Swine Flu in the Swamp

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

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

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

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....

Howdy from the Hills

Well, I've officially made it to Palm Springs, CA. This is my first time here and I really like it. We flew in to San Diego and drove two hours to get to our home for the next week. I met my caddie John yesterday and played in a practice round with a long time Edmond friend Sydney. The course was nice and the pace of play was even better. We finished in three hours and I was able to catch up on a little sleep in my nice Westin white down comforter bed. Heaven! If I make it big next year, I might have to invest in the whole set, it's amazing!

This morning I woke up and my mom made me breakfast. She's a good personal assistant! Got to the course and played the Dinah Shore course with two nice girls from Australia and Illinois. I liked the Aussie's accent but she apparently thought mine was much better, I have to strongly disagree with her. I wish I had a cooler one. I've played well the past two days so I'm taking the next two pretty lightly. Maybe 9 holes each day and good solid practices. My dad flies in Wednesday night and my aunt and uncle are bringing him on Thursday so that will be fun. It's going to be his first time to see me play as a professional. I'm glad I'll have both of my parents here with me. Not many girls get to have both parents out so I'm fortunate. Well, I'm pooped and that bed is calling my name!

Countdown to Q School

Well, well, well, look at me again. I have failed yet again on updating this dang thing!!! I tend to have very eventful days in my life but by the time I get home at night, I am just plum tired! I will do my best to recap the last few weeks of my life in an efficient, yet entertaining manner. Here we go:

On August 29, I was the maid of honor for my very good friend/college teammate Jaclyn Stelzer. It was a wonderful weekend down in Norman with old teammates as fellow bridesmaids. Jac was by far the most easygoing bride I've ever been around and it was sooo nice! I gave a speech that night which made the crowd chuckle a time or two. I am proud to say that my song request, "Cupid Shuffle" got everyone off their feet and had an absolute blast! It was almost like the scene in the classic movie "She's All That" with Freddie Prinze Jr. where everyone was dancing right on cue. I hate to admit it but I was sore the next day from dancing...

This past weekend I traveled down to Arlington with my good friend Megan to the OU-BYU game. We had 8th row seats which were amazing and ended up getting on the jumbotron 3 times! That place is indescribable, everyone should make it a personal goal to go see a game in that stadium. Ridiculous. Unfortunately, the Cougars came out on top and left a sour taste in every Sooner's mouth. For me personally, I couldn't be too upset because they were a classy bunch, players and fans alike. We shot ourselves in the foot and brought the loss on ourselves.

For some reason, I was not too upset. I wouldn't call it a lack of being competitive but maybe I'm maturing, or just realizing that there are more important things to worry about in this world. This is not because we are 0-1 and I think the season is a complete loss. I haven't given up hope. However, my mindset might have changed once I saw Corey Wilson rolling his wheelchair out on the field for the first time. It gave me more chills than any opening OU football video I've seen. It was so neat to see him out there, shaking hands with the other players and at the coin toss. It put everything in perspective for me. He was out there for a reason and I think we should be reminded that a loss in football is nothing compared to having a healthy and enriched life. After seeing him, I had a calmness about me, whether that be because of Corey, or the sweet comfy leather chairs we were sitting in, or the lovely BYU fans surrounding us, but I knew that the outcome was already decided before the football was first kicked off. Hopefully Sammy B will recover fast and get back out there for us.

Anywho, to change sports to the actual one I play, I have 8 official days until I tee off on my first hole of the 2010 LPGA Qualifying School in Palm Springs, California. It's being played at Mission Hills and starts on September 17. There is a cut after the second round with two more rounds on the weekend. Top 30 and ties go on to the final stage in December in Daytona Beach, FL. If I happen to not have my A game in Palm Springs then I will head to Venice, FL on September 24 and play in the other LPGA Q School Sectional on September 29-October 2. The nice thing about that trip is that OU happens to play Miami in Miami on October 3 so I will just have to finish that trip off with a football game!

I've been doing my best to use all the resources I have around me in order to prepare myself for Q School. I decided that I needed to play with some extremely good players and positive players leading up to California so I called some local pros and they were so kind to play with me this past week. Tim Fleming had me out at Oklahoma City Country Club which was great and Jim Woodward hosted me at Oak Tree National this morning. Both guys were wonderful to play with and gave me great advice about what to expect in the coming weeks. I've been working hard with my head pro Brent Cryer and I feel pretty good about going and playing solid golf.

I've got two golf dates tomorrow which will consist of 36 holes but will have a much lighter schedule going into the weekend. Quick shout out to Lucy Nunn in this weekends LPGA tournament in Arkansas. Be sure to watch out for her! Also, Milena Savich, out of the University of Georgia, representing her team well in the Hooter's Match Play tournament this past week. And last but not least, the OU Womens Golf team heads down to Bryan, TX to play in the "Mo" this weekend. Good luck girls!!!

What I'm reading: The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks

What I'm hearing: Kings of Leon

Buckeye Country!

I hope everyone had as good of a week as I did! My most recent trip was to Defiance, OH. It is a small farm town in the northwest corner of Ohio. I was told that by my personal assistant (my sweet little mother) that we would be flying into Ft. Wayne, IN and driving over to Ohio. Hoowweeverr, once we flew into Cincinnati, I looked at the television screens and saw that there were not any flights to Ft. Wayne. I panicked for about 5 seconds until she started dragging me away and had a funny look on her face. Turns out, she surprised me by flying us to Indianapolis! Many of you probably do not know this but I tried all summer long to get up to Indiana to see friends but my plans kept changing and I never made it up there...until now!

We landed in Indy and we drove to meet my really good friend Milena for lunch. I directed my driver (my sweet little mother) in the wrong direction so that took away time from hanging out with Mel. We finally made it and had a super fast lunch with her before she had to leave and get ready to move the next morning to her new home of Athens, GA where she is now a Bulldog!

Mel and I after lunch in Carmel, IN


We drove on to Defiance and quickly realized that we should have stayed in Indianapolis. There was absolutely nothing to do! We saw Julie & Julia one night. Get this...two movie tickets, two popcorns, and a large drink = $14. That was about the only good thing in this town. That's okay though because we were here for the golf!


It was a two day tournament and I must say, I really enjoyed myself. I played with some neat people and played well. I ended up getting 4th so it was a worthwhile trip up north. Once again, I don't know what the pay check is going to be because I left without finding out. It's kind of a nice surprise when I get it in the mail. In my last round, I was paired with Katy who I played with in my first professional tournament at the beginning of this summer. She's an Aussie and absolutely hilarious! We have basically played in every tournament together this summer. Australians have a decorative language and I must admit that four letter words tend to make me laugh so as you can see, we laughed a lot:


Once the tournament was finished, we booked it back south towards Indianapolis so that we could make our flight the next morning. We stopped in good ol' Muncie, IN to see my teammates hometown. The sad thing was my teammate was already back in Norman for summer school but I still got to experience her home and see her awesome family! We had a good time and they ordered me my own Pizza King pizza! It was pretty dang tasty so if anyone is ever in that part of the state, I recommend getting one for the road. I had to get a picture with the family dog Bear just to prove that I was in fact in Funcie/Muncie!
I've been home for a few days now and have spent time catching up with friends and trying to earn some cash here and there by giving lessons and working junior tournaments. I've learned that I love being on the road and I love being on the go. The new school year is approaching and I can't believe that I'm not down in Norman getting ready for it. It's going to be a good change for me and I'm excited to buckle down and start preparing for Q school. I leave on September 13th for Palm Springs so I have a few weeks to tune my game up. I hope everyone soaks up the last bit of summer before the school year gets in full swing. Until next time!


What I'm reading: The Art of Racing in the Rain
What I'm hearing: Eric Hutchinson "Sounds Like This"