeast part of the country is new to me.

I’m really excited because I found a great tour caddie to work for me the last couple of tournaments of the Futures Tour season. He’s caddied for a lot of great players and is definitely wanted by a lot of players but for some reason he wants to carry my bag. I’m already grateful and excited to see how well we can play these courses. One more week in Connecticut then flying home for a week to get refreshed and say hi to the family, dog, and friends before I head out for another 3 weeks.

I didn’t get a whole lot of practice this week in Oakmont but hopefully there isn’t much rust and more course smarts in my head to take me on to a victory. I feel like I have my back against the wall right now because I’ve been in a somewhat huge slump of playing consistently well and I really need to finish in the top 90 on the money list so four great finishes is what I’m looking for. Please keep me in your prayers this week. I’d really appreciate it. Take care everyone!

Ohhh. Akmont.

2010-07-07T14:53:00.000-07:00

Ahh! Finally wifi! I had to find a McDonalds in Oakmont, PA to get some internet on my computer. We are staying in a 100 year old home this week for the US Women’s Open and they don’t happen to have internet.

For everyone who has been busy must know that the US Women’s Open is this weekend! July 8-11. It will be on ESPN2 Thursday and Friday from 3-7pm est. On the weekend, coverage will be on NBC. Set your dvrs! It’s going to be an amazing championship.

I’m caddying for my good friend, Lucy Nunn. I’ve done many caddy gigs before and I must say that I get more animated on their ball than my own. Hopefully the mics won’t catch what I have to say tomorrow afternoon when the ball is in the air or not stopping where we need it to. They claim the greens are rolling around a 15 on the stimp. Piece of cake right? It’s a shame that last week we were on greens that looked like shag carpet. I think Lucy has the green speeds down pretty good but I will feel sorry for her next week when she’s back on the Futures Tour playing in Connecticut with me and they are back to rolling around a 9 ha!

Lucy and I drove in to Pittsburgh on Sunday night and headed downtown to Square Station for the 4th of July. We took a tram up to Mt. Washington and joined hundreds of thousands of people overlooking the Allegheny River and downtown Pitt. It was pretty fun minus the fact that when it was over, it took us an hour and a half to get back to the hotel because of all the traffic. Bad move on our part and I must say that if I never see another firework again, I’m okay by that. That’s how bad the traffic sucked!

We woke up early Monday morning and went to the airport to pick up the sweet Lexus SUV courtesy car for the week. I got to follow behind in her beauty of a Honda CRV. I’m not complaining, she let me drive the Lexus that night back to the airport to pick up her folks. After we got the Lexus, we drove across town to Oakmont to get the keys, etc. for the house we rented for the week. It was a smart move because we are two blocks away from the course and it’s so nice being in a house rather than a hotel room that we are so used to being in.

Lucy and I went to Oakmont CC Monday around lunchtime to register and walk the course. We ate in the clubhouse and that’s when I knew it was going to be a fun week. Brittany Lincicome, Juli Inkster, you name it, they were all around. I had to act cool like they were normal people but they aren’t, they’re great golfers! We walked the course, which took some time but were able to see a lot of things and jot down a lot of notes. The folks flew in Monday night so our shenanigans had to end quickly.

Tuesday morning rolled around and I woke up and practiced at this pretty 1920s Donald Ross design called Green Oaks Country Club in Verona, PA, 10 minutes from the house. It’s a perfect place because it’s not ever crowded and the place is in magnificent shape! I had a quick range session then went back to get Lucy and the fam to head for lunch at Oakmont. I have my own caddie house down by the range and it’s filled with nothing but guys. The food they have is very manly, Italian sausages, bbq….stuff a girl doesn’t want to eat in 90+ degree temps. I had Lucy bring me down a sandwich from up above where the fancy people eat and drink. She warmed up and then we were on our merry way to #1 tee box.

It was a long practice round but we learned a lot from playing it just once. We played with a 14 year old who is a stud and Lucy’s old teammate Kelli Shean, who will be a senior on Arkansas’ team next year. She’s a great player as well. It was a blur of a night because we were back at the course just a few hours later (7 this morning.) A quick warm-up session and we were back walking down #1 fairway. We kept saying, “I feel like we were just here.” ….Maybe because we were. The crowds enjoy the practice rounds because they are able to get autographs, pictures, and it’s just a more laid back setting. I like to watch the men laugh when they watch the balls on the greens go sailing by. I told Lucy Monday afternoon when we were first stepping onto the property, “There’s no reason to be nervous because everyone who is watching you wouldn’t be able to break 100 out here. They are very quick to judge a golf shot but they’d never be able to do what you do out here so let’s get in our own bubble and play our own golf like we did at Lawton Country Club as 12 year olds.” …Lucy and I go back further than that but it makes me feel old when I say we’ve been both doing this for over 15 years. We may look young in the face but as a team, we have over 30 years of golf experience. Yikes. Old. I’m done talking about years now.

I have seen Lucy play thousands of golf shots and I’ve never seen her hit it better than now. She’s ready and I think our game plan is smart and doable. As long as I keep her smiling down the fairways for the cameras and calm on the inside, things will go well for us. I wish more than anything I could play this week but I know my time will come. It’s a learning process and I’m just thankful I get to be on the bag this week and see everything first hand before I tee up my own ball in the US Women's Open.

We are having a huge cookout tonight at our house with more Razorback’s (Stacy Lewis, Kelli Shean, coaches, families, etc.) This Sooner will probably be sporting an OU hat tomorrow because I’ve seen too many hog things this week and I need to get back to my roots. I hope everyone had a great week and is looking forward to watching some great golf this weekend!

Keennntucckkyy!!

2010-07-02T19:53:00.001-07:00

Alright. One round down. One round where I felt like I grew as a player. I didn’t score as well as I would have liked but my mind scored well under par. I’ve been doing a lot of analyzing of my game and figuring out why I haven’t been scoring the way I should be. I was a happier person out there today and I got more into the process of my game rather than focusing so narrowly and critically of results. Putts didn’t fall like I wanted them to but I realized early on that I can make the best stroke on those greens and sometimes they just won’t fall. The speed of the greens this week are slow, slow, and more slow. They are bumpy, especially in the afternoons but that’s just the way it goes sometimes. I have my good friend Phil on the bag and he helped me stay positive and we were able to talk out shots and lines. I wish I could afford him to be on the bag every week. He teaches me a lot about this sport and it’s nice to have a guy around! I’m getting sick of seeing females so much!

I was paired to play with my close friend Lucy Nunn today so we had a little fun trash talking each other. We’d get mad at each other if one outdrove the other and we had some bets going on towards the end of the round. I’m caddying for her in the US Open next week so it was good to see her game up close and personal in a competitive setting before next week’s huge tournament. I have a feeling I can help her and if the tv decides to show us, she’ll have a smile on her face because I’m good at getting people relaxed and their mind’s off of golf….is that a good thing? Probably not for a major championship. Oh well!

Stuck one close, only because a Dairy Queen dipped cone was riding on a birdie-birdie finish.

I have another late tee time tomorrow afternoon so I’m planning on getting some good sleep tonight and enjoying another beautiful day out in the sticks of Kentucky!

Pullover! No It's a Cardigan But Thanks for Noticing

2010-07-02T19:00:00.000-07:00

Normally I just forget to update the blog but this time it was on purpose that I didn’t post. It’s been a rough couple of weeks and I was not my normal self mentally. I was full of negative thoughts and wasn’t happy about my game and what I was doing and how I was thinking. For the second straight week in a row, I missed the cut by 1 shot. In Illinois, my most recent tournament I shot 69-73. The first round I had 3 three putts so it wasn’t the most perfect round. The second round I played pretty solid for the first nine and turned at even par. I began to have weird “what if” thoughts and it got in the way with my game, which caused me to have five consecutive bogeys with one late birdie, but missed playing the weekend by one single shot.

My mom and I loaded up and drove 10 hours home last Saturday. I got pulled over by a rookie cop in the middle of nowhere Missouri…I was going 83 in a 70 and the conversation with the state trooper ended with him saying “sorry” and “you guys can go now if you want.” Haha bless his heart. We laughed all the way home. He won’t make it very long in that profession. I think I was older than him and outweighed him by a few.

I was able to spend Sunday with my dad and family for Father’s Day which was nice. I saw my head pro Brent Cryer a few times throughout the week and played with some friends and members at The Greens in Oklahoma City.

My best friends

I also forecaddied for three days at Gaillardia Country Club for their member guest tournament. My guys didn’t play very well but taught me a few lessons. They weren’t breaking 100 yet they maintained a confidence that they could still make putts, even though they weren’t. Also, I had a confidence in them that they could pull off any shot and a slight mishit was still all right. This taught me to open my eyes up and see that the tiniest mishit I make or a small mistake I make is nothing to fret over. I still have to go find the ball and hit the next shot.

My awesome group I caddied for

My mom and I flew out to Lexington, Kentucky this past Monday to see her best friend of 40 years. They haven’t seen each other in over 25 years so it was neat to see them together. We had dinner with her friend’s family and then stayed the night in Lexington. We got up Tuesday morning and made the quick trip down to London, Kentucky to register and play 9 holes for a short day of practice.

This town is another small town with not much going. Lucy and I have played 2 hours of tennis, I’ve seen a chiropractor and horse masseuse, have seen two movies, and I’d have to say that’s about it. The people here talk so funny. If people who know me think I have an accent, they haven’t seen anything til they come here!

My friend Phillip Bryan, men’s assistant golf coach at Louisville, is coming down to caddy for me starting tomorrow. I hope that he can bring me positive thoughts for the weekend. I’m paired up with Lucy tomorrow afternoon…I just can’t get rid of her! I’m caddying for her in the US Women’s Open next week in Oakmont, PA so we are spending a lot of time together, not to mention traveling and staying together in Connecticut the following week. You can follow live scoring on futurestour.com. Have a great 4th of July weekend everybody!!!

Land of Lincoln!

2010-06-16T19:58:00.000-07:00

One week down, one more to go. Last Sunday, my mom and I began our two-week journey up to Ohio. I drove the entire way up there while she sat patiently in the passenger seat, reading magazines, texting, facebooking, and making fun of small town names with me. For example, Effingham, IL…great name!

We drove 7 hours to St. Louis, spent the night, and drove 5 hours on to Cincinnati the next day. It was my first time to Cincy so I didn’t know how humid the weather could get. It was unbelievably HUMID! Memphis-like. My friend Lucy and I went to King’s Island Amusement Park Tuesday afternoon after my one-hour driving range session. We had an absolute blast riding all of the roller coasters and acting like little kids. I took my camera on almost every ride and found out at the end of the day that I was breaking a park rule by doing so, whoops!

Wednesday morning I was selected to play in the tournament’s pro am. I was paired up with a fun group and ended up shooting -12. We missed the prizes by 2 shots but I had a great time and met some cool guys. That night I had to go back up to the course for the Pro Party. We have one each week with the sponsors of the tournament. I won an iTunes gift card so I was a happy girl.

Thursday afternoon I had my one and only practice round with my usual group, Lucy Nunn, Kendra Hanson, and Jane Rah. Since Jane is higher up on the money list than the rest of us, I made her sign a contract that if she won she had to pay for all of our tickets back to King’s Island. She was tied for the lead after the first round but ended up getting 9th which is great for a 19 year old!

Friday was my first round of the Teva Championship in Mason, OH and I teed off at 1:30pm. I played alright and made some good putts but also missed two short ones and three putted a few too many times. I shot -1 and stood 5 shots off the lead. The next morning we had a four-hour rain delay that pushed my 12:20pm starting time to 4:25pm. I didn’t think there was any way we could get the round in but as we sprinted up the last par 3 and got our short knocker of the group to tee off on 18, we finished the last hole in the dark while the other girls had to come in due to the horn sounding off because of darkness. I was really thankful we didn’t have to get up and play one hole early Sunday morning. We leisurely got to the course the next morning to find out that I missed the cut by one shot. It was my second cut to miss and kind of heartbreaking to know that I played awful in the second round and only missed it by one. I could count on 2 hands the number of opportunities I had to make birdie or save par and I didn’t. I know every good player misses cuts and I just cannot let this get me down. It is one of many tournaments I play in and just because my swing is going through a lull, I’m going to work extremely hard to make sure that never happens again.

My mom and I decided to drive west and see some of my friends in Carmel, IN. But first, I went to Crooked Stick Golf Club to rate a top 100 golf course. I had no problem getting on and played a quick 18 with their first assistant professional. I warmed up next to Alice Dye giving a lesson to a member and then met famous golf course architect Pete Dye on the first tee box. Pretty neat because I always tell people he is my grandpa and he designs so many great golf courses. He was a pretty cute old man and it made my day! Little did I know that when I was on my second to last hole, I took my cart the wrong way and almost went right into a member’s tee shot. That member happened to be Peyton Manning. I wanted to go over there and get a picture with him but the assistant pro said that he is the one member that they shy away people from. Danget! At least I got to see him up close and personal though. I slow played the rest of the way around just in case he came back by the clubhouse. He never did but maybe one day I’ll get to really meet him. We had a home cooked dinner with my friends, the Savich’s, in Carmel and had a great night off from the typical restaurant and hotel room. They are the funniest people I know! Lots of laughs and stories but then we had to leave them be because the girls had a big tournament the next morning in south Indianapolis.

Grandpa Pete Dye and I!

Monday, my mom and I drove 2 hours west to Decatur, IL. It is the original home of the Chicago Bears. That’s about all it is home to. The exit we took for Decatur had a big blue attraction sign that had absolutely nothing on it. Awesome. We get to spend an entire week here too!!! This week is the Tour Championship so it will be a four round tournament starting on Thursday morning. We were only allowed one practice round on Tuesday because they had three pro ams this week. As most people know, the weather has been crazy lately. At home, OKC got 11 inches in just a few hours. It must’ve travelled up to where I am because this is what we got last night:

They are going to make one par 5 a par 3 because it is completely underwater. The tee times have already been moved back an hour and a half and who knows what will actually happen tomorrow morning before the first group tees off.

My practice round group: Tara, Jane, and I....the ones who never use pull carts!

My first official day to ever use one of these!

Since we didn’t get a practice round today, Lucy and I had a nice long morning practice and then hit the tennis courts this afternoon. We played for a solid two hours so I can only imagine how sore I’m going to be in the morning.

Welp, time to get some rest! Hopefully we can play all 18, for all 4 days and without rain delays! I don’t think we would know how to play without rain! Hope everyone has a great weekend and is enjoying their summer. I realized today that I have been home for one full day in Oklahoma this whole month. I’m ready for some home cooked meals, my bed, and my dog! Next week! Gotta make some money before I go home though!

What I’m Listening to: Drake - Thank Me Later
What I’m Reading: I Was Told There’d Be Cake by Sloane Crosley

Major life changing news for me: My best friend Caitlan was hired this past week at Kempler Energy in South Beach Miami! I have a hard time seeing my best friend move across country but I'm so proud of her for graduating in 5 years with her undergrad in industrial engineering annnnd receiving her MBA. Another close friend, MJ Desbiens, was recently hired as Arkansas State's Head Womens Golf Coach! Another huge hire and I know she is going to take that team to the top. She has already moved to Jonesboro and I didn't even get to say goodbye to her. My weekly lunch buddy has left me so now I have to travel 7 hours one way to have a meal with her...I will do it! So proud of you MJ! And finally, another one of my best friends, Whitney, has started her first summer in PA School at the University of Oklahoma. She is going to be one of the best PA's ever but the next two and a half years are going to be brutal for her. Please keep these three girls in your prayers. They are doing great things in the world and I'm so thankful to have them in my life!

Colorado Mountains

2010-06-05T23:12:00.000-07:00

Team Dye

Well the week in Denver has come to an end but it has been a memorable one to say the least. The family flew up with me on Tuesday morning to Denver for the Colorado Women’s Open. It is a women’s professional event but includes a simultaneous pro am like the PGA’s AT&T Pro Am tournament. I took my brother Adam as my partner this year, knowing we could tear it up. I, however, didn’t carry my weight the first two days…

I shot 74 in the first round with only one birdie. It was a matter of not hitting as many greens as I should have and not making any birdie putts that I normally drop. I was sitting two strokes ahead of the cut, looking to move on up during round two. …My golf game had other plans. I started off the day with a tee shot that hit the cart path and missing the hazard by 2 inches. Whew! I finally caught a break. However, on the 2nd hole I went on to double from 131 yards out in the middle of the fairway. Got one back by getting on a par 5 green in two shots and two putting for birdie. A few holes later I doubled from 107 yards out in the middle of the fairway. Not cool! The 16th hole, my approach shot didn’t make it over the tree and came straight down. I had an awkward 60-yard pitch that I pushed out to the right and hit the same tree and flew into the hazard. I dropped, hit it over the green and proceeded to get that up and down for a beautiful triple. The following two holes I went on to three putt. 9 over, 45. I had my back against the wall at this point.

I can go to some pretty dark places in my head and I’d like to think I can do this but eventually bring myself out of it. When we were walking down #1, our tenth hole of the day, my mom asked if I was awake. Yep, pretty sure those doubles and triple were a cold splash of water right in my face. I was definitely awake but wishing I was in a nightmare to wake up and realize I didn’t just shoot a freakin’ 45! I put myself in deep holes all the time, holes that I can slowly crawl myself out of. Well this, was a dang mine! 9 over on top of the 2 over I shot the day before…I was looking to be in contention on the final day but now I’m thinking I’m missing the cut by a mile and hopefully making the cut for the pro am team competition. I find every green on the second nine and one birdie to finish 45-35. Now that 35 looks awesome but let me tell you, I missed a 2 foot putt on my 17th hole and my chip on the 9th, my eighteenth of the day lipped out and went six feet by, where I proceeded to two putt for par. The 35 was not that pretty.

So here I am, shooting 74-80, on a course that I tore up last year and a course that I should tear up every time I play it but I kept my spirits up because I knew there would be another day with the pro am competition.

We went back to the hotel, showered, and headed over to Boulder so Adam and my sister-in-law Jennifer, could see Pearl Street and all the weirdos that it contains. Us girls went to a lot of different stores while the boys sat outside and people watched. We saw some straaanngge people! There were great photo ops everywhere! We found a yummy Mexican place to eat called The Rio (I believe?) I don’t drink often and especially not lately so since the day sucked so bad I needed a frozen strawberry margarita to make my insides feel a little better. Turns out I had two to make myself feel on top of the world. Two is the limit at this restaurant. We had a fabulous time eating along the street, cracking jokes and speaking inappropriately. By the time dinner was over, I found out that I had made the cut on the number! There lived to be another day!

We drove back to our hotel and I passed out til morning. Best sleep I have had in a long time. Woke up feeling like I had been given a second chance to get myself back into gear. My dad wanted to caddy for me once again but I told him no for the third straight day. I just knew that if I had my bag with me, I couldn’t blame anything on anyone except myself. So he went on to push Adam’s pull cart…something my dad is very good at doing. That and cleaning our dirty balls. Ha!

My dad "caddying." Note us getting ready for the next hole in the background. God love em! :)

I started off the day by sticking an 8 iron to 6 feet. I over read the putt and missed it. Screw it, move on and try again. I stuck my next approach to four feet. MADE IT! Alright, things are feeling back to normal. The next was a par 5 where I put my approach in a bunker about 60 yards away. I stuck a gap wedge shot out of there to 6 feet. Draino! It was raining on the greens we were on. The 14th tee was moved up so I busted driver just to get the ball somewhere around the green. I was 20 yards out and made the chip for eagle! Holy moly, 4 under thru 5 holes. This was getting kind of fun. I block my next tee shot and put it in a nasty fairway bunker looking at a pretty difficult pin up ahead. I somehow manage to put that shot to 12 feet away. My triple hole from the previous day, number 16 was next and I missed the green. I had an easy chip that I somehow managed to thin 20 feet too far. I made the come back putt for par. I stuck the next par 3 tee shot to 6 feet that I went on to par. And finally the 18th, our 9th of the day, I put to 12 feet that fell in for birdie. 5 under, 31, on that side. Less than 24 hours prior I shot 45 on those 9 holes. Who does that? I still don’t believe I shot a 45.

My near hole-in-one

I knew I still had a lot more golf to play and I had to keep digging out of that 10 over par hole I put myself in. 5 more birdies was the goal. I had plenty of opportunities, hitting every single green and hitting every single fairway. I found only one birdie on the second nine and that was on #5, par 3 that was 154 yards. I hit a 9 iron and saw it bounce in front of the hole, tap the pin and finish 5 inches from the cup. I was so disappointed. How could that thing not go in?! I had a tap in birdie and pared the rest of the way in. 66, -6, +4 overall. I moved from T44th to T12th. Not awful but man the whatifs! I like that I graced my presence in each category. I saw the 70s, 80s, and 60s all in a matter of three consecutive rounds. Team Dye shot 64 today, 68 on round one and 66 yesterday, -18 which got us 6th in the pro am competition. Adam was able to get two brand new Vokey wedges with his golf shop money so he was a happy boy. I wish I could’ve helped more in the first two rounds but I was glad to play well in front of him and show him that I’m not wasting my time playing professionally. I think he believes I can do it, but it’s nice to show the brother I can score well. I made a decent check of $2200, which will be nice to put back into the golf account and hopefully see a few more bigger checks in the coming weeks.

We are currently flying back to OKC for one full day then heading northeast in the car to Mason, OH. I am thinking we will stop in St. Louis Sunday night to check out my friend Sammy B’s new town and then head on to Ohio Monday morning. I am thinking about playing and rating Canyata Club in Cincinnati since it’s a top 100 course. There is also King’s Island Amusement Park which I’ll be finding some free time to visit. I’ll play in the Futures event in Ohio Friday, June 11-13 then drive over to Decatur, IL to play in another Futures event June 17-20. I’m thinking about rating a course called Camargo Golf Club in Illiniois that is another top 100 course and a must-see! Mama Dye and I will be driving home on Father’s Day and will stay home for one full week before I head out for another three weeks.

I’m so tired and can’t wait to see my puppy dog and get into my own bed! We had a great week full of laughter and memories and I’m so glad the entire family got to go with me. Hopefully it won’t be the last. Until next time…

One Sweet Scenario

2010-06-01T20:25:00.001-07:00

Check out this sweet scenario:

My family (mom, dad, brother, and sister-in-law) flew up to Denver this morning with me and it's the first time we are all together at a professional golf event. What's even better is that I'm getting to play in a professional golf tournament with my brother as my partner!!! How many professional athletes get to say that they've played in a professional competition with their sibling as their teammate? Not many. I'm blessed!

My brother is one of the main reasons why I even play this game. He is and has always been the much better golfer and someone I strive to beat every time we tee it up. Golf is one of our best talents and you can truly say that it is God-given. Some of our family members play(ed) golf and love the game but the both of us have worked hard to get to the level of play we are at. Adam has never seen me play in a professional tournament so this is a special week for all of us. It would be great for us to come away with the cardboard check Friday. Friday's results are already destined so all we can do is give it our all and have fun!

We are playing in the Colorado Women's Open in Denver, CO at Green Valley Ranch. We had our first and only practice round this morning with my college teammates Kelly Jacques and Ellen Mueller. My dad walked around with us trying to find wildlife...his favorite thing to do. He got me excited because he said there was a bobcat and I quietly walked down the cart path to see a dang calico cat going through the weeds. He got sleepy and kept losing us when he fell asleep on tee box benches. We could never keep track of him. Adam and I are lugging our bags around this tournament so we were worn out after the round. We had a nice, senior citizen (5:00pm) mexican dinner and were back at the hotel at a early time tonight.

Hopefully this year's results will be one place better!

Adam and I tee off at 12:20pm tomorrow for the first round and play with one other girl. Hopefully she won't feel like the third wheel in our group. They have the course set up for 6,325 yards so with the elevation as it is, we should have some good opportunities at birdie. I've been putting on greens that have been rolling about a 7 and these greens in Denver are creeping up to 12 on the Stimpmeter. We better be aware of where we are! I'm hitting the ball so dang far up here so that's another thing I have to be aware of. I'm planning on hitting a lot of fairway woods and hybrids off the tee this week. Last year I was a little more aggressive but ended up getting 2nd individually and 2nd as a pro-am team which seemed to work out alright. I feel like I've gotten a lot better since last year's Open and a lot more wiser and feel that I can score even better this year. I'm really excited and know that if I enjoy my time out on the course, good golf will come. Hope everyone has a great first week of June! Crazy how fast the time flies!!!

They might have live scoring found here: Live Scoring

Day Trip to Kansas

2010-05-30T21:43:00.001-07:00

The country’s most great golf courses begin with the letter P: Pebble Beach Golf Links, Pine Valley Golf Club, Pacific Dunes, Prairie Dunes Country Club, and Pinehurst Country Club No. 2 just to name a few. -Alex Brown

I’ve been blessed with another opportunity this year by becoming a Golf Digest Panelist. My job is to travel around playing and rating the country and state’s best golf courses. I’m lucky enough to play in golf tournaments around the nation but on days I want to get away from the tournament site and see a new venue, I’m able to call up an extremely famous and nice course to play and rate it. It’s many people’s dream come true.

The courses that are considered on or near the list want Panelists to come rate their course so that they may have the chance to be on the Top 100 Greatest Courses in the Golf Digest Magazine. The Panelists do not receive payment by the Magazine but it usually results in free or reduced green fees. Not a bad gig!

I’m pretty goal-oriented and have always said that I want to play golf in all 50 states. I’ve now added another goal to the list. I want to play every single Top 100 Greatest Courses. However, that goal is a moving target. The list comes out every two years and some of those courses can fall out of the Top 100 and some can jump up into the list. However, the more great golf courses you play, that moving target gets smaller and smaller. As of today, I have played 5 of the Top 100 Greatest Courses but I’m in my first two months of business. I’m a rookie! I have some tournaments coming up that are in states and areas of the country that I’ve never been. I’m excited to venture out and come away with some wonderful stories and photos!

I had a whirlwind trip yesterday, May 28, with three older men up to Kansas. I met Alex Brown and Freddie Moore at 6:00am in Edmond and headed north for a two-hour drive to Wichita/Andover, KS. We found ourselves teeing off at Flint Hills National Golf Club at 8:30am joined with Coach Mark Cline. Mark drove 14 hours from West Virginia in order to accompany us for this fun Friday journey!

Tom Fazio built Flint Hills National Golf Club in 1997. Fazio’s designs are some of my favorites: Karsten Creek in Stillwater, OK, Caves Valley in Owings Mills, MD, The Madison Club in La Quinta, and Reynolds Plantation in Greensboro, GA. When you play Karsten Creek, you don’t feel like you’re in Stillwater. When you play Flint Hills, you don’t feel like you are in Andover, Ks. You feel like you are far away playing in a beautiful area such as Baltimore where Caves Valley is near. Tom Fazio makes gorgeous courses but they do favor one another. He built very demanding golf courses yet the smart, straight player will be able to score. Flint Hills’ rough was ROUGH but the zoysia fairways were absolutely perfect and the greens rolled very nicely. I lost four golf balls but shot a 78 from the back tees. It doesn’t look like a good score but I can’t wait to go back again now that I was punched in the mouth by it the first time. I’m awake and ready to go score low on it! Every hole had white poles at the beginning of every fairway and down near the green. It was an in and out for the carts to go through so that the grass won’t get worn out by the riders. I loved that idea! Here are a few pictures of Flint Hills on Friday:

Flint Hills Par 4 #2

Flint Hills Par 3 #10

Flint Hills Par 3 #17

Once we finished out on the 18th hole, the GM (who happens to be a big OU fan) had turkey sandwiches waiting on us so that we could get on the road and make it to our next tee time at Prairie Dunes Country Club in Hutchinson, KS. I was so thankful because I didn’t know if these crazy guys even ate on their extreme expeditions but food comes first before golf with me. A girl has got to eat! The weather was calm but very hot and humid so we were downing the Gatorades and water. I’d take heat over wind any day, especially on those two courses!

We sped a tad and made it with 15 minutes to spare. Perry Maxwell designed this course and was extremely creative by using the natural land it gave him. He adopted Donald Ross’ idea of the upside down bowl greens and placed the greens into the side wall of the sand dunes that were already there. On a few holes, you would have to take the clubs needed to finish the hole as well as clubs to tee off on the next hole before you made it back to your cart. A lot of the tee boxes were built on the top of the sand dunes, which added to the pleasure of the round. I never thought I would see gorgeous views in Kansas but check it out:

Prairie Dunes Par 3 #4

Prairie Dunes Par 4 #5

Prairie Dunes Par 5 #9

Prairie Dunes Par 4 #12

Alex told us on the tee that the green had two hippopotamuses and Dumbo's little sister buried under it.

This is the green...

Prairie Dunes Par 3 #15

We finished in four hours and headed back south for Oklahoma. I rode back with Freddie and had a little excitement as we left the parking lot at Prairie Dunes. We had no gas! And when I say we had no gas, WE HAD NO GAS! I’ve never seen a running car with as little gasoline in the tank as I saw yesterday. Thankfully we came across a gas station as the last second. Grabbed some more Gatorade and beef jerky and made it back to Edmond in four hours.

Our gas tank in the middle of nowhere...and the car was running!

I know how blessed I am to be able to make trips like this but it’s because of the people I have met along the way in this sport and also with my time at OU. It opened many doors for me. I’m going to try my hardest to play some amazing courses while I’m out traveling this summer in places and states that I’ve never been. Fishers Island is one of the courses I'm dying to play. It's on it's own island in New York where you can only get to it by boat or helicopter. It's $100 boat ride and an all day trip but well worth the time. I'm caddying for my friend Lucy in the US Womens Open at Oakmont Country Club so I'm going to stay one extra day and play it to knock it off the list. It's going to be a fun adventure and one I hope to accomplish in years to come!

From Kansas City Rain to Scottsdale Sun!

2010-05-25T21:43:00.000-07:00

Once again I am such a slacker at updating my blog. I’m not sure how many people even care to read this but my mom constantly reminds me that I need to update and for my own sake and lack of memory, I need to update before I forget!

Kansas City was such a weird, long, wet week! A practice round canceled, the first round in the books, and a waiting game for the last two. To sum it up, the Tour decided to call it an 18-hole tournament and reduced the purse by 50%. A lot of players and controlling fathers were upset and have made their voices be heard but I think the Tour did their best to make the best decision on all accounts. My mom and I loaded up and headed back to OKC. It’s supposed to be a 5-5½ hour drive but when I get behind the wheel, I try to beat the norm. It’s a game to me and I usually win. My fastest time from Norman to OKC is 24 minutes, which I’m quite proud of. I had to or else my team would’ve left me for a tournament my sophomore year. Lucy Nunn has nicknamed me Jeff (Jeff Gordon) and I must say, she’s spot on. Mama Dye and I made it back from Kansas City in 4 hours 15 minutes, with no speeding tickets! My bladder was yelling at me but we had to make it home in record time! Once we were 15 minutes from home, traffic came to a complete stop. I’ve lived in Oklahoma for 20 years and I’ve never seen it backed up like it was. I knew a hail storm had just come through but what was the deal?! This is what happened….

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFv2W7Duqiw
This video is insane

Just some hail along the road

Oklahoma cannot get a break from Mother Nature. It’s awful how much damage people have had because of nasty spring storms. Hopefully it is coming to an end.

The day after I get home from a tournament is usually spent running errands and getting things done. I took the Jeep in for an oil change and was rescued at Wal-Mart for a BBQ lunch with Mike Cluen, a longtime family friend who I’ve been going to see at Golf USA since I was a little girl. His nickname for me is “his favorite A Player.” You’ve never heard a hick accent until you hear him talk. He’s a great man with great life lessons. Later that day I went out to a public course to meet my brother and dad and watch them play in their weekly 9 hole golf league. Brother just got a new set of Titleist AP2s…couldn’t get him to switch to Ping, so I needed to go watch him stripe them. After the second hole I was sick of watching him three putt so I stayed back and watched my dad and his group play. I snuck on and played holes 2-8 with them, without paying (I’m rebellious…I did pay $6 for a dang cart so it wasn’t like it was a free round.) My dad had the night and round of his life and shot 1 over. He has been struggling with his game for a long time and since he’s been watching me play so much lately I figure it just rolled over into his game. At least that’s what I tell him ha!

My club, The Greens, was hit hard by Sunday night’s hailstorm so I was homeless the entire week without a place to practice. The pros around Oklahoma are so kind and never turn me down to play but I feel bad for asking and hate to wear out my welcome. Head pro Chad Lamb at Rose Creek in Edmond let me and my friends come out and play Tuesday afternoon where we had a death match that came down to the last and final hole…girls vs. guys….I won the final hole to bring the match to even and we called it good. It was a fun-filled match that had a lot of trash talking, my favorite kind of golf! Talking crap makes me play harder and gets my competitive juices flowing.

Wednesday I rode out to Duncan, OK with my friend Christina Cung to meet her college team and my old assistant coach at The Territory. The OCU girls were getting ready for the National Championship, which is being held this week in South Dakota and I was thankful they invited me to come play with them. I haven’t been out to The Territory since high school but it’s one of the best courses in Oklahoma. I just wish it wasn’t so far away from the city. I had a good round going but lost two balls on one hole and made a big ol’ snowman. It was late in the round so I finished shooting one over par. We had a great day but had to race back and dodge ‘naders (tornadoes). This is what surrounded the Jeep going 92mph back to OKC.

OSU's Football Stadium in Stillwater

Thursday and Friday were spent at a local public course where I got in a lot of good short game practice. My brother was a bachelor Friday night so he came over and it was the original four for a night. I wouldn’t want to have spent my Friday night doing anything else other than hanging out with them. Adam and I took my dad to the range where I gave my dad a lesson. He just needs simple things to think about and that’s how my pro teaches me, simple! Their company scramble was the next morning in Perkins, OK and my dad was thrilled when he called to tell me that he was pounding 300 yard drives straight down the fairway. He is now asking for more lessons….figures. He’s been so dang hard-headed with me and didn’t want to hear any tips I had for him in the previous years but now that he sees it’s working maybe I can start charging him now. Ha! My dad claims that once I help him with chipping he’ll be shooting in the 60s. I like the confidence but come on now, going from 90s to 60s in a week? He’s not Jesus.

On Saturday morning, Mama Dye and I headed to our second home (OKC Airport) and flew out to Phoenix, AZ. I saw the whole OCU golf team and coach, and 4 high school friends at 6:30 in the morning! It was fun! My mom and I were supposed to stay in my friend's condo in Scottsdale but the AC was broke and there was no way we could stay in a 90 degree place so we checked into the nice, host hotel that was next to the course where I’d be qualifying for the US Open.

I had my first practice round Saturday afternoon at Pinnacle Peak Country Club with Bill, my caddy/Manager of VIP Ping Wrx Fitting aka Big Timer in my books. He paired us up with three more of his co-workers so we were all Ping’ed out. I was afraid all of our clubs were going to get mixed up. We had a fun afternoon playing out in the gorgeous weather. When we finished, it was early enough to sneak in some Sprinkles time…it’s a must when I’m there.

I'm fat, I know

I headed back to the course on Sunday morning for another practice round with Bill. I hit the ball well and figured out my Arizona distances (a lot further than Oklahoma distances). I’m not ashamed though, I did have to hit a bunt driver on a par 3 that was straight into the wind. Thankfully during the actual qualifier I used the 4 wood both rounds.

Pinnacle Peak CC in Scottsdale, AZ

Monday morning was the 36-hole qualifier for the US Open which is being held in Pennsylvania in July. The USGA switched it up this year and had a one-day qualifier, which I really like. I woke up at 4:45am and at 5:15am the sun was out! I’m not a morning person but if the sun is shining that early, I can deal with the early tee time! They set the course at 6800 yards so I knew that that could work in my advantage. We teed off at 7:09am and were finished in 4 hours. I had one birdie, which was a putt made off of the green. I can usually sneak in about 4-5 birdies a round but I knew to be patient and play hard in my second round. I found 0 birdies in the afternoon! Bill and I had a good time out there even though I putted like a blind fool. My speed was off all day long and it was a shame because I was finding almost every fairway and hitting all the other clubs pretty stout. I told Bill as I was walking up to a green, if I don’t make this putt, I’m switching to Scotty Cameron! He knew about how my brother talks to me and tells me I suck so on the green I birdied he told me “hey your brother called and told me you suck.” I laughed and made the dang putt for bird. Bill and the Ping company have taken such good care of me. Look at what my hotel room looked like:

You would think I played Titleist :)

Bill stole my putter one night and redid the paint on my putter and changed it to red. It looks so good now!

Here we are before I teed off

I ended up shooting 8 over with one birdie all day long. I missed making the US Open by 5 shots. I can’t dwell on it too much because I did try my absolute hardest and know that when it’s my time, I will qualify. I’m not going to give up and will just put in that much more time.

We are currently in the plane heading home for a week. I’m going to spend a lot of time on my short game because the next event, The Colorado Women’s Open, is only 6300 yards. That means whoever can make the most putts is going to walk away with the big cardboard check. My brother is my Pro-Am partner so the whole family is going…mom, dad, brother and sister-in-law. It’s going to be a lot of fun. It was my first professional event where I got second last year. I have good memories from it so hopefully we can get a W because I need to bring home the bacon.

Fairways and greens…

Update on my foot:
I went to the foot doctor on Thursday afternoon and had a lot of x-rays taken. He discovered that I have a shattered fibular sesamoid bone in my right big toe. There is no way for it to heal except for surgery. He shot up my foot with a cortisone shot and can continue to do that until I have surgery. Rehab will be three weeks so I'm going to try to prolong the operation until Christmas time.

This is right before I got a shot

Pedicure girl did not know she was messing with a broken toe

End result of the pedicure, slightly bruised but I love Cha Ching Cherry OPI polish!

Kansas City Blues

2010-05-13T19:53:00.000-07:00

PRAISE AND THANK GOD is all I have to say. The past 8 hours have been hell! My 12-year-old puppy Yorkie Penny had been missing but she’s been found!!! My mom’s friend let her out at lunch and was eating in our kitchen as Penny was barking at her for food as she always does and the next thing she knew, she was gone! The back door was opened so Penny could go in and out to play. My mom’s friend couldn’t find her anywhere and so she left and went back to work. Our neighbor checked on her a few hours later, with the dog nowhere to be found! I found out around 5pm that my dog was lost so I tried to remain as calm as possible. My mom and I are in Kansas City and were at a restaurant trying to eat but it wasn’t really happening because my mom was sitting across from me bawling into her napkin and me trying to act like nothing is wrong. The waiter must have thought we were crazy. We walked out in our sunglasses and went straight to the hotel. I lost it. And continued to lose it for hours. My dog is my prized possession and we kind of love her to death. Everyone knows that who knows us. I texted everyone I knew and they all went to my house to start searching for her. She loves to hide and sleep in the weirdest places in our house so we had a feeling she was somewhere in there. Nope. They were making Craigslist ads, posters, going door-to-door, etc. My mom and I were helpless bawling in our hotel room all the way in Kansas City. I had awful thoughts going in my head after hours of hearing no good news. Finally, my dad texted and said we found her. My neighbor found her wandering around and put her in the backyard with the rest of her dogs. I guess she didn’t think to call the number that was on Penny’s collar??? When I get home, I will be knocking on her door and thanking her and then asking her what in the world she was thinking? I know Penny is the cutest dog in the world but does she not know that she’s someone pet?!?! Crazy.

Isn't she sweet? This was taken on my birthday night.

Anywho, enough of that. I’m so relieved but am still so emotional about it which is so unlike me!

My mom and I have been in Leawood, KS (Kansas City) since Monday afternoon. We had to drive through some rainy weather but I drove and made it in 4 ½ hours so that was nice. Little did we know that F-3 tornadoes were following close behind. As soon as we checked into our hotel, we saw the awful things Mother Nature was doing back home. People in Oklahoma City, Norman, Choctaw, etc. had homes flattened, cars flown, family members lost in that awful storm. It was terrible and I’m afraid it might not be the last storm of the year.

We are staying in the nicest, newest area of Leawood with everything you can imagine in walking distance of our hotel. We are staying in the most modern hotel you’ve ever seen before! I love it! I’ll let you all know where it is once I leave town just in case there are unwanted visitors!

My mom in front of a cool fountain!

I have had practice rounds at Leawood South Country Club Tuesday and Wednesday with my friends Lucy and Kendra and a new addition to the group, Courtney Mahon. She’s from Missouri and got an exemption into this week’s tournament.

We got over 6 inches of rain last night so the course was closed all day today. I found a fun little driving range to hit at and made it a short day of practice. Leawood South is tight, green, pretty, and hopefully will favor my game this week. My short game has never been so good and if I can fight through the pain of my feet and find fairways and greens, things will be looking goooood!! More than anything, it’s mental and I know that I can make any putt out there, so I’m looking and planning to go low and play consistently for 3 days. I’m not sure how the weather is going to hold up this weekend but at least tomorrow’s weather will be nice. I go off at 9:40am with two friends so we should have a fun day!

People have been asking me if I knew Erica Blasberg who passed away this last Monday. I knew who she was, not sure if I ever played with her but it is an awful story and touches close to home. We are asked to put ourselves out there to promote women’s professional golf and there are a lot of responsibilities and risks in doing so. Playing golf around the world is a blast and people think how easy and great it is but it is an emotional rollercoaster and to play your best, a lot of things have to go in your favor. I could write a book on how hard it is and I’m just in my first full year on Tour! I wouldn’t want to be doing anything else but I’ll be honest and let everyone know it’s not all happy times. The Blasberg family is in my prayers and I want to thank Erica for making the LPGA and women’s golf a better place.

Q&A Time!
This week, David asked, “how tough is it to adjust from course to course with different speeds on the greens?
A: David, it can take some time to get used to the different green speeds and that’s one reason why we get to a tournament site so early in the week. Golf courses are generally the same everywhere you go. Hit it in the fairways...hit it on the greens. Depending on what state you’re can change how far you hit each club but I think the main difference between each course are the green speeds. We have been in Florida and Mexico and southern Texas so we’ve been on nothing but Bermuda greens…not my favorite. There’s a lot more to think about when putting on that grass but here in Leawood, we have smooth bent grass greens and zoysia fairways. The greens are going to get speedy if it dries out and zoysia itself won’t allow for a lot of roll and with all this rain, we aren’t getting but a few inches of roll off of our drives. Thanks for your support and question!!!

Check out live scoring on futurestour.com this weekend and hopefully we can get it going and keep it going!!!

What I’m Reading: “Swinging from My Heels: Confessions of an LPGA Star” by Christina Kim
What I’m Playing for this Week: My dog Penny!!!!!!!

My Week Off

2010-05-09T21:39:00.001-07:00

This week has been CRAZY BUSY! I’ve worked really hard on trying to better myself on the course and so far, the results have been positive. I was able to play with my head pro/coach twice this week and the time we spend together is always beneficial for me. I let him know pretty early on in the week that I was frustrated with a lot of parts of my game and since we have such a good relationship, he told me to get my head out of my ass for a lack of better terms and to quit being such a perfectionist. I tweaked a few things on my putting stroke and have some new simple swing thoughts that will hopefully keep the ball in the short grass this coming week.

The weather in Oklahoma this past week was hot but WINDY. It was annoying to play in but great for preparing myself for poor conditions. There is a great chance of storms in Kansas City this coming week where I’ll be playing in the Mercedes-Benz Kansas City Classic. I’m hoping the putter can stay hot but more powerful than that, I have my head in a good place and am ready to play solid golf and hopefully be in contention on Sunday afternoon. Anyone in the surrounding area of KC should come over to Leawood South Country Club and watch some great golf. The tournament starts May 14 and runs through May 16. For further information you can check out futurestour.com.

A while ago I put up a post that anyone could ask me a question and I’d answer it. Here’s a response to Glen:

Q: How far are you hitting your driver?
What type of putter do you use?
What ball do you prefer?
After playing Kierland in Scottsdale in October, I can understand why sometimes the pros don't want to much interaction after a round( I was ready to go to he club house on #16 and I was in a cart) How do you do it physically and mentally day in and out. I know conditioning is huge but 100 degrees is still dang hot. I guess my question is how do you cope?

A: Hey Glen, thanks for caring so much about what I play with and how I deal with things out on the course. First off, it depends on conditions and what state I’m playing in as to how far I hit my driver. It could range from 250 yards all the way to 290 yards. Last week in San Antonio I was reaching 280-290 yards consistently except for the fact I was in the trees. I’d rather bump it down 250 yards and be in the fairway! I switched in March to a Ping Redwood putter with a really pretty Starshot finish. It’s only 33 inches with two degrees flat. They added tungsten weight in the heel and toe because I prefer a heavier putter. I put on a Scotty Cameron baby T grip because I like a little thicker grip to get my hands out of my putting stroke. I play a Titleist ProV1 ball and am thankful that they have been so good to me since turning pro last May. Lastly, I am not too much of an emotional golfer so I try my best to stay neutral on great rounds and bad rounds. I study so much about the mental side of the game rather than the physical side of the game so I know what I should be thinking about and how I should be acting out there. The wonderful thing about golf is a score is not going to determine the type of person you are. If you shoot the absolute worst score you can imagine, God willing, you are still going to be alive the next day. One bad shot is not the end of the world, same as a bad round or a bad tournament. Live in the present, enjoy the GAME, and stop and smell the roses along the way!

The orange dot will be red soon, don't worry!

If anyone else has a question of any sort, comment on the blog, write on my wall, or find me on Twitter, Kendall_Dye.

Will shout back later this week from Kansas City!!!

Little Mexico

2010-04-30T19:33:00.001-07:00

Oh man, oh man, I’m still not very happy about the way I finished my round tonight. Do any of ya’ll ever get so angry about something you feel like you can break anything, like a steel putter shaft? That’s how I felt about two hours ago as I walked off the 18th green.

Today was the first round of the Texas Hill Country Classic and I got off to a good start. It was hotter than Hades but I got a nice tan, too bad I couldn’t have finished better. I was one under through 13 holes and walked off with a nice 76. Not happy about that but the only thing I can do is look forward to tomorrow morning and try my best and see what happens.

My mom and I drove down to San Antonio on Monday morning and we made it in record time…I hit 85 a time or two. We checked in to the hotel and immediately went down to the River Walk. We had dinner, walked around, and then realized we were in the wrong part of town so we got out of there pretty quickly.

Tuesday morning I had my first practice round with Lucy Nunn and it took forever! The course is great, no hole is the same but it’s in great shape and requires you to think and stay patient. George Strait lives out there and I asked him on Twitter to caddy for me but he never responded. I won’t be buying any more of his music now. Ha!

Wednesday was a day off from the tournament course because they had a pro am all day so my mom and I were planning on going to Sea World. I found out on Tuesday night that Sea World is closed during the weekdays in April! I was so bummed but instead I went to play and rate the Palmer Course at La Cantera. My mom rode around with me and took pictures. I played the entire round in two and a half hours and had to wait on guys. That’s my favorite way to play!

My mom getting ready to knock it close on a par 3

I spent Thursday morning playing another practice round at The Dominion Country Club with Lucy, fellow Sooner Izzy Beisiegel, and Jane Rah. Thankfully it went a little faster and I was out of there by the early afternoon. Lucy and I made a deal with each other back a few weeks ago that we would do something we've never done before. I ordered a Nike golf dress a while back and she has never worn a skort to play golf in so we decided to pull it all out in a practice round this week. Here's proof we actually did it:

I was outdriven all day long so I won't be wearing that dress anytime soon.

My dad flew in and so we went as a family to the San Antonio Zoo. My dad is a little boy and enjoys that sort of thing, so do I, so it was a good time! I loved the hippos more than anything, this is why…

I didn’t tee off til 2 this afternoon so I got to sleep in and was a happy girl because of it! I hit the ball so well today so hopefully I can take that into tomorrow and play a little smarter on the greens. I’m the first group off in the morning, in a twosome so maybe we’ll be done by noon! That’d be nice! Holler at cha’ll tomorrow!

DB Invitational Complete

2010-04-12T21:29:00.000-07:00

Three-putt bogey followed by a horrendous ugly double bogey, was not the way I was planning on starting out the Daytona Beach Invitational…but I did. I woke up super early Friday morning to take my roommate Lucy to the course for her 8am tee time. Gotta love being a good roommate. I teed off at 2pm, which takes some getting used to, but that was not the reason for my poor start. I felt comfortable that morning and had good thoughts going into the tournament. Being three over through two holes is not a fun feeling. I knew it was going to be a fight all day. I buckled down and birdied the 3rd, 11th, 15th, and 18th, with a bogey on 14 so I got it back to even par on my last hole. I felt like I shot in the 60s after that good comeback. We immediately went to the Jackie Robinson Baseball Stadium to enjoy some minor league baseball. It was a really cute stadium and the whole town and their dog went to enjoy opening night.

Saturday morning I teed off early and Lucy teed off in the afternoon so that didn’t work out well car wise once again. I think the Futures Tour has some way of knowing who roommates are and they love to schedule us at opposite waves. Just kidding but really, it’s true. I told myself that I was going to have a better start to the day so I could enjoy myself and let good things happen naturally. I birdied the 3rd once again, as well as the 5th, and 8th. Three under at the turn with lots more opportunities on the back…that’s some fun golf! I started missing a few greens but not horribly bad, missed a few more birdie opportunities and settled for tap in pars. As I got closer to 18 I was missing greens by a little more and found myself chipping and making clutch 5 footers for par. I wasn’t nervous but going bogey free was in the back of my head just a little, who wouldn’t be thinking that? 18 arrived and I went for it in two, missing the green short and right. I knew that it was going to be a good birdie chance to finish at 4 under. Well, the chip went in for an eagle. What a way to finish! I had mentioned earlier in the week that in the past few weeks, I haven’t had any breaks but that if I stayed patient, surely things would turn around in my favor. Once that ball disappeared in the hole all I could do was take a breath of relief and show a little smile. I didn’t know that all my friends were watching up at the clubhouse so word spread quickly about the chip-in eagle. I went from 58th to as low as 6th in a matter of 18 holes.

Saturday night we cooked out at our friends’ host house and just relaxed. We had a good time playing a few games and eating everything in sight. Lucy and I were the only ones to make the cut in the group so we left early to get some sleep.

Sunday morning rolled around and I was 3 shots behind the leader and tied for 8th place. I was paired up with a 17-year-old amateur who is very well known so we had a lot of people following us, following her, not me I’m sure. It was neat because the final groups have walking scorers and we were announced with full bios on a mic. It was legit. I started off steady and found a birdie on the 4th hole. I had a few more pars and was 6 under at the turn. I had different volunteer drivers toting around my clubs all week. I had no problem with the first two guys but my volunteer Sunday was a little out of it. At the turn he decided to go off and chat and use the bathroom while I’m waiting on him to bring the clubs over so I can hit first. Well, I let the other girls go and I ran back to find my driver and ran back to tee off. From there on, it got worse. He was never near me, always dragging way behind, more concerned about giving the scorers our scores for the Internet rather than caring about what was important. The scores on the Internet are not official and are always wrong so he shouldn’t have cared so much. He had to ask us what we had on every hole and that gets old after a while, especially in threesomes during a professional event. I know I’m rattling on and on about him but it wasn’t a good situation and I should have taken my clubs off the cart before I got really upset. Lesson learned.

I went 33 holes without a bogey until I three-putted my 12th hole on Sunday. I went on to double my 13th hole from 83 yards out. I missed 16 and 17 greens by killing it over both greens and not getting up and down. I never outwardly showed my frustration towards him and how my timing of waiting on him was so off but I know that it got the best of me in my head. I lost focus, I was rushed, I felt like I slowed the group down, and from now on if I feel things are getting in the way of my game, I will stop it immediately and continue on with my focused golf.

I ended up shooting 35-41 to drop from T8th to T41st. Heartbreaking I know. Lucy didn’t have a great day of golf either. We went to Steak and Shake to drown our sorrows and to laugh off our awful final round experiences. We know more than anyone what we need to get better at; the problem is recognizing it as soon as we make a mistake. I can honestly say I hit great shots this week. Coming in, I should have chosen different irons into greens. It wasn’t a matter of hitting nervous poor shots; it was a matter of what club I had in my hands. That’s just a mistake that all golfers make and if no one ever did that, then we’d all be amazing.

Some may call it strange but Lucy and I went to the nearby Best Buy to catch the end of the Masters on an LED TV but it didn’t work out so I knew that a hotel nearby had a sweet 50-inch TV in their lobby. We found ourselves sitting in front of that TV for hours and then stealing (borrowing) one of the hotel’s basketballs and playing outside for hours on their court. It was a lot of fun and I was exhausted by the end of the day.

Don't play me in PIG....I'm creative.

What Lucy and I do to our private housing...

I’m currently in the plane heading back home for two weeks. I’m looking forward to sleeping in my own bed, seeing friends and family like always, and getting a minor injury checked out. OU is hosting the Big XII Women’s Golf Championship this year so I’ll be down in Norman for a few days leading up to the San Antonio Futures Tour event. I’m skipping the next Futures tournament because I want to be home a little longer and see the OU girls play for the first time this year. Hopefully they can pull out a W.

I was pretty upset yesterday with my results but I can look at it one way or the other. I know that I have the talent to be one of the best players out there but I’m expecting overnight success. I figure with time and experience, it might happen for me. The cool thing is whatever is going to happen is already planned out for me so I just have to ride it out and enjoy every moment of what God has planned. It’s kind of reassuring that I don’t need to worry about the future. No one should! Live in the moment and plan for nothing huh? …. Maybe not quite like that. Hope everyone has a great week and thanks for every single word of encouragement. I appreciate each and every one of you!

Daytona Beach

2010-04-08T08:02:00.000-07:00

Goodness gracious, it’s only Wednesday but I feel like I’ve been going nonstop for over a week now. Once I returned home to OKC from Mexico, I was able to get some rest, see some friends, and catch up on all my DVR shows. It felt good to sit there and be bored for once. I spent Saturday playing golf with my dad at the Greens. Poor guy, I think his ego was hurt a bit because I gave him a shot a hole and I think he needed more. He’s going to get new clubs this spring and hopefully some lessons so we can get his game back in gear! That night we headed to Yukon to see my brother and sister-in-laws new bedroom furniture. Those newlyweds are living large! While we were over there, I received a text message from one of my sponsors asking if I was in town and if I wanted to go to the OU-Stanford Women’s Final Four game in San Antonio on Sunday night. I’ve never been to San Antonio, let alone a Final Four basketball game so I said, “yes of course!” I spent Easter Sunday with the family at church and at home for lunch but left that afternoon on my sponsors’ private jet with a group of devout OU fans. It was a short hour flight down, had awesome seats at the Alamodome and unfortunately left with a loss. We still had a wonderful time and made it back in time for me to pack up that night for Daytona Beach for a week.

I flew down to Daytona the next morning and Lucy Nunn, my roommate for the week, picked me up at the airport. She tried to warn me about the place/person we were staying with for the week but I told her I could handle a lot of things; I’m not that high maintenance! We made it to the man’s condo and we both were a little sketchy from the get go. He was a single man who we were not scheduled to be staying with. Everything felt shady so our friends’ private housing family helped us out and found us a new place that felt safer for us with a little more room.

Tuesday morning, Lucy and I woke up and escaped the scary condo and made our way up to Palm Coast, FL to play at Hammock Beach Resort - Ocean Course. I’m a Golf Digest course rater so I’m able to rate some pretty nice courses. We had a good time even though I played poorly. I’d like to blame it on the ocean views for distracting me…but that wasn’t the case. We had to hurry back to LPGA Int’l to teach a junior clinic but we hurried back for nothing…only two kids showed. We left the course and made it to the Welcome Cocktail party at the Kennel Club to eat some food and watch some dogs race. Those guys can run! It was fun and I wanted to bet on some races but I held back and didn’t. Lucy and I (mainly me) were still hungry so we went to Vince Carter’s new restaurant for some desert and to watch the Championship game UCONN-Stanford. It was a fun-filled day but I was excited to go to bed!

Wednesday morning, earrrllly Wednesday morning, we were teed off at 7:30 for a practice round. I was only able to play 6 holes because I was drawn to race around Daytona 500 for some hot laps. I was excited because my friend Mindy Robson is a diehard Nascar fan so I signed up mainly for her. We made it up to 127mph, which may not sound fast, but with those steep turns, you could feel the forces pushing you down in your seat. You look to your left there is grass. You look to your right there is sky. It was a pretty neat experience!
A big group of us went to see The Last Song yesterday afternoon at a theater off the beach. It was a good movie, tearjerker for some but I read the book so I know how it ended. Afterwards we all ate at Ocean Deck for dinner on the beach. Once again, it was a very busy but fun day.

Thankfully I was able to sleep in this morning because the only thing we have scheduled today is a 2pm shotgun practice round. I haven’t seen all 18 holes of the tournament course this week (I played it multiple times for LPGA Final Stage of Q School) so I’ll get used to it today and be ready to tee it up for the first round tomorrow at 2pm.

I’m sure everyone is excited for the Masters and to see how you-know-who is going to play and react to the crowds. He needs to take on Anthony Kim’s personality with the fans but I just don’t think he has it in him. If anyone is interested in keeping up with the Daytona Beach Invitational you can follow live scoring on www.futurestour.com. Have a great weekend everybody!

What I’m Reading: The Help by Kathryn Stockett
What I’m Listening to: Usher Raymond vs. Raymond

Hola amigos!

2010-03-31T21:47:00.001-07:00

Hola amigos!

After spending a week in Puerto Vallarta, I’d like to think that I’m fluent in Es-pan-yo. I should be able to speak it since I took Spanish from 4th grade all the way through 13 hours in college. My Spanish accent sounds a little different from the true Mexicans down south.

I’ll be honest, I was going to update while I was in Mexico but I got a little burnt out by typing and I was worn out by the end of each day so I put it off until now. I’m currently on a plane filled with Duramed Futures Tour players as we are heading up north to Houston and then I’m making It further north to OK City for a week to get rested and ready for Daytona Beach, FL next week. I’m very thankful for this week off so I can go home and see my dog Penny, who has probably forgotten about me. It’s going to be a busy week but I’m excited to sleep in my own bed, drive my Jeep (hopefully with the top off since we are expecting 80+ degree temps!) and seeing friends and family. Being on the road for two weeks straight, golfing every single day is tough and not a vacation like some people think it is. I was in bed by 9 o’clock every night and up by 6 every morning which is a shocker to people who know me. I’m hoping I can keep it up once I get home. I like having a normal human being’s sleep schedule!

So for people who are interested in how my last week spent in Mexico went, I’ll give you all some details…

I flew from Orlando to meet Mama Dye in Houston on Monday morning and we went from there down with a bunch of other Duramed Futures Tour players to Puerto Vallarta. The only time I’ve been out of the country is to Cancun for my senior trip so I knew I would be in for a culture shock. Once we landed my hair went POOF! I knew I would be sporting the braid the entire time I was there. We took an itty-bitty car to our resort and thank goodness my clubs took up the entire front seat because I think I would have screamed if I saw how the driver was driving. I don’t think they have to take a driver’s test in Mexico because it’s like Nascar. We had a simple check in to the resort and within a matter of minutes we were in our bathing suits soaking up the sun by the pool. We later met my good friend Lucy Nunn and her dad for an early dinner and watched the sunset over the ocean. Monday was a good day because it was the only day of my 14-day stint that I didn’t have a golf club in my hands. That makes it sound like I hate golf but everybody needs time off from something they do all the time.

Mama Dye and I at dinner the first night we were in Mexico

I woke up at the crack of dawn Tuesday and teed off with a group of fun friends at 7:30 Tuesday morning and saw the course, El Tigre, for the first time. It was in great shape compared to the prior week’s tournament course. I had a feeling that this was the week I would be able to fall in love with my new bag of clubs. I left the course pretty quickly once we were finished and met my mom down at the pool once again. This was the day that I got fried, but my skin loved it. Tuesday night was the Welcome Cocktail Party at the resort. The people down there do it up big! We had an open bar, tons of food, deserts, and a mariachi band to top it off. It was a lot of fun and everyone showed up looking nice.

Wednesday was a short day of practice because the pro am took up the course for the day. I got up early, practiced for a good 2 hours and called it a day. I’m not one to spend all hours of the day beating balls and killing myself before a tournament. I’ve always been quality over quantity but some people aren’t wired that way. I feel that if you don’t prepare before getting to a tournament site, you’re already behind. I grabbed the shuttle back to the resort and found my mom baking in the sun. My dad was due to get in a little after lunch and we made it easy for him by meeting us at the pool. I think he was happy to be there.

I had heard you could take a boat to downtown Puerto Vallarta so I made the decision to go ahead and made a reservation for the three of us, as well as Lucy Nunn and her dad Ron. We left out of a marina at our resort on a water taxi boat and made the 30-minute ride in the ocean downtown. It was later in the afternoon so the waves were pretty big and the “captain” told us that if we sat on the right side of the boat we would get wet. I was at the front ride part of the boat so I was excited! Little did I know that we would catch a huge wave and I flew in the air and landed into a strange man’s lap! I told the guy “well, it’s nice to meet you!” I gave everyone on the boat a show because they could not stop laughing. It would have been really funny if I would’ve flown to my right and out of the boat! There were dolphins jumping around the water taxi so that was pretty neat. Going downtown was crazy! They had cobblestone streets, action everywhere, and people desperately wanting your money. I didn’t buy anything but took quite a bit of pictures. We took a “normal taxi” back to the resort later that night and my gosh was it an experience! Those guys cut in between traffic like it’s no big deal! Going 90mph and then coming to a complete halt! We were talking crap about his driving and I can promise you he knew English. You’ll never believe this but the same taxi driver showed to take us the airport today! I think he recognized us as well.

Water taxi! Lucy and I getting ready to go!

Thursday was another early morning with my final practice round with my friends Kendra Hanson, Lucy Nunn, and Tara Goedeken. We had a great time and of course I headed to the pool afterwards. My parents and I escaped for a dinner by ourselves and made it an early night so I could get some sleep for my first round.

My dad and I at dinner

I teed off at 9:05am Friday and played with Garrett Phillips of Georgia and Kelly Lagedrost of Florida. It was good to play with some country girls but unfortunately my putter didn’t want to be my friend that day. I think I had a career high round with putts but hit the ball pretty well. I shot three over and the putting is what caused that score. I overread every putt and continued to do so throughout the entire tournament. At least I was missing it on the pro side I guess…

Warming up

Saturday I played with my friend Selanee Henderson, who has a famous UFC brother Dan Henderson, and a 13 year old girl from Mexico…pure talent! I had a better day score wise but still had an ice-cold putter in 85 degree temps! I shot one over and made the cut for the second straight week so that’s always good news. I went to dinner with my parents that night but as soon as we sat down I had to leave to go back to my room because sickness hit me like a freight train. I don’t want to get into details but I was up all night being sick. I was thinking that I would have to withdraw for the final round because there was no way I could play. Thankfully I kept it together and played a full round on a complete empty stomach and shot even par. I played with Alison Walshe who is a great player that I had never played with before. We had a good time Sunday and had trouble understanding each other’s accents ha! I ended up getting T46th and am currently 38th on the money list after two events.

I had Lucy and her dad come out and watch my final round as well as my friend Kendra’s dad. It was awesome to see them out there supporting them with my parents. A big group of us went to this neat outdoor restaurant called Fajita Republic. They would pour tequila over the fajitas and a huge flame would fly in the air. I pretty much watched everyone chow down but had the best time because my friend Kendra entertained the whole table with her craziness. She should have her own show! I keep her around so I can laugh and laugh and laugh.

Dinner with friends

I’m happy to be heading home for a week before returning to the east coast, Daytona Beach, FL. I’ve played that course for Final Stage of LPGA Q School so I should be good to go if I can figure out how to read those dang Bermuda greens!

On a side note, I’m trying to make my Facebook account a little more private but have added a Kendall Dye Golf fan page so please join that if you haven’t already and if you have a Twitter account, you can follow me at kendall_dye. Thanks so much!

What I’m Reading: The Help by Kathleen Stockett

Florida's Natural Charity Classic in the Books!

2010-03-22T04:59:00.000-07:00

Boy I sure am glad that I decided to wait until today to write on my blog instead of late last night. I got to the airport with plenty of time to spare this morning. People warned me to get to the airport earlier than normal since I’m flying out of the country. I think checking in and going through security went faster than a normal flight because I’ve been chilling in Orlando’s terminal for quite some time now. I was able to watch Tiger’s interviews from yesterday and I must say that I liked Kelly Tilghman’s much better. Check out the interviews if you haven’t seen them. Tiger looked a little paler than normal…

Welp, let me do a quick update for everyone and then I’ll be on my way to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico for the next week.

Friday’s first round began with a shaky start that I couldn’t seem to get rid of. The atmosphere was pretty awesome, stands, flags, tents, and people everywhere! It was a zoo! I wasn’t really expecting it and waiting around until 2:30pm to tee off was another factor that I wasn’t used to for a tournament round. I tried to relax all morning by watching ESPN and catching up on all the March Madness but I just kept thinking about golf shots and I was tired of waiting around. The weather was absolutely perfect and we finished just before dark. I was 6 over on par 5s, had 4 penalty strokes and shot 7 over. Not what I wanted to start out the Duramed Futures Tour season with. I knew that I needed to get back to my normal self and do some work on Saturday morning. The second round was another day of beautiful weather and I was able to change it around by going 2 under on the par 5s and ended up shooting 3 under overall. 79-69. In less than 15 hours in between rounds. Funny how golf is huh? People thought it was pretty funny so they got a few interviews from me and I went on my merry way back to my host housing and relaxed for the rest of the day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiCYMC_XUwk

Yesterday (Sunday) we had an early teetime in hopes of getting finished before the storm hit. I had a nice chip in on my 3rd hole but found some trouble again on some holes that just don’t set up nicely to my eye. I came back on the final 9 by making some long birdie putts and just tried to get it back to even for a not so stellar round. I was standing on my last hole, 66 yards out, when they blew the siren for all of us to come in. The skies were crackling above us and it was getting a little dangerous. Thankfully we were right in front of the clubhouse so we didn’t get poured on like the rest of the field who made the cut. We watched as it poured and poured and after a few hours of waiting, they called the entire final round off. It’s really disappointing for a lot of girls because it was moving day for ones who were playing good in the poor weather. I really felt bad for the girls around the lead because people were dropping and people were moving up so they had to go back to who was leading before the final round in order for a sudden death playoff. I ended up getting a decent paycheck on top of a closest to the pin check from Friday’s round. It was a cheap trip so hopefully I made a little money overall! Phil did a wonderful job caddying for me and is now headed to play in the Monday qualifier for the Nationwide Tour event down in Lafayette, LA this morning on 0 sleep. Crazy guy but I'm thankful for him!

I headed up to Orlando with my friend and her family for some dinner at Downtown Disney and then retreated to a nearby hotel to get some sleep in a nice, big bed! I woke up early this morning and am getting excited to meet my mom in Houston’s airport as we make our way down to Puerto Vallarta. My dad gets in on Wednesday and so I’ll have both parents there this week. We play Friday-Sunday once again, making the cut to play on Sunday. Live scoring will be found on futurestour.com I don’t know how I’m going to make it without my phone for a week but I’m praying that the resort will show March Madness games! I’ll do my best to update and get a tan for everyone. My only means of contact will be email so holler at me whenever! I hope everyone is getting warmer weather wherever you are and thanks for much for staying up-to-date with me!

It's Finally Game Time!

2010-03-18T19:40:00.000-07:00

Let me first warn everyone I'm bloggin it up tonight on my iPhone so I apologize if I cut it short. Not sure how long my right thumb is going to last. So here we go!

I'm in Winter Haven, FL with my friends Kendra Hanson (Iowa State alum) and Jessi Gebhardt (Oregon State alum.) We are staying in private housing with this nice couple from the upper northeast. The Bronx I believe? I'm having an extremely hard time understanding what they say or ask me because I can't get the quick accent down. I probably pause for 5 seconds before I respond because half of the time I've got no clue what they just said. I think they're from Boston, not tha Bronx or else I'd be able to handle that!

I got in Tuesday afternoon and had a nice leisurely practice. We did a little grocery shopping and went back to hang with our host family. I bonded by watching and critiquing American Idol with them on their 50" HD tv. It's a beauty.

Yesterday morning was terrible waking up so early, considering Kendra and I are sharing a room and we can't go to bed without laughing and talking about off the wall topics for at least an hour. We had to be at the clubhouse at 815am for a 4 hour Rookie Orientation that lasted until 1:00pm. We had a quick bite to eat then warmed up for our practice round that was delayed because of a morning pro am that ran over. The three of us played with my good friend Lucy Nunn (Arkansas alum) and she was my chauffeur. I probably didn't allow her to focus like she needed to because I tell a lot of random but worthy stories out there on the course. I realized that today, I was probably an awful teammate in college and in high school because I bring up the most random things and probably crude topics during times that we should be focused. I just enjoy a good laugh and think everyone else should join in to my "mind in the gutter" thoughts. Rooming with Kendra this week is not helping the cause. We actually got in 18 holes and had to go to a "Meet the Pros" party back in the clubhouse. I looked great for it because no hats are allowed in the clubhouse. My hair looked stellar! We scarfed down some food and came on back to the house like walking zombies. Great news...we had to be back at the course at 7 this morning for a 7:30am practice round shotgun.

Shoot me! People who know me know how much I love my sleep. I played with the same girls again but this time my caddy was there! Phillip Bryan! He caddied for me in January when we got 2nd in Orlando and I was playing irons that were 2 1/2 degrees off from
what I needed them to be. Terrible ball striking that week I must say...

Phil drove down to Houston on Tuesday night, had a 4 hour nap and played 18 holes with a friend. At 2pm yesterday he hopped in the car and drove until 6:30am today. He caddied for me the 14 holes we played and never complained once! He's going to be here with me through Sunday and drive back to Louisiana for a Nationwide Monday quailifier. I think he enjoys making himself miserable. I'm going to play hard for him this week so I can give him some good $ for being such an awesome guy. Anyone who wants to donate to the fund, I'll let you all know how it can get to him :)

Us girls came back to practice for a few more hours once today's pro am went off and by that time, I was ready to get out of there. We came home and I immediately went to the couch to watch some good basketball. My bracket is holding up for me and I feel good about things.

Phil, Kendra, Kendra's dad, Kirby Dreher (Kent State alum), and myself went to a sports bar to watch more basketball and I found myself chowing down on some wings. I needed some meat! They were fulfilling and the only other exciting news of the night was I squirted a huge amount of nasty lotion up my nose when I tested them out at cvs. I am kind of clumsy at times...

Tomorrow is kind of a big day...it's the first round of the first event of my first year as a Duramed Futures Tour player. I'm
proud to be a member of this Tour because everywhere I look I see my college friends who were standout collegiate golfers and talent I really respect. I feel with every bone in my body that I belong here and that it's a wonderful stepping stone in preparing me on what's to come. Mentally, I know that I'm able to contend with anyone out here, it's just a matter of maintaining that mindset and staying patient. I'm so grateful to be doing what I'm doing and blessed may be a word that's overused but I find it fitting in my situation. I've got some priceless relationships in my life who make me love life and love giving it my all everyday.

Quick shoutout to my mama because it's her birthday today as well as my parents 32nd wedding anniversary. They were married as babies and there's no way I'm wired to do such a crazy thing at such a young age. :) Love them to death and really wish they could be here this week but someone has to use our March Madness tickets so I guess it was them. Just kidding!

You can stay up to date with live scoring on futurestour.com. I'll be teeing off at 2:25pm eastern time. Me and my right thumb are going to bed now. Take care everyone!

Sooners in the Desert

2010-02-23T15:58:00.000-08:00

My goodness, where do I start? As I think back on the past couple of days, all I can think about is how much fun I have had. I was due back in OKC last Saturday but thankfully the pros at OU Jimmie Austin Golf Club called and needed me to be a “Sooner Celebrity” in their annual Sooners in the Desert golf tournament in Indian Wells, CA. It has always been a dream of mine to play in the tournament and I finally got to do it! It is a great event for OU donors to get together, play some golf, eat a bit, drink a lot, and just have a wonderful time.

I woke up Saturday morning after a late night out with friends in Scottsdale and made the 3 ½ hour drive over to Palm Springs. I thought I was going to dread the drive but it really wasn’t that bad. I had some pretty mountains to look at and some nice fuzzy Mexican music to listen to. I drove to the far west side of town to shop at the massive outlet mall. I’ve never seen so many people shopping in my life. If you saw the parking lot, you would think its Christmas or something. I found absolutely nothing I needed so I made the journey up 6,000 feet to a mountain town called Idyllwild, CA. My aunt told me about this cute town so I figured it was just a short drive up and down. Mmmm, nope, I was wrong, it wasn’t. I was an idiot and didn’t fill up before making the trek up so I was getting nervous about 45 minutes in to the drive. It was neat because there were a couple of undercover brand new cars up there getting road tested because the twists and turns were pretty intense. I stopped a lot to take pictures because the views were gorgeous. Once I got up to 4,000 feet, snow and ice started to show up. I had less than a ¼ of a tank of gas, no cell phone service, no food, and no clue if I was even going the right way. Thankfully I started to see a sign of life, human life (I had a deer jump out at me in the fog and snow and barely missed him, it could have been a Tommy Boy episode.) I found a gas station with no one working in sight so I’m sure it was 4 bucks a gallon but I didn’t even care, I was going to make it! I kept driving and shortly after found the town of Idyllwild, CA. It’s a cute place with a lot of families who were vacationing. There were a couple of creepy people so I went into a candy shop (I was hungry, but didn’t get anything) and then found a deli to pick up a chicken salad sandwich. I was in flip-flops and a t-shirt while everyone else was in Northface coats and beanies. I wasn’t prepared. I figured I saw all I needed to see and started down the hill, which was much more fun and less scary.

I probably didn't need to be up here in flip flops...

Proof I was actually up there!

This is when the deer came out in front of me, I could hardly see!

I found the resort I was staying at, MiraMonte, and my mouth dropped open. I don’t typically stay at fancy places and this resort was out of my league. Something I’m not used to, but I was pretty sure I could handle it. I met up with one of the assistant pros from OU and we went out for a bite to eat and watched a little Olympics. It was great to be in a beautiful place and not have the worry in the back of your head that you are going to have to perform your best on the golf course in a matter of a day or two, it was going to be nothing but fun!

I woke up the next morning and met some of the pros for a leisurely round at Rancho La Quinta Country Club. It was absolutely gorgeous! The PGA’s skins game used to be played out there. I played great on the front nine but put 4 balls in the water on the back! I still scored all right and won my match 8 and 6 against the assistant pro but I hate losing balls! We had to stop by and get a famous In and Out burger before the fancy hors d’ oeuvres and cocktail party. I had no clue what I was in for that night but I had a wonderful time meeting such friendly and genuine people, OU people of course. It was supposed to last from 6 to 7:30pm but I stayed close to 9:30pm!

Looking back at #18 at Rancho La Quinta

#17 Rancho La Quinta

#18 Rancho La Quinta

Woke up the next morning and headed to Indian Wells Country Club for a lovely breakfast and had a quick warm up on the range. I played with Al Cusack, Harvey Sparkman, Dick Askew, George Records and Steve Prescott. All were wonderful men and even though our golf games weren’t spectacular, we had a great time. I had Dick Askew chauffer me around and learned that he is 85 years old and has gone to every OU men’s golf tournament for the past 25 years! That is amazing!!! I ended up shooting even and the team finished near last but the wonderful thing is, it didn’t matter! No one cared! One of the guys I played with rewarded me with an hour massage at the resort spa…it was fantastic! The bad thing was I had to rush off after the massage because I had to get ready for the final dinner that was held at the golf course. I was able to speak with every OU football coach that was there and many other great OU donors and celebs. The dinner was fantastic and Coach Stoops was hilarious in his speech. After thinking back about how the weekend went, how many incredible people I met, it made me realized how proud I am to be affiliated with the University and it’s because of the people who represent it. We are having a rough year athletically but it will only make us stronger and appreciate the conference and national championships we often win.

#1 Indian Wells CC

Coach Stoops and I

I’m at the airport now heading back east to the cold state of Alaska, I mean Oklahoma. I turn 23 next week so I’ll have some celebrations coming up and will hopefully get to see a lot of friends and family. It looks like I’m going to have to bundle up these next few weeks, lose the tan I worked hard on, and get ready for a long year of being out on Tour. I’m excited to see what the year is going to bring. I feel like just in these first two months of 2010 I have improved physically and even more so mentally. I can’t wait to have consistent practices and see how far I can take my game. Thanks for everyone’s warm wishes and support!!!!

Boomer Sooner!

Sun + Golf + Hike + Friends = Happiness

2010-02-19T16:55:00.000-08:00

I made it to the top of Camelback Mountain!!!

It’s been a while since I last updated the good ol’ blog. I apologize! We have been a busy bunch of girls these past couple of days. I finally have a few seconds to sit down and record what the past few days have been all about.

I came down to the desert for one main purpose: a golf tournament. Unfortunately I didn’t bring my golf game. I shot 74-72-70. Not what I was expecting or hoping for but there are some promising things to this. Those scores don’t look too awful to the average golfer and a year ago I would have taken those scores for a decent round but I’ve learned a lot in the past year and have grown a lot in this head of mine and know that I’m capable of shooting even better scores for a poor day of golf. I know that I will shoot higher scores than this in tournaments in the future but that’s just the nature of the game. Looking at the big picture, I haven’t spent hardly anytime practicing in the past two months but I still felt as though I was prepared to play better than what I shot. The last round was going pretty well, bogey free until I reached the 17th green and three putted. That put a damper on things and went on to the 18th and put my second shot in the water and made another bogey. Grr! Nerves weren’t the issue, it was all mechanical but my goodness, the ending could have been a little brighter and better!

Me, Kendra, Michaela, and Ashley after our round at the Duke

After the awards were given out a bunch of us went out for happy hour drinks and sushi. It was a nice night out in downtown Tempe but I was exhausted and was in bed by 9pm!

We woke up early this morning and headed over to Camelback Mountain. I’ll admit, I haven’t worked out consistently since the fall but I thought I would be able to handle hiking a lot better than I did. It was one of the hardest things I’ve done in a long while but thankfully I had sweet friends to stop with me and take pictures along the way up. The view from the top was amazing, overlooking all of Phoenix. We made our way back down and had a ball. We were entertaining the whole mountain with stories from Kendra, Kelly, and I. Tara and Michaela were speed demons and were anxiously waiting for us at the bottom.

Michaela acting crazy!

Michaela, Kendra, and I on Camelback Mountain

The group at the top!

We had to race to Chandler, AZ to make it to an Isagenix tour. It’s a newer company that is promoting healthy bars, shakes, cleanses and we were there to see how they make it and visit with the VP of the company. We came in with sweat and dirt all over us and in our hiking clothes. Others in our tour group were dressed up and looking at us up and down. Tara, Michaela, and I felt quite uncomfortable but giggled throughout the whole tour because it was a tour of the actual company. During the hour, we looked at offices and cubicles. Who in the world cares about that?!?! We wanted free healthy food and drinks! So we quickly left and thankfully picked up some Wendy’s so I wouldn’t die and had a picnic out by the pool at the condo. I spent the afternoon laying out instead of practicing because I was worthless from the climb this morning.

We are going out tonight for Kendra’s 24th birthday. There should be a big group of us (all golfers) so it should be a lot of fun. I hear there’s a mechanical bull at one of the bars but I’m wearing a dress so I unfortunately won’t be doing that!

I had a slight change of plans in my trip. I had a direct flight back to OKC tomorrow (Saturday) but two days ago got a call from one of the assistant pros at Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club in need of a “celebrity Sooner” to play in the Sooners in the Desert in Palm Desert, California. He had to twist my arm, beg, and plead for me to make the short drive over there to hang and play golf with Bob Stoops, Toby Keith, and other great OU donors. So that’s where I’ll be heading in the morning, straight west on i-10 to the awful town of Palm Springs, California. Ha! I love that place, it’s golfers’ heaven! We will be playing at Indian Wells Resort and from I hear, it’s gorgeous. There will be a couple of dinners so I’ll make sure to take some pictures! I’ll be back to the cold of OKC on Tuesday night. Hope everyone has a safe and fun weekend!!!

Sunshine!

2010-02-16T17:59:00.001-08:00

I love a good sunburn in the middle of February! Makes me feel like I’m still playing college golf, going to Puerto Rico while everyone else is back in the freezing cold. I hope the tan stays for a while!

I decided to come back to the desert…thanks to my sponsors for giving me a free flight. It was too hard to pass up. I’m staying with my friends Tara and Michaela once again so it should be a cheap week!

Round one was today at the Duke Golf Club in Maricopa. I knew the course because I played it a couple of weeks ago in a two-man event. I guess my clubs forgot what they knew because they didn’t treat me well at all today.

Par 3 at the Duke

I got off to a great start, two under through the first three holes and thought that if I stayed patient, I could take it low once again. I found my first bogey on 8 and things got pretty dark from there on. My bogeys were from 125, 135, 65, and 40 yards out from the fairway. My putter was ice cold and my short irons were hatin’ on me. I shot 3 over, 74 and am near the bottom of the totem pole. I can take some positives from the round I guess. I had some ridiculous up and downs, hit the driver long and straight. If I can get a few things to go my way, I should have two fun rounds ahead of me. Another positive is if it doesn’t go my way, I can blame it on the equipment (ha!) and will be looking forward to all of the new clubs I picked out at Ping yesterday. It’s my new heaven on Earth. The guys at Ping treat you like royalty and go over and beyond with getting you the equipment you need. I’m expecting 21 new clubs in the next few weeks. I know I can only play with 14 clubs but a girl has got to have options!

Ping

You can find results and information on the tournament at thecactustour.com. Hopefully I can fight and claw my way back up the leader board and give it a shot to win on Thursday. Have a great week everybody!

What I’m Reading: Cure for the Common Life by Max Lucado
What I’m Listening To: Lady Antebellum

Finally Got the W!

2010-02-04T19:19:00.000-08:00

Whew! I’m tired!

What a day?! I had no clue how much fun today was going to be when I woke up this morning. I have been surrounded by people I love and that just makes the day that much sweeter. I tell you what, winning sure does beat the alternative.

The day started off with me two strokes behind the two leaders and tied with two other girls. I was playing in the second to last group, which statistically has always worked out in my favor…no pressure on my end. I like a good chase.

On my first hole I nailed my approach 15 yards over the green. The reason for it, I went to Ping the night before to get my irons bent a degree and a half flatter (where they should have been from day one.) I had been hitting thin iron shots for months and thought it was my swing. Turns out, my irons were more than half the problem. Anywho, with it going 15 yards over the green I told myself that my irons were back to their old ways and to trust my old distances, no more offseason, weak, short distances. I was looking at a double on the first green but thankfully made my knee knocker putt for bogey. I gained it back on the next green by making a 15-foot birdie putt. I got to the 171-yard par 3, hole number 4, and made a 50-60 foot putt for birdie. Those are gifts. The next hole was a par 5 that I was able to reach in two but missed it just to the right of the green. It was an easy up and down for birdie. Hole number 8 was also another par 5 that is reachable but since I missed my first fairway of the day, I had to lay up and pitch close and make my 2 footer for birdie. I put myself into the deepest fairway bunker I’ve ever seen on 9 and had to use my most lofted club just to make sure I got out. I bogeyed that and made the turn at 2 under. I had some work cut out for me because I knew that going 4 under on the back nine was going to give me a great chance at winning.

Teeing off to start the final round

Well, apparently my body didn’t listen to my brain because my 10th tee shot was blocked right and into some prickly trees that guarded the left side of the driving range. Not good…the pin was tucked right, I was right, and I was getting cut up from a nasty desert-looking tree. All I could do was punch a 5 iron back to the fairway. I think my backswing was 2 feet long, I’m just glad I didn’t whiff it! I’m pretty sure I cut my shirt all up with the branches. I was able to stick my 3rd shot to a foot and tap in for par. Ho hum par right? Lord! I don’t like to make golf easy. I missed a 6-foot birdie putt on 11 and came to the par 5 12th hole. I was able to reach the green in two shots and 2 putted for birdie. I missed the eagle putt by a hair. Danget! That would have won me some skins money (we had a skins game going with the rest of the field.) Hole 14 was another par 5 that I was able to get up and down for birdie as well as sticking one close on 16 and making a 5 footer for birdie. I gave myself a decent birdie chance on 18 for a 66 but I missed it to the right by 2 inches. Tap in for 67, which is a nice way to finish. I know there is no such thing as a perfect round of golf. Shooting 18 under is possible in a given round but even doing that, you’re going to have shots that aren’t perfect. Thinking over my three tournament rounds, finishing 9 under, there were so many shots I left out there. It’s kind of exciting to think about and know that if I did it for one tournament, I can do it over and over again.

My last birdie hole of the tournament - No. 16

To finish up how the day went, the girls in the final group all shot in the 70s and I ended up winning by 3 shots. It turns out I didn’t even have to shoot a 66 to win. I’m glad my mom and college roommate/teammate Kelly Jacques were there to celebrate with me. Kelly was more ecstatic than I was. I guess I was still waiting for someone to tell me that I got second place haha!

My roommate/teammate Kelly Jacques...just a roommate pose, we like boys, don't worry!

The Cactus Tour money winners

The weird thing is, as I was walking from our casita to the course this morning, I called Alex Brown, my trainer from OU, to tell him about my situation. He was so excited and said that’s right where he would want to be, two shots back, in the second to last group. He told me to shoot a 67 and that if I didn’t win, then the other girls outplayed me. I told him, “Nah, I want to shoot a 66 and not worry about a playoff or anything like that.” When I called him after the round, I told him. “Welp, you were right, 67 won it by 3 but it’s a shame because I had 7 birdies with 2 bogeys.” He couldn’t believe it but was extremely happy for me. That’s what makes doing what I’m doing so much fun. There have been so many people in my life that have helped me, encouraged me, and pushed me to become a better person and player. Any bit of success I have in this “individual” sport is a reflection of the awesome people I have in my life. I don’t take a single one of you for granted; I’m a lucky girl!

Finally got the dub!

After the award presentation wrapped up, we took lots and lots of pictures and then my mom and I went out to eat with my good friends Kendra Hanson, Kelly Jacques, Michaela Cavener, and Tara Godeken. During my final round I only ate a bag of pretzels. I know my college coaches and dad would get on to me as they always do because when I get in the moment, I don’t eat! My eyes are always bigger than my stomach so we ordered loads and loads of food but I could only eat a tiny bit. We had to make a special stop across the street to the famous Sprinkles cupcake place. My friend Christina “egg roll” Cung made a request for some red velvet cupcakes so it was on my to-do list before I left Phoenix. It was a wonderful day but the only downfall was I didn’t get a huge cardboard check to take back on the plane with me (instead I’ll be toting and guarding the red velvet cupcakes with my life.) It was a mini tour event so they don’t do those but it gives me something to work hard towards.

My mama and I (it looks like it could be an Easter picture!)

My favorite Iowan, Kendra Hanson

It was a wonderful trip: 10 straight days of golf, beautiful weather, green lush grass, great friends, food, and a tournament win to cap it all off. I’m looking forward to going home and seeing friends and family, relaxing a little bit in OKC, losing my tan in the cold weather, and catching up on all my DVR’d shows. I want to thank each one of you for the encouragement and well wishes. It’s been a great start to the new year and I’m looking forward to seeing what the future holds. Have a great weekend everyone!

Field Trip to Ping!

2010-02-02T21:50:00.000-08:00

Ping man!

Hey everyone-

I hope to make this short and sweet because I’m exhausted. Round 2 was today and I got off to a decent start with a bird but followed it right up with a bogey. It was that type of day. Birdie bogey birdie bogey. I didn’t hit as many greens today and didn’t make putts that I felt I should have. The most exciting moment I had today was when I looked at an 8 foot eagle putt. Don’t worry, I didn’t make it but the opportunity was pretty sweet.

Pretty par 3

I ended up shooting 71 so I’m two back of the lead. I’m in the second to last group so I’m pretty comfortable in that position because if I can remember right (which probably isn’t right) all of my college victories were when I came from behind. I like a good challenge and there’s not a whole lot of pressure on me. It should be a fun day! Oh yea and another positive…I think it’s going to rain tomorrow!!! It should hopefully play into my favor.

As soon as I got done signing my scorecard this afternoon, Mama Dye and I bolted over to the Ping facility to tinker with my irons and figure out what I need to be playing for the remainder of the year. I pounded many more balls and was able to meet some really nice people. Bill Iseri saved the day, saved my trip, and saved me some money. He stayed late and went over and beyond on helping me out with fitting me and showing me around. They really had no appointments open for me this week and I was going to pay $400 to stay later to get fitted. Thankfully, he’s a super nice guy and told me to come on after my round. Turns out, my irons were one and a half degrees too upright so no wonder I was skanking my iron shots around the past few months. I’m pretty positive I’m turning my bag into 90% Ping. I will still hold on to my Vokeys just because I feel comfortable with them. I’m sure that if I tried Ping’s wedges I’d love them but since I have Vokeys coming to my house, I better stick with them. It's pretty crazy what they have at the facility. I could go on and on about it but I do know that if I ever become rich, my wish would be to have a bay that opens out on a range and have a mat of real grass instead of astroturf. I think that's what impressed me the most about the place today. Hitting off of grass, out onto the range, yet I was indoors. Anywho, Ping was sick and I loved it!

Hitting the i15s on Ping's range...I recommend these clubs!!!

Pretty new putter...same as old except black finish with a red dot even though it's supposed to be orange...I don't do orange.

Testing out the new putter

Add us to the list of girls who have touched Tiger's putter...

White gloves please!

Mama Dye and I drove across town to Scottsdale to meet my old teammate/roommate Kelly Jacques for dinner at a really tasty place called Banderas. I was in a ball cap and the front door said no hats in the dining room. Whoops. I always say my money is just as good as the person in their prom dress so they didn’t bother me. They could tell when I walked in I was starving. They would be sorry if they missed with me and my empty stomach. We couldn’t even finish our appetizer before our entrée was there. That’s how you’re supposed to run a restaurant!

Well, tomorrow is my last full day in Phoenix. I’m pretty sad about it but am already planning my next trip out here…possibly in three weeks! I’m off to bed to dream of birdies! Take care everyone!

Cactus Tour - Round One

2010-02-01T20:53:00.000-08:00

It’s been a while since I last updated about my long adventure in Phoenix land. I love it here. I can honestly say I haven’t missed Oklahoma while I’ve been in the desert. It’s kind of easy to love it here with their consistent warm temps, calm winds, green grass, and gorgeous views. I feel like I need another two weeks in Phoenix to see all I want to see.

This past Friday was spent practicing. My old college roommate and teammate Kelly Jacques took me over to ASU Karsten to practice some short game. It was like old times and good to catch up with her. We spent two hours working on 80 yards and in but hunger set in so we had to hurry and find a Subway quick. The closest Subway was in a gas station so we ate in the car instead of choosing to sit with the homeless people picnicking in the grass behind the Shell station. Wise decision.

We all went out to Old Town Scottsdale that night for happy hour sushi. It was delish and the atmosphere was great. I’m hoping to make it back up there before I leave on Thursday.

Sushi night with the girls!

Michaela, Tara, and I spent Saturday morning playing a practice round at the Legacy Golf Resort (which is where I’m staying now.) We were paired up with a nice older man named Larry. I was lucky enough to ride with Larry and we had a great time. We practiced more after our round and I had an epiphany on the range. My specs on my irons are way off! It’s not my swing that’s the main problem! I need stronger, flatter, different irons! Thankfully I’m going to Ping tomorrow to get that all worked out. I’m excited! After our 8 hour practice day, I checked into the resort and had a night in my casita to myself. It was wonderful. My mom was supposed to make it in that day but the snow and ice in OKC didn’t allow her to get out until Sunday.

The pretty fountain at the resort we are staying at

Mama Dye finally made it yesterday afternoon and was excited to get out of the nasty weather. I practiced in the morning before she got there so we would have the rest of the day to do whatever. We ran some errands and had a Mexican dinner with Tara and Michaela. Our OKC Channel 5 sports director Mark Rodgers told me to try this place out and I must say, he must’ve had many margaritas before he ate there because I’ve definitely had better. We still had a good time though!

I was able to sleep in this morning and walk to the course to warm up for the first round of the Cactus Tour’s first event of the year. I got off to a decent start and ended up only making one bogey for the entire round. In my last two tournament rounds, 36 holes, I’ve had 2 bogeys so that’s pretty cool. I just realized that statistic. Hopefully I can keep that trend going. I ended up shooting 3 under today and am tied for the lead with two other girls. Everyone is very close behind so I’m going to have to keep the pars and birdies coming.

Teeing off this morning at the Legacy

Putting out on 18 at the Legacy

Hope everyone is having a great week. I tried switching my flight to stay longer down here in the nice weather but it was going to cost me $400 so I said no thank you! Guess that God’s way of telling me I need to go home, go to the OU-Texas bball game Saturday, and sit inside and watch the snow melt with my friends. I bet my dog and dad miss me too. Take care everyone!

My Dream Foursome?

2010-01-30T22:10:00.001-08:00

Who are dem chillens? (I wore that Taz shirt every Sunday to golf...it was awesome back then.)

My dream foursome?

That’s a pretty common question among golfers and a very interesting one to hear the response to. Most people would answer Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, or Tiger Woods (although I’m not sure if they would say that anymore.) I haven’t been asked that question too often and I don’t think of it as frequently as I probably should. It’s an easy one though. However, I would add an extra person to the group to make it a dream five some. I can do that because, well, it’s my dream.

You can ask any one of my college teammates and they would tell you that any chance I had to go back home to Edmond to play with my dad and brother, I would. They would make fun of me for going home often but I hate missing a golf outing with them. I hate it when I don’t get to play in fun scrambles with the two of them because I love playing with them. It’s as simple as that. My dad would agree with me though, I have never played to my full potential when I play with Adam for some odd reason. It’s like he’s in my head.

Me and my boys at All-State my senior year in high school

Adam has never seen me play well in a tournament, or seen me win college tournaments. He’s also never attended any of my professional events, yet, that is. If I could, I’d hire him to caddy for me. It’d be so easy to travel with him and I truly think he’d love it. The problems are he’s married, has a 90 pound hairy daughter of a Golden Retriever named Lily, and has a great full time paying job (for my dad) so that idea is probably shot out the window.

Adam caddying for me at Fore State at Southern Hills in 2008

He knows his stuff though when it comes to golf. We have spent countless hours analyzing our swings on video when they really don’t need to be analyzed. Our swings are very similar except that I swing much slower…or smoother you could say. He’s left-handed except when it comes to golf and that’s why he’s always been able to hit it far. When I was little and doing things the opposite of him, he told me that I was doing it wrong so that’s why I throw, kick, hit, bowl, etc. etc. left-handed. However when I started playing golf, my dad didn’t want to have to search for left-handed clubs so we play golf right-handed, which I believe is why we hit it further than the average golfer. So I’d have to say Adam would be included in my dream five some.

Similar swings?

Adam putting in college...I'm not the only one in the family who can get tan.

The next on my list is my dad. I usually feel like I have to beg him to come out to play with me when he’d much rather spend his afternoons napping on the couch in front of a TV but I cherish the times I spend with him out on a golf course. We have so many memories together at our club and he’s the one who got my brother and I out on a golf course in the first place.

We had an empty lot behind our house so it was our own personal driving range...less than 100 yards long.

When I was little, I would die to drive the golf cart around so once we got away from the clubhouse, he let me drive. When we’d come around to holes 6 and 7 I’d have to let him drive again but when we made it back out away from the clubhouse view, I was behind the wheel, not caring too much about the golf. Growing up, Sunday afternoons were always spent at the Greens Country Club in Oklahoma City. We’d rush home from lunch after church, change clothes, and head to the club for our 2 o'clock tee time. My mom hardly ever came out to watch because she knew that that was our time with our dad. She’d be busy at home cooking dinner for that night. My dad used to be able to shoot in the 70s but I honestly can’t remember those days. We love to record my dad on video, especially when he’s in jail behind a tree or about to ricochet and hit himself with his own golf ball. My dad never would have taught my brother and I to play golf if it wasn’t for the guy who taught him, his father-in-law, and my grandpa.

My dad in his thinner days. This is probably when he was shooting in the 70s because I don't remember either ha! JK Dad!

The reason I bring my dad along to the course...for comic relief

If I met a genie, and could have three wishes, one of those wishes would be to play a round with my deceased grandpa, Paw Paw. He passed away when I was in college a few years ago but many years before that, he was bed ridden and was never able to see me play. I ask family members all of the time about whether he was really good, how he handled himself on the course, what his strengths were and so forth. I’d give anything to play a single round with him. I know a lot of my friends who take advantage of their grandparents and relatives and don’t even realize how they should cherish every moment spent with them. It’s not like anyone can help how life works but I know good and well Paw Paw is watching me play now. The thing is, I want to watch him play more than I want him watching me play. One day it’ll happen!

Adam and Paw Paw many years ago

Don't be distracted by Adam's buckteeth or ears. Paw Paw with my mom and brother back in the day.

That leaves one more person to round out my dream five some. I have many relatives who play golf and who I love to play golf with but one stands out. I’d choose my uncle Tony. I think he is one of the most passionate lovers of the sport. He has taught, played and now watches and critiques golf on TV. He’s one of my biggest fans and was able to travel and watch me play in college. I loved it when he came because I would hear him yelling from the cart path “get in the hole!” Even if it wasn’t super close, he had faith that I could make any shot go in the hole. Tony has had some health problems arise in the last couple of years and it really put him back and slowed him down. We almost lost him and I don’t know what I would have done without him. He’s only 54 and has a lot of life left. Tony is doing a lot of physical therapy with his PT Jack. He is making leaps and bounds and he promised that the next time I make it over to Virginia, he’s going with me to the range. He’s a determined guy and I know he will.

Tony back in the day with his clubs

Tony, Adam and I in Virgina

Tony came out to Vegas to watch me play in my first semester of college golf. I remember shooting 74-74-74 and thinking that was good haha!

Well, if I’m playing in this five some I have to have a caddy. I’ve had great caddies in my short lifetime but I think the best guy who would suit my needs would be my other grandpa, Grandy. Grandy passed away during my senior year of high school. I never knew how much I’d miss him because I hadn’t dealt with death much but life without him is not the same. He had a stroke the same time Adam was being born so we never knew him without having his cane and not being able to maneuver around 100%. He was not athletic but worked for the local TV station. I think that’s where I get my love of news media from. Grandy was the most laid back person, lover of flowers, outdoors, and food I’d ever known. He created his own flower and named it after my aunt Cindy. When he was eating lunch he’d ask what was for dinner. That's what Dyes do. I’d always pretend I was singing and performing and my microphone was his cane. He’d always make me button his cuffs because my hands were tiny enough to do so. I would have him on my bag because he would be able to teach me about trees, birds, and flowers on the courses. My dad tries but I find it hard to trust him because he goofs off so much I never know if he’s telling me the truth or not. Grandy would appreciate all the good food I eat on the roads because I always find my way to southern food on my trips. Grandy was a devout Southern Baptist boy so he could always keep things in perspective for me. Grandy didn’t know much about golf and I can promise you he probably didn’t even try to swing a golf club but that doesn't matter. The only downfall of having him on my bag is we’d probably get put on the clock every round because neither one of us are fast people.

Grandy and Gran at his favorite spot, the kitchen table.

I’m not sure how many more opportunities I’m going to have in my life to be able to play with well-known people. When I do have those chances, I appreciate it and remember it forever. However, even though they may be famous it doesn’t compare to the desire I have to play with my dream five some. Nothing can replace the importance I put on my family members. When there are days that I’m not hitting it well, not making any putts, or just down about golf altogether, I have to remember that there are others out there who would give anything to do what I’m doing, and who would do anything to hit a full shot down a fairway. I have to remind myself constantly that I am among the few lucky ones who have the opportunity of a lifetime and to always give it my all. Paw Paw, Tony, and many others motivate me to continue forward and progress in my golf game. I’m sorry if this blog was not as entertaining or crazy as other posts but the subject has been on my heart for some time now and I just want each and everyone of my friends and family members to know how much I appreciate them in my life. I’m very lucky and thankful.

Confession

2010-01-28T21:45:00.000-08:00

I have a confession but first let me tell you all how our second and final round of the Guys and Dolls tournament finished up. Today's format was a straight up two man scramble. The only stipulation was that we had to use each person's tee shot 6 times. We were paired up with the veteran LPGA Tour player Wendy Ward and her husband so that was really neat. They were both very nice and she hooked me up with her chiropractor who I saw immediately after the round. Michaela and I ended up shooting 7 under today, 12 under for the tournament. We aren't quite sure where we finished up but we know we didn't get in the money because the girls who brought guys for partners were able to reach par 5s in two and had much shorter irons into greens. It sounds like an excuse but we learned that if we play in it next year, we will both be bringing guys for partners. I did have a lot of fun and we both made a lot of long putts so that built confidence for going into next week's individual tournament.

I dropped Michaela off at the Y to work out and I drove her car to north Scottsdale to find the chiropractor. I kind of enjoyed cruising around a new town by myself, not 100% sure where I was going. The doctor did some tests on me and when he pushed down on top of my head, that's when I yelled "Aghhhhh Kelly Clarkson!" Just kidding, but he did some stem therapy, heat, and of course some popping that I was dying for. I had offered to fly my OU trainer down here just to crack my neck. I was kidding then also but I love it when I get cracked. Anywho, the good news is I'm 40% healed and I am allowed to sleep with a pillow tonight! Last night without one wasn't so fun. I had a little bit of time to kill before the girls were done working out so I found out that the TPC of Scottsdale was just minutes from where I was so I went to go see it for myself. I couldn't get close enough but I did manage to snap a picture of the entrance before the light changed.

I have noticed that people in Phoenix call their highways "the 101," "the 202," "the 60" instead of how Okies say "on up 35" or "down across 44." You people know what I'm talking about. Anyways, I took the 101 down to the condo all by myself and I must say that I'm proud of myself because Phoenix has a little traffic, I'm slightly accident prone in cars that aren't mine, and I had less than 20% of battery in my phone and that was the only thing I could rely on to get back to the place. I was early so I was going to start dinner until I realized I didn't have both keys to the two doors so I was locked out until the girls got back about 20-30 minutes later.

So I know everyone's been wondering about my confession. Well, here it is:
I don't get nervous about too many things but when I step into a kitchen, more so a kitchen that isn't mine, I get slightly paranoid. I'm not comfortable in a kitchen, with hot things cooking and with me being in charge. I would like to think it's my moms fault since she never let me cook growing up. I had to fend for myself when I went to college but Kelly can tell you that I burnt many cook tops and sucked it up big time in our kitchen. I'm not a bad cook when I make things but the meals I know how to cook are ones that 8 year olds can make. I can manage to screw up the easiest meals. For example, tonight, I turned the stove on to level 7 for the spaghetti sauce. Why? I don't freaking know!!!! Once we put a tiny bit of spaghetti sauce in the pan it was scalding so Michaela grabbed too much of the handle and burnt the side of her right index finger...kind of a major component in a golf swing. Great. Then we later decide to toast more garlic bread because we, well I, wasn't paying attention to the time and the first batch got "crusty crust" as GloZell would say....look her up on YouTube if you don't know what I'm talking about. So as I'm pouring the frozen bread on the hot pan that Tara is holding I let the bag hit the pan, causing the plastic to melt on the pan. She lowers the pan quickly as the bread goes flying mid air. I think to save it with my Nikes and say two choice words as I'm doing so. I kick the pieces in the air and it lands on the floor for less than 5 seconds...they are saved! We had to use a new pan to cook the remaining pieces and then enjoyed a simple spaghetti dinner. I later noticed that I bought multigrain high fiber spaghetti. Wonderful. Just what I don't need!!! I'm a Dye, I don't need fiber.

So there you have it, my weakness is cooking without making a major mess in a kitchen. My biggest fear about getting married and having a family is thinking of what to have for dinner and preparing it for them every single night. People tell me it's easy but honestly, right now, I enjoy my personal chef...Mama Dye. People talk about how Oprah and Kevin Durant have personal chefs as if that's something that is hard to come by unless you're wealthy. Psh, that ain't nothing. I've got one.

Tomorrow is a day of errands, practice, sunshine, happy hour sushi and perhaps a bull ride to end the night. Who knows, it might get a little crazy out here in Scottsdale! Have a great weekend everybody and stay safe out there in the snow and ice. Say a prayer if you guys have time for my mom to make it out here safe on Saturday. I need someone to do my laundry because my clean clothes are coming to an end!!! Thanks :)

Guys and Dolls...Dolls and Dolls

2010-01-27T20:19:00.000-08:00

Today was the first round of the Cactus Tour's first event of 2010 called Guys and Dolls. We changed the name to Dolls and Dolls because we were one of two groups with two girls. We had the choice of having a guy as a partner or having another girl and I thought it would be fun to play with my friend from Oklahoma who lives in Scottsdale now, Michaela Cavener.

Today's format was modified chapman which means we both hit our tee shots, then we hit each other's second shot, and then choose the better of the two and play alternate shot from there on in. We had to think about what we were doing for the first couple of holes because neither one of us had played that format before but we got the hang of it and started making some birdies. The tournament was played on the back nine for 18 holes because the front nine was washed out from their big thunderstorms last week. The desert can't handle all of that rain. Michaela and I had a brain fart on a par 3 and made a bogey but other than that, we played well. It was fun making long and short putts for birdie today. We ended up -5 and thought that would put us right in the mix of things. We came in and found out that -10 is the leader but we still have a tiny chance of making up a little ground. Some of the girls brought in guys with PGA, Nationwide and other Tour status so they have a slight advantage on us. Tomorrow is going to be a birdie fest for everyone so we need to make sure that we don't lose ground.

I've been having a slight to major problem with my neck while I've been down here. I woke up yesterday before our practice round and heard and felt a loud crack in my neck. I wasn't able to really turn it to the right or look in some directions without feeling a major crick in my neck. I got an hour massage yesterday, have taken tons of medicine, used ice, got a new pillow, hot showers, and nothing seems to work. It's the pain you have that you want to throw up. I'm not swinging 100% and I sometimes am losing shots to the left because of the torque in my neck but I'm playing through it. I sure would rather my bum ankle hurt than this!

I've gotten to see my college teammate and roommate Kelly Jacques for dinner and hopefully again in the coming days. I think we are planning to go to Ping's facility to pick up some putters and play Greyhawk this weekend. We have another tournament next Monday through Wednesday so we'll play a practice round at the Legacy on Saturday morning. My mom's flight is scheduled to come in on Saturday afternoon but with the supposed winter storm coming to OKC, who knows if she'll make it. I hope she does because I need someone to do my laundry. Haha juuusstt kidding, sort of. I hope everyone is having a great week. I'm having a great time down here and enjoying a little bit of sunshine and calm winds. Until next time...

I've Made It to the Desert!

2010-01-25T21:41:00.000-08:00

Greetings from the desert!

I arrived in Phoenix today for the first time in my life. It was the least stressful travel day I have ever experienced. Every flight was early, my bags arrived, and I was in terminal D at DFW airport, which means I was able to make a pit stop at my favorite candy shop, Natalie’s Candy Bar. I had sour candy and peanut butter crackers for my lunch…nutritious I know. I was on four hours of sleep but couldn’t seem to get comfortable on the plane so I read my three magazines that told me the same stories about what's happened in celebrities lives in the last week.

I had my friends Tara Goedeken and Michaela Cavener pick me up from the airport. They both played for TU but I knew Michaela from playing against her in high school. She's from Ponca City and Tara is from Dodge City, KS. I’m staying with them this week in Tara’s condo. Michaela and I could’ve been bunk bed pals but Tara decided to put the beds on opposite sides of the room. Sad day! I had to wait a little while in the airport for them so I met a nice 70-year-old man from Poteau, OK. I decided to wear an OU hat and jacket on the plane today because it can sometimes strike up conversations with strangers and if I’m bored in the airport, why not shoot the breeze with someone? The Poteau man was telling me stories of Oklahoma high school football in the 1950s while his poor dog sat in this shopping cart looking thing. Thankfully my ride showed up.

We went straight to practice at the Legacy Golf Resort and it was lovely. No wind, sunshine, temperature around 65, and green lush grass! I ran into my friend Kendra Hanson from Iowa State who I haven’t seen in two years. My college roommate/teammate Kelly Jacques is down here as well playing and caddying so I will get to see a lot of familiar faces that I haven’t seen in a long time. After we practiced, we ran to get some groceries for the week and met one of Tara’s high school friends for pizza. He was really nice and took care of our bill! He’s one of my friends now! We might go play with him this weekend at Greyhawk in Scottsdale.

The driving range that I sort of snuck onto today

The pretty putting green

Michaela and I are playing in the Guys and Dolls tournament this coming Wednesday and Thursday at the Duke Golf Club. It is a two-man team event with the first day being played as a modified Chapman and the second day is straight up scramble. I love team events so we are going to have some fun! It’s really supposed to be a guy and a girl on each team but rules also stated it could be two girls on a team. Michaela pointed out to me that we are the only girl-girl team…sooo it could look the wrong way. I told her I will wear pink everyday and maybe even put a bow around my ponytail to prove which team I play for. HA!

I heard there is snow coming to Oklahoma. My mom is supposed to fly out Saturday to come party it up with me in Phoenix so hopefully her flight will be okay. Word on the street is OK City might be getting 6-12 inches of snow! I hope it isn’t so! Well, I will back in soon enough! I am just excited to have Internet connection right now. Tara, Michaela and myself are all sitting close to one wall in the condo stealing Internet from some poor 80-year-old woman named Ruby. No lie. Thanks Ruby! Have a great week everybody!

First Tourney of 2010

2010-01-14T21:40:00.000-08:00

Well I finally did it. I had a strong finish and can be proud about how well I scored this week, taking in the considerations of not playing for over a month and for how poorly I hit my irons. I had quite a few laughs at myself this tournament. I figured out how I could use my knockdown shot and get it somewhere in the vicinity of the green. If I wanted to hit a full iron shot, I could expect to hit it fat. I had good feelings every now and then that I could pull off a pretty iron shot from the fairway but after every time I tried it, I would say, “welp, back to the good ol’ knockdown.”

I didn’t have the start I wanted. I had a four foot birdie putt on one that I left short and in the heart. I’m pretty sure I was excited to see that one drop and I looked up as soon as I hit it. Unfortunately I wasn’t making the move I needed to put the pressure on my playing partners. I was tapping it for par on every hole on the front nine, hitting 8 greens and sinking a sneaky long one on 9 for birdie. I made the turn at one under, bogey free, chuckling at my poor effort in iron play but feeling alright about my score. I had revenge on the par 5 tenth today by knocking a close one up for birdie and capitalizing. I made my way over to 13, a par 3 that called for a 5 iron. I thinned one up there to 2 feet. I lipped out the birdie putt. Who does such a thing? Walk away with par. Poop!!!!!!!!! I decided to pull my tee shot into the trees on 15 and had a fun punch 8 iron off of pine needles. I found the green and proceeded to leave my putt 5 feet short. Another lip out. It was my first bogey of the day. I finished the last three holes by getting up and down on ever one of them. I was actually 100% on up and downs today. I can’t say that too often.

I finished -1 for the round, -1 for the tournament. It put me in second place alone and made a $1,000 check. There weren’t many girls in the field but the ones who did play were good players. I like the way 2010 has started off and I’m anxious for how the season will play out. I know that a huge part of my success this week was because of my caddy Phil. I’ve had some good caddies in the past but he did the most work. While I drove my fat butt around the golf course in a cart, he had to sprint from shot to shot. The tournament director wouldn’t let him ride in the cart. It was kind of ridiculous but we had a great time out there and I would hire him in a heart beat if he wanted to give up playing professional golf full time and come be my wingman. I learned a lot from him this week and it shows that I can score even when I have my C game.

Phil in action

I made him take me to Chipotle on our way to the airport. It was my first time to ever eat a burrito. That place is pretty good! However, I’m not the brightest because I am now on a three-hour flight to Dallas. The burrito could make things interesting for me….

Welp, I’m heading back to OKC to learn how to solid irons off of dead, thin grass. Thanks to everyone who has kept up with me this week and cheered me along the way. It makes things more fun when I know people are rooting for me. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Yankey Doodle Yank!

2010-01-13T20:33:00.000-08:00

Well, today was bound to happen. I got out to the range and couldn't seem to hit a solid shot. I began to think, "maybe I should have practiced after my round yesterday." Oh well, nothing you can do to change that. I had to remind myself that some of my best rounds were when I was shanking them on the range beforehand. We had a 30 minute frost delay so that allowed me to practice my short game for a good while.

My goal today was to hit more greens. I only hit 10 yesterday and I thought that if I hit a few more today then I'd have more opportunities at birdie. I started off with another birdie today which was a nice start. I reached a par 3 and decided to pull hook fat a 5 iron...pretty talented to do all three in one shot but I did. You don't want to know where I ended up but I walked away with a double. I was one over at the turn and headed to the par 5 tenth. I was looking at a 6 foot birdie putt and walked away with a bogey. Dear Jesus. I'm pretty sure that was the first time this week that I got a little mad at myself. I don't care if I've taken off 2 years, I should never do something like that. I carried on throughout the back nine by hitting some skanky shots. One birdie was with the most thin 6 iron you have ever heard but it took the perfect bounces and stopped 5-7 feet below the hole. I laughed at that one and yelled at my playing partners, "don't listen to what I'm doing over here!" The hole before it I drop kicked my tee shot and the ball found the rough, on the downslope of a fairway bunker. I proceeded to TOP THE BALL! It was hilarious. I think it went about 50-60 yards. I mean, yes, it was a dang difficult shot but if anything I should have rolled something up to the green, not top it! I'm pretty sure I put my baseball swing on it because it was nasty. Anywho, makes up for a good story. The last hole, (the one I doubled yesterday) actually treated me well today. I told Phil that I had to birdie it when we were standing on the tee. I'll be honest, I didn't have the most positive thoughts about this hole but I knew that par would be great, birdie would be a gift. I missed my approach to the left (note to the title of this post, Yankey Doodle Yank...a common theme to my ball flight) but thankfully I left myself with a good looking chip shot. He told me that if I birdied the hole, I would have to point to the hole and say a few choice words out loud. Well, I made the chip for birdie and I repeated the words to him but in a very soft voice. It was pretty funny and a nice way to end the round. I shot 73 and I can promise you I played terrible. I have great feelings about this golf course and even about my game so I have a lot of work to do tomorrow. I'm down by 4 to the leader and down by 1 from second place. I would like to win this so I'll give it my all.

I head back to OKC after the round tomorrow. I'll be happy to see the folks and friends again but I'm hoping it has warmed up a bit since I've been gone. Phil and I saw Up In The Air tonight and I must say, I can relate to George Clooney in a lot of ways. His love for travel and his ideas on relationships. Sad but true. I recommend this movie to everyone! People say it's depressing but I found it funny. What's that say about me? I hope everyone is having a great week and for those heading back to school, I don't envy you one bit :)

Suncoast Round One

2010-01-12T14:46:00.000-08:00

Who would’ve guessed it? I sure wouldn’t have! I haven’t played a competitive round since December 6^th and I played my first 18 holes yesterday. I think I shot around 90 yesterday so looking forward to today’s tournament round things weren’t looking so bright. Howeva, golf is a funny game. I woke up this morning with pretty positive thoughts. My trainer back at OU told me to think of it as I hadn’t made a bad swing in over a month and that I also haven’t missed a putt in over a month. I thought that was pretty smart of him to say. I knew that no matter how I played yesterday or how little I’ve held a golf club in the past month that once the guns went off, I’d be ready to play.

I’m having Phillip Bryan caddy for me this week since his golf tournament was canceled. I’m so thankful it was canceled because I would have been a lost dog out there today. I had never seen the course before and there are a lot of twists and turns. Being on the correct side of the fairway was also important. But even more than that, Phillip is very good at reading Bermuda greens…something I haven’t gotten a knack for yet.

We started off great, birding two of the first four holes. I had 4 straight one putts to start off the round. That gives you a bit of confidence with the putter. In the first nine holes I found 3 birdies but two dumb bogeys to make it one under at the turn. The first three holes on the back were playing pretty tough, straight into the wind but thankfully my length allowed me to either reach the green or get it somewhere in the vicinity of the hole. That’s the difference right now with my game. I can’t be too upset with not hitting perfect shots because it’s just not going to happen right now. I found two more birdies on the back so that left me with three under going into 18. I won’t go into detail but I doubled it to finish one under. The double was dumb but I have to look at it that I had 11 one putts for the round and a few rusty shots here and there. Unfortunately a rusty shot came on the approach shot for 18. Phil and I had a lot of fun out there today and I personally had a lot of fun because he told me where to aim the putt, I did, and more often than not, it went in. Golf seems simple when you have a good caddy like that.

I’m sitting one shot back of the lead, but it’s pretty packed behind me so I need to go out tomorrow and Thursday with the same mindset that I cannot expect myself to hit every shot where I want it to go but I know that even my rusty game can compete. I need to learn how to take it low and keep it low.

My new philosophy on practice is to not practice. I’m kidding but I loved my offseason. I was honestly a little burnt out on golf at the end of ‘09 and I enjoyed every bit of my time off. Being back on the course today made me appreciate that this is what I want to do with my time and money and that there’s a reason I should be out here competing.

Here’s a pic I took while sunbathing in my cart. I had my friend/caddy Phillip practicing instead of me. I don’t want to ruin what I had going today.

Here’s what I cooked for Phillip and I last night. It’s a secret (I can cook when I want). You’ll have to ask Phillip if it was good.

This shows you all how much I was able to practice over Christmas break:

Back in Action

2010-01-11T19:58:00.000-08:00

Hey guys!

I hope everyone had a great holiday. I sure did! I enjoyed my time off but I'm afraid it was a little too long. I wasn't expecting a 14 inch blizzard that we got on Christmas Eve in Oklahoma. I've never experienced something like that but I have to admit, I had a blast in it with my jeep. I was plowing through the neighborhood streets with the biggest smile on my face. The below freezing temps did not allow me to play or practice other than hitting balls into a screen at the local Golf USA store.

Yesterday, I headed down to Orlando by my lonesome to play in my first tournament of the year. Houston was my layover and a quick one it was. I had time to run to a store to buy some Chex Mix for lunch and I saw Ryan and Ashleigh (the married couple) from So You Think You Can Dance. I was excited to see some famous people but they looked completely different in person. Once I got on the plane, I found my exit row seat next to the Stanford football team. They were curious as to why my 5'4 body got an exit row seat but I just told them I know how to work the system. I also told them I played for OU as soon as I sat down so we could talk about football. I was in disguise in my normal clothes so they didn't believe I played golf for a living. That made the flight much better considering we sat at the gate for over an hour because our left engine didn't want to work. We were all relieved to land in Orlando but once I reached baggage claim, I found out that my clubs arrived but my clothes didn't. It wasn't the first time it's happened to me so I figured I'd see my bag later that night. I was wrong...

I'm staying with my friend Phillip this week who is living down here playing on the Hooters Tour. Thankfully he drove me back to the airport this morning and there it was! My bag! I felt complete once I got it in my possession. Apparently the plane it was coming on from Houston was diverted to New Orleans. ...Another Nigerian with a bomb? Maybe. But I'm thankful my bag was unharmed.

Phil and I played at a course today called North Shore. It's located across the street from Lake Nona where Annika Sorenstam lives. We didn't see her but I did get to play 18 holes for the first time in a month. Now the problem is, the North Shore isn't where I'm playing my tournament so that means this will be the first time since high school that I'll play a tournament round without seeing the course. It's a Suncoast Tour event which is played in the Orlando area and apparently this is the only tournament where the host course is closed the day before the event. I've never heard of that before and found out after my flight was booked so thankfully Phil has played the course so I'll have a great caddy for the next three days!

I'm going to finish watching this awful Bedlam basketball game and then head to bed. I hope everyone is finding warmer temperatures and looking forward to Spring. I sure am!

What I'm Reading: Real Life and Liars by Kristina Riggle
What I'm Listening To: Alicia Keys "The Element of Freedom"

Q School is in the Books!

2009-12-06T21:34:00.000-08:00

If I said it once, I’ll say it again. Everything happens for a reason. My destiny is already set and it’s something that I have to accept. God’s plan for me is bigger than I even know and I need to realize that I’m not in the driver’s seat. Knowing and understanding that will allow me to have a good night’s sleep tonight. The past week and a half was a tough one but one that I would do all over again if I ever get the chance. Some say that Q School is grueling and intense, which it is, but I took a different outlook on it. I knew that if I enjoyed myself, I would play my best golf. Well, I was wrong…I didn’t play my best golf but at least I can look back on the week and say I learned a lot, made some friends, made some memories, and bettered myself as a golfer.

It was a unique week to say the least. I played four practice rounds and the tournament started on Wednesday. I started off with a 75-75, and was extremely frustrated with not selecting the correct clubs coming into the greens and then not being able to get up and down once I missed a green. I loved the way I hit my driver this past week. I don’t think I’ve ever hit that club as consistently as I have which is exciting. Being in the fairway makes things much easier, who would’ve known? The third round was Friday and we played the first 6 holes in dry conditions but things got wet quickly. Once we reached the 9th green, I hit my 20 foot putt then heard the sirens sound. We had to mark our balls and go in immediately because lightning was everywhere. We were all scattered throughout the clubhouse and waited and waited and waited until the rules officials decided that an ark was needed if we were going to keep playing. My posse went to see Brothers and rested up for a Saturday of 27 holes.

We woke up Saturday morning and received an email that we wouldn’t tee off until 1pm. Just an hour after that I received another email saying that we wouldn’t be playing at all Saturday. So we were able to watch Florida get their butts kicked and play many games of Two Bounce. I’m officially back in basketball shooting shape. It’s been a while but I can seriously say I want to try out for Sherri Coale’s team. I know she’s only down to 9 girls since Whitney Hand tore her ACL so I think I can come in and make a huge impact. I’ve been playing the wrong sport for so many years. Ask my caddy for the week how he liked my shooting. Not only was he my “b*tch” on the course but he rebounded very well for me as well. Hahahaha!! Just kidding! Chad and I talk a lot of crap to each other and that was one thing I mentioned to him while we were playing basketball. I sure hope he doesn’t think I’m a diva out there on the course. I had a lot of fun with him on the bag. We told my playing partners all sorts of things, made up stories of how we knew each other. People thought we were related but we both laughed out loud and for a long time at the thought of that. I call him dad now that he’s soooo old (35). I’ve known Chad since I was 9 years old so for me to be able to experience this week with him on the bag was memorable and a lot of fun. I was so comfortable out there and I could trust him. I gave him many heart attacks in the 4 rounds I played.

So I bet all of ya’ll are wondering how and when I finished my 3rd and 4th rounds. Well, we woke up bright and early this morning and I began my day tapping in for par on my 9th hole of my third round. I went on to bogey and birdie two to shoot -1 for the round and move up 30 spots. I was a happy girl and had a half hour break before we moved to the other course and played our 4th round. I was in good spirits and ready to make a lot of birdies. Little did I know that I would not make a single birdie for the entire fourth round. I had plenty of opportunities, hit great shots, hit 12 greens but shot an awful 79 to finish 3 shots off the cut. Looking back I would have done many things differently but thankfully it wasn’t bone head mistakes that I will lose sleep over. I know that I have enough talent to make it on tour. I have the right mindset to make it out there…I can control my emotions with the best of them. My nerves were in check all week and never played a factor in any shot during the tournament so I can be proud of that. I know success is a process and can’t happen overnight so when/if I do make it on Tour, I will appreciate it and know how hard it is to make it. I’m still motivated and still have the passion to give it my all to fulfill a dream.

Since I’m an awful person and didn’t make the putts, I screwed up my parents and Chad royally by having them switch our flight from tomorrow to Tuesday to go back home. …I thought I would be playing tomorrow so my mom changed the flights yesterday and now we are stuck in Florida until Tuesday. I guess things could be worse, we could be bored in cold weather in Oklahoma so I think we will see The Blind Side, possibly some putt putt, and definitely one last night on the basketball court. We’ve made some enemies at the pool by Chad’s air balls over the fence, bless his heart.

My thanks to everyone who kept up with me this week, who prayed for me and gave me encouragement. I cannot tell you all how much that means to me. I’m not done yet, I will keep chasing after the dream.

As Happy Gilmore would say, “Only 364 more days till next years hockey tryouts. I gotta toughen up.”

Round One in the Books

2009-12-02T17:46:00.000-08:00

#18 on LPGA Int'l Legends Course

Michaela and I on Daytona Beach

Chad and I in front of the sports medicine trailer

Welp, it's official. Round one of the LPGA Final Stage Q School is in the books. I've been here since Friday and played 4 practice rounds with my friend Michaela Cavener. The tournament is being played on two different courses so we had to use that many days to chart out the holes. I'll be honest, I have a horrible memory and sometimes won't remember certain holes until I walk up on the tee box. I guess that's a good thing, I won't be fearful of any shots while I'm back at my hotel thinking about golf....not to say I'm ever fearful. I have Chad Lamb, a past Greens CC assistant pro and now the head pro of Rose Creek in Edmond, caddying for me this week. I've known him for over 12 years now and we have played countless rounds together. He knows my game and in the 18 holes we had today, he learned even more. My advantage over others is distance but sometimes I don't trust it and will take more club to account for miss hits. Well, I guess I need to realize I'm a pro now and really don't have huge miss hits anymore. I'm going to do a better job tomorrow with it, that's for sure! We had a blast out there today even though I threw away shots here and there. Random thought but for those who play golf, do ya'll ever get songs in your head while you're out playing? I sure do. Today's songs were "Empire State of Mind" and "Run This Town" by Jay Z and I hate to admit it but "Bad Romance" by Lady Gaga. I'll be sure and change up the songs tomorrow. I've got tendinitis in both ankles but they are going to hold up for me this week. Ice ice and more ice. I am so excited because our hotel has a lit basketball court so we were able to play "2 bounce" tonight. It's a Mike Dye original, one of my favorite basketball games...one that won't kill my body. We let my dad feel good about himself and win 4 of the 5 games but we will definitely have a rematch tomorrow night. I tee off early in the morning so I'm going to get in bed. I have good feelings about tomorrows round and am keeping my head held high even though todays round wasn't what I wanted. It's all a learning experience, I'm giving it my all, but know that the goal is to get better each and everyday. Thanks for everyone's support. I couldn't do it without you guys!

What I'm Reading: "I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell" ...I don't recommend this book but if you want a raunchy, raunchy read, this is it.
What I'm Listening To: "Play On" Carrie Underwood

What I'm Thankful For

2009-11-26T22:56:00.000-08:00

What I’m Thankful For:

My Heavenly Father

God has blessed my life in more ways than I’ll ever be able to count. I know that He has a bigger plan for my life and that He is in complete control. I am so thankful for the people that God has chosen to be in my life. I strive everyday to give it my all for and to God.

My Parents

Without the love and support of my parents, I would not be the person I am today. They have told me since the day I was born that I could do anything I put my mind to and have believed in me more than I have ever believed in myself. I know what I’m trying to do is expensive but my dad has not once brought it up as an issue. My mom works so hard at booking trips, packing, and making sure everything else is in order so I don’t have to worry about anything. I don’t believe anyone has it as good as I do.

My parents and I at the 2009 NCAA Regional Championship in Columbus, OH

My Family
I’m one lucky girl to have family spread out all across the country who keep up with me and are just as excited as I am with what I’m trying to do. I love them so much and wish I could spend more time with them.

My brother and sister-in-law, Adam and Jennifer with their puppy Lily

My mom's side of the family in Maryland this past spring

My Friends
My friends show me how to enjoy life and are one of the main reasons why I find the fun in everything. I will probably live a long life because of all the laughs I have with my friends. My three best friends, “The Crew,” doesn’t know much about the sport I play but that’s why I love spending time with them so I can escape the world of golf. I have sacrificed a lot over the years with my friends by missing birthdays and other big events but thankfully I have them to lean on when I’m in a not-so-happy mood.

The Crew

Coaches
I have had many different teachers and coaches over the years who have made a huge impact in my life. Carol Ludvigson, my coach at OU taught me so many things on and off the course that I will take with me until the day I die. I think of her every time I step on the golf course because she invested four years in me and molded me into a better player and person. I hope to one day follow in her footsteps and be half the coach she was. I don’t think there’s a better motivator than Coach Carol. The reason why I still have a passion for golf is because she taught me how to have fun with the game, and to remember that it is just a game. Brent Cryer, The Greens C.C. head pro is another coach I am so thankful to have in my life. I’ve known Brent since I was 8 years old and we have spent countless hours together talking about life, ragging at each other about sports, and working hard on each others golf games. I give him a hard time because every time I ask him for help on the range, it always turns into me watching and critiquing his swing. Brent is another huge factor in why I see golf and life as a ball of fun. He sees the bigger picture and reminds me daily that if I ever saw in myself what he sees, I would be unstoppable. If I make it big one day, I promise I will promote him to either write a book or host his own tv show because he is the most funny guy you will ever meet.

Coach Carol and I at the 2007 Big XII Championship

Brent and I at the 2007 Oklahoma State Match Play Championship

My Sponsors
Without the generous help of a few individuals I have known over the years, I would not be living out my lifelong dream. These kind people have taken a huge chance on me and have such a big heart to financially and emotionally support me. I will never be able to thank this group of people for the experiences and life lessons they are allowing me to have. I hope to one day be able to give back like they have for me.

My Teammates
In my 10 years of playing on golf teams, I have had the best teammates I could ever have asked for. They are my sisters and I have so many fond memories because of them. I miss playing on a golf team but I still receive encouraging words from them at every tournament I play in. I keep up with my teammates and will forever call them that because they pushed and challenged me into being a better golfer.

OU Women's Golf Team at the 2009 Betsy Rawls Invitational in Austin, TX

2005 Santa Fe Womens Golf Team

My list could go on and on about who and what I’m thankful for. I realize most people consider the game of golf as an individual sport. If you happen to look at the list above and see all the key players I have in my life, some might reconsider that idea. There is no way on Earth that I would be playing the game of golf, have the success I’ve had, and have the dreams I have if it wasn’t for the people in my life. It can be a lonely life out on Tour but I feel the love and support daily by the great people I have gotten to know over the years in my journey across the country. I thank each and every one of you who have followed me, encouraged me, and prayed for me. Any bit of success I have is a direct reflection of you.

I am off to Daytona Beach for the Final Stage of the LPGA Qualfiying School. The tournament starts December 2 and runs through December 6. There are 119 girls playing and the playing field will be cut down to top 70 after the 4th round. Top 20 will receive full exempt status to play on Tour next year, with the following 20 receiving partial status. I’m having my long time friend and head pro Chad Lamb caddy for me so it’s going to be a fun week. You can follow live scoring on lpga.com. Thanks everyone and God Bless!

What I’m Reading: Breaking Back: How I Lost Everything and Won Back My Life by James Blake
What I’m Listening To: Battle Studies – John Mayer

So Long Sunshine State!

2009-11-06T17:19:00.001-08:00

Hey everybody! Happy November! I left Oklahoma in the middle of October and come back and it's well into November! I've been down in Lakeland, Florida for the past 10 days. It's been hot and windy but I can't complain. My skin got a little loving because of the UV rays except for the fire ants that attacked me yesterday when I walked alongside a hazard. I think they are going to leave a mark. A little side note here that I'm super excited about....I'm currently posting from 35,000 feet in the air ON AN AIRPLANE! I know this will be nothing new in a few years but I'm one excited girl right now. I've got the perfect little set up right now, I have an empty seat to the left of me with a little cranberry apple juice sitting on it's tray, I've got my mother remaining quiet to the right of me, and unfortunately I have a gassy little kid behind me but I guess that's what keeps it entertaining. We have a three hour flight to Dallas then on to OKC and I cannot wait to get home and see my little hairy dog, friends, and family.

I don't know where to start since I've been gone so long but I'll try to remember how it all went down. I chose to fly into Orlando this time because I've never been there and I grew up an Orlando Magic fan....Penny Hardaway was my favorite baller, that's why my dog is named Penny. We were not disappointed. As we drove to our hotel, we got a free showing of Disney's fireworks. The following four days I played practice rounds, trying to learn the four courses that the Futures Q School was being played on. The weather was nice, hot, with calm winds. I played three of my practice rounds with my good friend Lucy Nunn. We had bets going on for the entire tournament that were worth 25 cents. It's a good thing she's tight with her money or else I'd be broke!

I played with some really neat people this past week. One girl was on the Golf Channel's Big Break in Hawaii. She talked me in to applying for next years show...I'll keep you all posted on how that goes. Another girl was getting back into competitive golf because her husband had been killed in Iraq and she wanted to do something that she loved instead of being a manager at a restaurant. How inspiring is that? Other girls I played with were from Australia, Kenya, Columbia, Peru, Mexico, and Canada. I even played with a girl I call "Egg Roll" who's more American than me. She represents the asian homegirls out there even though she's from Dallas...she's just a wannabe Asian :) (She wanted a shout out so there you go Cung). It's a pretty sweet sport I play because I've got friends from all over the world. It was one of the worst weeks with slow play though. I'm a pretty patient player but I've never wanted to rip out my hair more than this week's tournament. 6 hour rounds can kill a person. I'm happy with how my game is going. I had three chip ins in my round today which is probably a personal best. I wouldn't know because I don't have a memory to remember but it was pretty special. I had a 4th chip hanging on the lip but I guess Jesus just wanted me to have 3 today...which is fine by me. I made a 35 yard pitch shot in my first round so 4 chip ins total is a great week to me. I had one horrific round in the middle of the week. For some reason, after going 73-70, I woke up the third morning with absolutely no confidence in my game and a head full of doubts. It's weird how the body works but I am working on understanding it, recognizing it, and changing it for the better. I'm going to meet with my sports psychologist in the coming weeks to get that sort of stuff under control so I will be healthy in the head for my next tournament.

Thankfully I played really well after my major hiccup round and made the four day cut and played well today, therefore I gained full status on the Futures Tour for the 2010 season. I have one more small tournament back in Daytona Beach, FL at the beginning of December. It's a small one that doesn't mean much at all....JUST KIDDING! It's the LPGA Final Stage of Qualifying School. Something I've been working toward for years and years. This past week really prepared me in knowing what I need to do next month in order to make it on the big tour.

Now while I was gone, I didn't just golf. I would go crazy if that's all my days were consumed of. We decided to go to Downtown Disney yesterday afternoon and go check it out. We took my friend Lucy with us and we had a blast. Since I owed her a few quarters from our bets, I bought the two of us these two foot Mickey pencils so that when we did our pin sheets on the first tee this morning, we might get some stares, maybe a laugh or two. I told her that if she shot under par, she had to use it at the scorers tent. They are hilarious looking so hopefully we can start a trend. I worked on sharpening mine for two hours last night and still didn't get it looking right so that's what kept me entertained for my six hour round today. My cart driver from Peru probably thought I was crazy. I also bought this sweet Jamaican guy keychain...I needed a new keychain because my mom said I needed to get rid of my OU lanyard...since I'm not an OU student athlete anymore :( I guess I needed a more mature, sophisticated one so I bought this:

Lucy and I got a little crazy at Downtown Disney...

Welp, we are about to land in Dallas then on up to OK City! I hope everyone is having a great week and an even better weekend! Boomer Sooner!

What I'm Reading: Lovely Bones
What I'm Listening To: Lady Antebellum

Leaving Town

2009-10-27T19:32:00.000-07:00

I'm off once again back down to Lakeland, Florida for the Futures Tour Qualifying Tournament. This is my second go at it and hopefully I can play a little better than I did last year. We are there for 9 days but it's going to be a fun time because a lot of my friends will be down there playing as well. You can follow our progress at www.futurestour.com.

I've been home for less than a week but I'm ready to get back into competition. I've enjoyed being at home for a short time, seeing friends and family once again. I'm still going strong with the P90X workouts, I'm on to week 3 now. I got a massage tonight and he mentioned that I've definitely gotten better with my flexibility so I'm happy with that even if I haven't lost a whole lot of weight yet.

I'm seeing "This is It" with my friend Mindy tonight so I'm really excited about it. I hope it's as good as everyone is saying it is. Welp, this is a short entry but I figured I should let everyone know where I'll be for the next week and a half. The first round starts on November 2 and runs til November 6. I have to head home that night because there's a big wedding on the 7th that I'm soooo excited about! I hope everyone is staying healthy and enjoying the cooler weather!

What I'm Reading: The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
What I'm Listening to: The Blueprint 3 - Jay Z

Hey Hey From Our Nation’s Capital

2009-10-21T10:57:00.000-07:00

Welp, Mama Dye and I have found our way to Bethesda, Maryland this week. We flew into D.C. yesterday and were welcomed with some wintery temps. I played a practice round by my lonesome yesterday (which I secretly love to do) and jammed out with a little with Michael Jackson. Girls were looking at me like I was smoking crack. Some people take state opens a little too serious. My mom and I drove around and around until I took control and said we are going downtown for dinner! We got some grub and she was a happy girl because she got her ice cream fix for the day. You know, that lady has an addictive behavior. It used to be Sonic Diet Cokes but now that the doctor said no more for you, she turns to ice cream like it’s going out of style. I started doing P90X this past week and these ice cream trips have got to stop! By the way, I officially completed my first full week of P90, only 13 weeks left. Holy moly. People laugh, but you know if I’m going to be on Tour next year, I don’t want to get embarrassed by Wie Wie. This 5’4 frame has got to hold her own.

My high school friend Rosie and my Aunt Cathy

#17 Par 3 at Bethesda Country Club

#9 Par 3 at Bethesda Country Club

#2 Par 3 at Bethesda Country Club
I had my first round of the Maryland Womens Open today. I had a late tee time, which I love, so I slept in and woke to the sound of the deliveryman with my hot breakfast. I promise you, my life sucks. ☺ My longtime friend/high school teammate Rosie, came to watch me for the first 9 and I felt as if I was playing sloppy. I decided to get even sloppier when I made the turn. I actually felt a little anger flare up but I decided that’s no way to be out on a golf course so I decided to go birdie, birdie, birdie, birdie, lip out birdie putt and made par. The birdies were more exciting for the gallery than for me because I just wanted to erase all my nastiness that I had done earlier. I shot 75 and I’m 4 shots back of the leader. My crazy Aunt who also came to watch told me tonight at dinner that I have to make 18 birdies tomorrow, but to not put too much pressure on myself. Ha! Easier said than done but she predicted my birdie string today so we will see if she’s right again. I’m off to bed but will check back in tomorrow when we make our journey over to Winchester, Virginia to see my grandma, aunts, uncles, and cousins. So excited to see them!

What I’m Reading: Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
What I’m Listening To: Michael Buble, Crazy Love Album

My bad...

2009-10-21T10:46:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody,

I’ve been meaning to write but it has taken me a while because I have been a busy little girl. Now that I am on the road again, I have time to update!

A quick little refresher of the past 2 weeks (this is more for my own self because I have the memory of a 90 year old thanks to a large consumption of Diet Coke the last 22 years):

My parents and I went the OU-Miami game and sat with the player’s families. I’m pretty sure everyone knows the outcome of that game so we will just leave it at that. Flew back home to OKC to some freezing cold temps. I completely missed the transition of seasons and my sun burned skin wasn’t prepared for goose bumps and under armor. I took off a whole week because I was slightly tired of golf, okay, realllllly tired of golf. Heck, I played for 3 straight weeks without a day off, my muscles and bones were aching.

I spent some time with my brother and sister-in-law, with friends, and catching up on some sleep. I was able to go down to Norman a few times and see the team and hang out with them at the OU-Baylor game. I sure do miss being down there and I really miss the convenience on game days…driving down from the city on a game day is no fun at all!

I’ve been having some problems with my left hand so I talked to a few OU trainers and it looks like I have a ganglion cyst underneath my left pinky finger. I told them I was just going to take a needle to it because it’s pretty painful but they freaked and said NO! …I was only kidding but I want to do something to it so it’ll go away, any suggestions?

Anywho, I was able to run/walk in a 5k marathon for Race for the Cure. I wasn’t exactly excited about paying money to wake up at the butt crack of dawn on a Saturday morning to run that many miles in freezing cold temps but once I got there and saw how many people had shown up, I decided I was where I needed to be. I was with my best friend Whitney for the whole 3.1 miles and we had a blast! I am now going to look into doing more 5k runs and see if I can actually run the whole thing and do it in a respectable time.

I played in a fun 4-man scramble with my long time friend Reece and I played from the ladies tees. I probably wasn’t supposed to play in it, especially from those tees but I had taken a full week off so I was rusty! Reecey and I went on to the Thunder game and sat with some friends and saw Taylor Griffin and the Phoenix Suns play. It was a really fun day and I was able to catch up with some of my favorite people. I saw Couples Retreat with Mindy (waste of money) and Law Abiding Citizen with Cung (I recommend!) and spent the rest of the week practicing and playing at my club and down in Norman.

I decided to watch the OU-Texas game at home even though we had a flight out of DFW at 8am Sunday morning. I’m kind of glad we chose to do that because now I know that I’m not the reason why OU loses on the road. I just found out that we aren’t even ranked in the top 25 and I’m not sure what to think about that. All I want is for Sam to get healthy, maybe get that surgery so he can swing a golf club again and move on to the big leagues. People are always going to remember him as a Heisman winner, one of the best quarterbacks college football has ever seen, and more importantly a stand up guy who is going to be successful no matter how his NFL career goes. Okay this post is getting way too long. As Al Eschbach would say seeeee yaaa!

Best Caddie in the World

2009-10-21T08:09:00.000-07:00

I feel like I should tell people my secret. It’s been on my mind lately, as a lot of things have, and I think everyone would benefit from hearing it:

September was the month of LPGA Q School. Very strenuous, very long, very tiring. California’s sectional did not treat me well and so I was shipped off to Florida for a second chance. I had a rough first round but knew that if I kept going, and kept up the good attitude, things were going to turn around, they would have to.

I was told before I left for California that my destiny was already set. I wouldn’t be able to change it, and to just enjoy the ride as it came. I believed the man who told me that because he is a man of faith and has also been successful on Tour for years and years and knows what he’s talking about. He also told me that no particular golf shot was life or death, which comforted me in knowing that no single shot had greater importance than another.

When I arrived in Florida and met my caddie, I knew that something wasn’t right so I decided to play the whole week on my own, or so people thought. I knew that this would be my last shot for an entire year and I didn’t want to have any distractions or excuses. When people saw me playing that week, they only saw me hitting the shots and only me driving the cart. Little did they know that I had the best caddie in the entire field that week. Some can call me crazy but God was with me every step of the way. I know that my good shots are because of Him and my bad shots are because of Him. When I put my ball in jail, I truly believe that God helps me out of there. I’d like to think we are a pretty good tag team. When I put my approach in the water on the 72nd hole, I knew that my chances were slim to none for qualifying for the final stage. I was so grateful for being in that tight situation, for playing tough for 4 straight days and I knew that God was teaching me a lesson for my future. As the time passed and I saw my name jump up into the top 30, I thought, “geez that was a wonderful lesson but man, I promise I’m a fast learner and can take it with me to the Final Stage for this year!” Sure enough, I made it and my destiny was written in a dramatic fashion.

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”
2 Timothy 4:7

You know, when I was watching the OU-Texas game the other day, most would say that Colt McCoy struggled in the first half. I saw that after a 3rd and out he was running off the field and he pointed to the sky. I knew right then what he was thinking. No matter the situation, praise God, stay patient and things will turn out alright. Things turned out alright for Colt and the Longhorns but I just thought that was an awesome sight to see when he could have been down in the dumps. No matter what you are doing, stay tough, stay positive, and give God your absolute best.

I have one more story that’s been on my mind that people may or may not believe but I’d like to share it:

My good friend just lost his dad in a car accident. I was in California when it happened and when the funeral occurred. I knew his dad and what a fun guy he was so I knew that my friend had been hurting. I spend a lot of time at my club with him and so last week we decided to play 18 holes together. He hadn’t played in a few weeks due to the recent events so I figured it would be good for him to get out and play. Right off the bat he started off strong and found himself a couple under par at the turn. Every time he made a birdie or made a great shot, I thought of his dad. I’m really not sure if he thought the same thing but it just made me sad to think that if he wanted to call his dad after the round to say he shot in the 60s, he wouldn’t be able to. It broke my heart because I report to my family after almost every round, especially if it was a good one. On the other hand, it made me smile every time he made a great shot or a birdie because I knew that his dad was able to see every single swing. On one tee shot, his ball was heading straight for the creek and he got a little upset but I told him, “Hey you never know, you might’ve gotten lucky!” Sure enough, we drove down there, the ball was sitting pretty and he goes on to make par. He got a lot of breaks that round and made a lot of good shots as well. He’s a talented golfer but I just can’t help in thinking that his dad was on the bag for that round and I’m pretty sure he will be on there for a long, long time.

(He shot in the 60s if you were wondering.)

Halle...Lu...Yuh!

2009-10-03T07:39:00.000-07:00

When most people think of Q School they think of the horror stories of missed tap ins on the 72nd hole, they think of going into the water or out of bounds late in the tournament, or they think of missing the cut by just a shot. Believe me, I'm well aware of those stories without having to read the books that have been written. I walked off the 18th green yesterday thinking I was a victim of that awful recurring story.

I was in the first group off for the final round and began with a bogey. Something that I haven't done in quite some time. I recovered with a birdie on the par 5 fourth but followed that up my putting my approach on five into the water for a double. I knew that I had plenty of golf left so I didn't press. I made another long bomb on the ninth for a birdie to go one over at the turn. I can promise you this, I don't remember the last time I hit my irons so poorly. I don't know what was up with me this week but they were nasty nasty. I am pretty sure I hit the ball better as a middle schooler than I did the past few days. I had a really dumb bogey on 11 but came back with a great birdie on 14. I was trying not to get ahead of myself but by being one over with four holes to play, I thought one more birdie would be a great round and give me a good chance to make the cut. I felt like the entire day was a struggle and to be able to score around par would show that it doesn't matter how I'm hitting it, I can find the hole other sorts of ways. I had birdie putts on 15, 16, and 17 but failed to make them so I went into 18 wanting to hit driver but decided to go with the three wood since I had only used my driver twice on the back side. The driver worked well for me all week but for some reason, I used the three wood. No regrets I thought....

I aimed out the right side of the fairway, relying on the big ol' draw I had going this week but it didn't come back to the left so it stayed in the right rough. I get down to my ball and it's sitting down in a crap lie. I have about 162 to the flag with all water to carry and wind that was not in my favor. There is fairway over to the left that goes all the way to the green but I gave that option about 3 seconds and then went back to deciding what club I was going to hit. As soon as I hit the 5 iron I reacted negatively by seeing that ball come out low and short and I did not want to see it splash. I went down to the water, dropped another, hit a 9 iron up and over and two putted for double. The life and energy was completely out of me as I walked off the green. I shook my head and could not believe what a bone head mistake I had just done. That is what a caddie is for, but I should be more experienced to know that I should hit over to the left side, rely on my up and down game and worst case scenario take a bogey and go tally up the scores. But instead I went for it and shot 75. One of the worst decisions I have made in my golf life. I will promise you all that I will never do something like that again.

I think Jesus was shining on me here for the birdie putt

Sitting here in shock, not believing what I just did on 18.

My parents and I left the course and I was planning on going to pack up and head to Miami for the weekend but instead we went to grab some lunch and watched the leader board on our phones. At first my name was one shot below the cut line and I figured that would be a great lesson learned for myself. But as we finished lunch, I jumped ahead of the cut line so I looked at it and tried to figure out how I could be bumped back down below the cut line but it was looking like there was no way that I could be dropped. So we went to our condo, packed up, and headed back to the clubhouse and watched as the news became official. I had made the cut by one! I was so drained that I didn't really celebrate, more relieved than anything. We had a mandatory meeting to discuss the final stage tournament in December held in Daytona Beach, FL. I'm so thankful that there is another day and something to look forward to through the fall.

Izzy B and I representing the Sooner Golfers at Q School

My parents and I drove through Alligator Alley and made it to Ft. Lauderdale. We moseyed on over to Hollywood Beach and walked the boardwalk and found an open air restaurant to eat a late dinner. There are some crazy lookin' people in Miami and it makes you feel kinda normal ha! I went to bed before 11 and never heard my dad snore and never heard the train outside my window go "choo choo!" I think I was a little tired.

We are up and ready to go to Miami Beach, maybe take a little visit to Dash to see if the Kardashian sisters are in town. It's going to take a while to get to Land Shark Stadium tonight because of the traffic so we will head over there pretty early. Say a prayer for my Sooners, my road record is not very good so if we come out on the short end then I promise not to go to another road game this year, especially not the Big 12 Championship because I'll be in Daytona Beach! Thank the good good Lord!!

Swine Flu in the Swamp

2009-10-01T12:27:00.001-07:00

Welp, I think I'm officially getting sick. I started feeling like dog doo yesterday on the course. I almost ralphed on 16 green yesterday but held it in thankfully. Not sure what my problem is but I'm not eating much so that's great news! I am thinking it's swine flu because I've had bacon every morning for breakfast. Ha just kidding! I just finished up my third round today. I made the cut last night which was great news. I started off the tournament with a 77 and followed it up with a 73 yesterday. I played pretty steady today...at least it felt like it. I only hit 9 greens which is not a good stat at all but I shot one under so I guess I loved my wedge and putter today. People that know me would be shocked to hear that statement out of me.

I read Play to Play Great by Dr. Rotella this past weekend and I highly recommend it to every golfer. It has some great things in there and I've taken it to the course. It's not an overnight change but by putting his ideas into practice really makes golf a lot more soothing and enjoyable. I hit some nasty shots out there today and afterwards my parents thought that I was losing focus. I think it was because I didn't react in a negative way to the bad shots. One thing Dr. Rotella said was you have to understand that you are imperfect and are bound to make mistakes. I am trying to forgive myself quickly for my shortcomings and understand that those things are going to happen. There is never going to be a perfect round of golf so in order for me to improve, I have to be the best caddie I can be for myself. Like I said in my earlier post I got rid of my caddie this past weekend and I'm thinking that might have been a good move because I've been really focused and I have no outside advice. I kind of like that. At first I was a little leery of how this week might go but people kept telling me, "you've played plenty of tournaments without a caddie and won so don't be so dependable on a caddie." I just had such a great experience in Palm Springs with my caddie so I guess I found out this week that I can play with or without one!

My dad has been with us for the past four days now and he has added more entertainment to the group. My parents are troopers for watching me play tournament after tournament. I sure hope I have as much patience with my kids as they do with me. I think they are enjoying their time down here but we are all ready to get back home and see our dog Penny and the rest of our family and friends. I feel like we have been gone for a month, which we have!

We are taking my dad to Sharky's tonight to eat seafood on the beach. We have been going to the beach everyday and getting seashells. Yesterday my dad and I got in the water and it felt great! One more day of being in Venice and then we are heading east through Alligator Ally to Miami and resting up for the big game Saturday night. I just learned that Sam won't be playing which might be a smart move. I've got all the faith in Landry, it's the big boys blocking for him that worry me.

All of my aches and pains are holding up so far, I just need 18 more good holes and then I can take it easy for a few days. I moved up a billion places in the last two days and am only one shot back of top 30. I love coming from behind so this should be a fun day tomorrow. I'm curious to know what's wrong with my ankle so I will go down to OU next week and have a little visit with the trainer. Back in the day when I was ballin' for the YMCA, I told my dad (who was the coach) that my foot was really hurting and I needed to see what was wrong with it during a timeout. He told me "not now Kendall! Wait 'til halftime you gotta go play." So I was an obedient child and went back out and played. At half time I took my shoe off and there was blood everywhere. Somehow I got a staple in my shoe or sock and it was lodged in my foot. To this day, my dad has not forgiven himself. It's hilarious to all of us now but danget I will play through pain!

Well, we are leaving Panera and heading back to the range to figure out this dang swing of mine. Hope everyone had a great week! Be sure to tune in to ABC and look for us at the game! Boomer Sooner!

What I'm Listening To: I warmed up to the dirtiest song ever, praying no one could hear my music but I'll admit to you all what it was...."Every Girl" by Lil' Wayne. I'm pretty sure the next song on shuffle was a nice Christian song.

What I'm Reading: No energy to read this week...recommend The Last Song by Nic Sparks...it's my fav!

Teeshot in round 2

My parents at the beach

My gallery...Randi was a little too close to the gators...hope she made it out alive!

Call us the Gypsies

2009-09-28T11:47:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! Sorry it's been so long since I've last updated. We are down here in Venice, FL for the LPGA Sectional Qualifier. I was in Palm Springs last week for the first sectional and unfortunately did not make the top 30 so that is why I'm down here this week, getting a second chance to make it to the final stage in December. Since I missed the cut in California, my parents and I drove back to San Diego for the weekend to stay with my aunt and uncle. It was a nice and relaxing weekend, full of home cooked meals which were amazing. The LPGA was playing at Torrey Pines so I called up my friend Petra who I met in Hawaii last year and happens to caddie at Torrey and she hooked us up with some free passes. It was pretty neat to get up close to those girls and see them play. The sad thing was, the crowds were awful. Something needs to happen fast before the LPGA disappears for good...can Tiger help some girls out??

We came home for two days and I was able to have a birthday dinner with my three best friends and another birthday dinner for my brother and our families. I had a great time with them at night but worked hard during the two days with my head pro Brent Cryer. That guy may struggle with his own game on certain days but I'm so lucky to have him help my game. A lot of credit goes to him because he works hard to help me improve my game.

My best girl friends out for Whitney's birthday dinner.

Adam was happy with the golf shoes I bought him.

Crazy Lily! She put a hole in my face two seconds after this picture was taken.

My mom and I flew out last Thursday morning to Tampa and drove down in a storm to Venice, FL. We are pretty adventurous for two girls so we found a restaurant called Sharky's on the Pier and had dinner there. It was in the middle of nowhere but on the ocean so the scenery was great. And I can't forget to mention that watching drunk old people dance is probably the best free entertainment you can get. Since Friday, I've been playing practice rounds and sweating gallons and gallons. Palm Springs was hot but this place is like a hot shower. It's rained everyday and the course can't take much more. I have a feeling that in the morning it will be lift, clean, and place.

I've gotten to play some rounds with my good friend Sydney from Edmond so we have had fun with that. Friday's round was the first time I've ever been scared on a golf course. We were on a teebox and look 50 yards down the fairway and saw a Bobcat running! What a coincidence that the course name was called...The Bobcat!!! I held on to my 5 iron the entire hole and got to the next one to see a huge alligator in the water! I promise you I will have a dream about sharks or alligators by the time I leave this place. The courses are alright and there's only 113 girls this week so good things are bound to happen. I was planning on having a caddie this week but it didn't work out so I'm doing this all on my own. I think it will be good because I will have no distractions and can take 100% responsibility for my game plan.

My dad is flying in tonight so my mom and I are driving back up to Tampa to get him. I don't think he has a clue how hot it is going to be. He's been used to the 75 degree OKC weather. I am paired up to play with my friend from Pasadena for the next two days so we should have a good time. There's a cut after Wednesday and then two more rounds are played. We will drive down to Ft. Lauderdale Friday night and get rested for the big ABC Saturday night game with OU and Miami. I'm not putting money on the game but I have good feelings for us and hopefully Sammy B can get back out there and play! I hope everyone is having a great week and adjusting to the fall season. Until next time...fairways and greens!

What I'm Reading: Play to Play Great by Dr. Bob Rotella and True Believer by Nicholas Sparks
What I'm listening to: Miley Cyrus....it's true. :(

Done in the Desert

2009-09-18T21:39:00.001-07:00

Welp, this pretty much sums up my time spent in the desert. Temperatures reached up to 109 and my skin was loving it. It's a shame that my feet didn't get any loving.

Today was the second round of LPGA Q School and once again, I got off to a good start. Hit lots of greens and made lots of pars. I wasn't hitting the ball the best on the range so I decided to take my little 3/4 knockdown shot to the course. I think that was the smartest decision I could have made because I didn't have all these swing thoughts running through my head like I did late in the round yesterday.

My caddie and I talked about my round yesterday and came to the conclusion that I didn't play bad at all. I had an unlucky break with a lost ball off the right side of the fairway and one or two loose tee shots. I believe it was Hogan who said that you only have 5 perfect shots in a given round so overall, I was happy with how I played. I'm getting better and better on bermuda greens and my putting stroke feels solid right now.

I learned in the last two days that it takes robotic golf to make it out there. It doesn't necessarily have to be perfect golf but just ho-hum fairways, greens, two putts if not one putts. Take your pars on every hole but capitalize on the short birdie putts when they come. I know that I have it in me to do this, it's just a matter of time of putting it all together.

My caddie John was awesome this week. One of my all-time favorite caddies. He knows that course like the back of his hand and could read putts super fast. He swore he would teach me how to plumb bob but he never did. I am trying to figure out a way that I can fly him across country next week so that he can caddie for me down in Florida for my second chance. We worked well together and I think he enjoyed his time out there as well.
This is my awesome caddie John and I after the second round. He wore his Sooner red to represent for me.

After my round today we drove out to the west side of Palm Springs to ride a tram up a mountain. Unfortunately they were closed so we drove over to the northeast side of town and found Thousand Palms Park I believe. It was out in the middle of the desert and had lots of tall palm trees and some walking trails. We were the only ones out there and mountain lion signs everywhere. I was thirty years younger than everyone else so I figured I could out run them all.

My mama in the palms

My aunt way down there
We are heading back to San Diego for the weekend. Going to the beach tomorrow and cooking out tomorrow night. Going to relax and enjoy some college football. My friend who plays for San Diego State who I met in Hawaii is hooking me up with two passes to the LPGA tournament at Torrey Pines so my dad and I are going there on Sunday. We fly home Monday. I'll have a quick two days of practice and birthday dinner with my brother then head to Venice, FL on Thursday. Hopefully I can fly John out there to caddie for me once again and play solid for four rounds. I'm looking forward to it! Thanks for everyone who kept up with me this past week and sent warm wishes. I really appreciate your kind words out here on the road, it means a lot!!!!

Day One in the Books

2009-09-17T16:05:00.001-07:00

Well, I had my first qualifying round this morning and it was one that I would like to have back. I got off to a great start. Parred the first(which was the tenth hole), birdied the second. Had some lip out birdie putts but was chugging along just fine.

I get to the 18th hole at Dinah Shore, 80 yards out, and didn't hit it, put it in the water for a double. It kind of interrupted my nice, easy round but one over at the turn was going to be okay with 9 more to play. I get to #2, par 5 and pull it almost out of bounds, I made a great par there and get to the third and pull another well out of bounds and make a triple there. I get to the fourth and push it out to the right, and we never found the ball. Kind of weird because it was just trees and grass, with 10 people looking for it. I go back to retee and hit it in the same spot, but found it just fine and proceeded on to make a double.

Best drive of the day

I get to the next hole, par 3, hit a good 6 iron to 20 feet right. We overread it and went on to three putt. Next hole, par 4, hit a chip up to 3 feet and as my caddie said "damn bermuda," missed it. Made a great up and down par on the 7th hole and 3 putted the par 3 eighth. I will tell you, I miss the bent greens but there is absolutely nothing I can do about that. Everyone else is playing on the same course with the same conditions. Thankfully I almost holed out my last shot on number 9 and made a birdie to finish off the day. A big 'ol 80. I thought those days were long over but I did accomplish one goal of starting out great. It's a shame that I started thinking/doubting my swing that was working so well for me on the first nine. It's looking like tomorrow I'm going to have to fire at almost every pin and see if I can come away with a stinkin' low round. I know it can happen, I just need to trust that little swing of mine.

My gallery of the day, plus my dad, plus Kathleen Sullivan, an ABC News anchor...don't be fooled, my mom isn't that tall.

So you're thinking my day at the course is over, let me tell you, it was far from over. We go straight to the scoring table and tally them up. One of the girls in my group easily shot in the 90s, if not in the 100s. It was a long and tedious day because of that. However, when she said "I had an 86," I did a double take, "saaayyy whhaatt?" So for the next hour, we went hole by hole, arguing, nicely conversing and finally agreeing to a 91. I'm pretty sure it was much more than that. This girl had loooonng blonde hair, not pulled back, no hat, no sunglasses, and it was 109 degrees outside. I'm not sure how she did that but I'll say it took talent! I wanted to go off but I held back and sat there for AN HOUR! If you shoot 88 or more, you are automatically DQ'ed so that's why she was trying to plead an 86. We will be in a twosome and I will be making it rain. If not, then I will be heading to Florida on my brother's big 25th birthday and making it rain over on the east coast. Until then....