Hola amigos!

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!

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!

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

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

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!

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!

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!