Post by philknj on May 2, 2019 2:37:32 GMT
I dropped by Forsgate CC (Banks course) in Monroe Twp., NJ at 8:00 AM. Since it was a small field of mostly amateurs, only one qualifier spot and two alternates were up for grabs. I have played in golf outings here three or four times, so I was especially curious to see how well (or in most cases, how poorly) these players would handle it. It was par-71 and set at 6307 yards. The course is known for having elevated greens surrounded by cavernous bunkers. There is a story I heard more than once from a club member that the LPGAers complained that the bunkers were too difficult when they played the Coca-Cola Classic here about 40 years ago. Forsgate also has the newer Palmer course, which is on the west side of the property and weaves it way through and around residential developments.
After milling about for twenty minutes, I followed the group of Kelley Brooke, Christine Shao, and Alexis Hios for nine holes starting at the par-4 1st hole.
Brooke wore a cap for Golf Channel Academy...she runs one at Bethpage State Park and her stand bag said Bethpage. I assume she was here to spread her brand...she’s almost like a female Greg Norman from a business perspective. As for her golf, forget about it...I knew she had no chance for a lousy 2nd alternate spot after her opening drive – a low, short hook that finished on the cart path. Well, she turned 50 last year.
Shao is a teen stringbean who was using Epon AF-703 irons. The northern part of the state is Asia Central and there must be a golf gear Zen Master they all go to, because I saw at least three other sets of Epons (Cindy Ha and Kaia Wu with AF-705 and Suzie Lee with AF-703). Kelly Sim (not here) had the AF703s at last year’s qualifier. Another memorable bag was Maria Jose Bohorquez of Colombia who had Yonex N1-CB irons.
Brooke made par at #1, but the nails went into her coffin at the par-4 2nd and par-3 3rd with double bogeys. From a bunker at #2, I thought she had an easy shot to get it out, although she was on the short side of the flag. But, her swing was way too dainty...it hit the top of the grass bank and rolled to the bottom of the grass...then she popped it on to the green and two-putted for a six. At #3, she it into the left bunker, leaving her a slanted lie and a green that ran away from her, which she three-putted for a five.
I looked in Brooke’s bag and she was gaming Ping G-30 irons and a beat-to-s**t Cleveland Tour Action 485 56-degree SW (Beryllium/Copper). She had the latest Callaway Epic Flash driver, although it sounded clanky when she hit it. She had only one drive where it had that low-pitch muffled sound that gave you the impression that she really tagged it. Around the 6th hole, she pulled out a big cigar and fired it up. As she walked off the 9th green with a 44, she was saying to her caddie positive stuff and he replied, “Yeah, that was just the warm-up nine.”
Hios, a recent grad from Towson U., played Ping gear and displayed a respectable game...was +1 on the first nine and played like someone who was good enough to win this event. She wore a Westchester CC shirt, had a Mass Golf badge on her bag and another badge for playing an event at Rolling Green GC in 2018, so she has been around the regional block. As she left the 9th green, the USGA person informed her that her group was 14 minutes behind its allotted time and 18 minutes behind the group ahead of them. Her caddy asked, “Are you going to tell that other girl?” I guess Shao was the group’s turtle.
After Brooke’s group continued to #10, I wandered around without purpose for the rest of the AM rounds. My plan was to follow Cindy Ha’s group for her first nine holes of the afternoon round. I checked the scoreboard beforehand...my rosy scenario for Hios went out the window as she botched the back nine and finished with a 76. The Poser of the Day award goes to the looper (probably daddy) of Alix Lowe. He wore a green caddy bib with LOWE in block letters on the back. Really? Do her a favor and take it off, she opened with 86!
The pairing of Ami Gianchandani and Sydney Yermish was waiting under the USGA tent at #1 with a 1:20 PM tee time. Ami was a tall rail with Clark Kent glasses and decked out in Yale’s uniform. She fouled up her AM with a 76 (a rules guy in a cart told me earlier that she couldn’t make a putt), but I was curious to see how she drove the ball. The 1st is excellent for measuring drives...it’s wide, straight and reasonably level...it was set at 375 yards. The USGA lady asked Yermish what year of college or high school she was in...the answer was, “I’m thirteen.” Yes, she had a husky frame attached to an extremely youthful face. This Baby Huey drove it about 240 at #1 while Ami hit it one step past the 115 marker (or 261 yards).
I remained in the left rough of the #1 fairway as Cindy Ha teed off at 1:30 PM...hit it 252. She was paired with Anna Bowman, who finished in last place. Ha’s chances for victory looked decent as she scored 72 during the AM. She’s been in the low minor leagues since turning pro and this was my first time seeing her in person...a good-sized young lady with even tempo...doesn’t look like she’s swinging hard, but gets the ball out there with competence. Her sticks were in a Hamilton Farm GC stand bag...included an Adams Super LS 22 hybrid. I can’t recall seeing any players hauling a “tour trunk.”
Ha’s travel plans for Charleston took a dent at #3. She got the hard part done by hitting the green, but followed that with a four-jack. I don’t think this club has caddies...I’m guessing the guy on her bag was a member (wearing Nike and Adidas attire)...he had the look of a golfer, but maybe he wasn’t too helpful reading the greens. Also, Ha is from way up north in NJ, so she might not have much experience playing here.
Ha’s travel plans for Charleston were pushed through a shredder at the par-5 8th hole. How many courses have a par-5 as the #1 handicap hole? Probably not many, but that’s the 8th here. Ha reached the front of green in three. The flag is on the upper-right plateau...the rest of the green runs downhill away from the plateau. I was behind the line of her birdie putt attempt. For some reason, she started it way left. I knew it had no chance and then it took a left turn and ran down the hill to the collar. Her putt up the hill ran past the flag at least three feet and she missed the next one...tapped in for a seven. Turn out the lights, I don’t see how anyone can win here with two four-putts on the scorecard.
Did some more wandering after this, which included a visit to the par-3 17th hole (201 yards). The capsule-shaped green is 80 yards deep with bunkers running the entire length on both sides. It’s so long that they have a wooden plank path in the left bunker, so you don’t have to walk a mile to get from the center of the green to your golf cart on the left side. Now for the best part – there’s a half-pipe depression cutting through the center of the green from left to right. It’s a perfect hole for beginner snowboarders in the winter. The flag was at the bottom of the half-pipe which seemed fair.
At the end of the day, Megha Ganne won it at Even par. I didn’t see her play at all, but I did see the first alternate Emma Albrecht (in Notre Dame uniform) finish up at the par-4 18th hole. She is finishing her senior year at ND and it was probably her sister carrying her bag (who is a freshman teammate at ND). Albrecht missed her drive right, but hit it cleanly out of the rough while avoiding overhanging trees. I think her ball ran off the back of the green and she couldn’t save par...finished at +1.
The only issue left was determining the 2nd alternate. I was surprised to see that Cindy Ha fought back on her last nine and finished in three-way tie at +3 with Brynn Walker (U. of N. Carolina) and Aneka Seumanutafa (Ohio State U.). The two collegians were near the scoreboard as the USGA announced the results, but Cindy Ha wasn’t in sight. When he got to announcing the playoff for second alternate, he concluded by saying, “Cindy Ha had to go home.” LOL, she wouldn’t have “gone home” if she was in a playoff for 1st alternate.
I decided to watch the first hole of the playoff at #1. If it went any longer, I would not continue. Walker hit a good drive (260) and Aneka hit a monster drive (284). Both players hit it to about seven feet and made the putts. I started my walk to the parking lot...later learned that Aneka won on the 2nd hole. Never heard of her before, so I looked her up later. She was a freshman this season and took over as OSU’s best player after Jaclyn Lee dropped out to turn pro at the end of 2018.
On the way to the car, Ganne was talking a up a storm on the cell phone while in daddy’s SUV. As I drove out, she had the back hatch open and was arranging stuff while wearing the low medalist medal...probably went to bed with it.
Final scores:
www.golfgenius.com/pages/1944593
Photo gallery:
www.flickr.com/photos/80065765@N06/sets/72157704731763942
After milling about for twenty minutes, I followed the group of Kelley Brooke, Christine Shao, and Alexis Hios for nine holes starting at the par-4 1st hole.
Brooke wore a cap for Golf Channel Academy...she runs one at Bethpage State Park and her stand bag said Bethpage. I assume she was here to spread her brand...she’s almost like a female Greg Norman from a business perspective. As for her golf, forget about it...I knew she had no chance for a lousy 2nd alternate spot after her opening drive – a low, short hook that finished on the cart path. Well, she turned 50 last year.
Shao is a teen stringbean who was using Epon AF-703 irons. The northern part of the state is Asia Central and there must be a golf gear Zen Master they all go to, because I saw at least three other sets of Epons (Cindy Ha and Kaia Wu with AF-705 and Suzie Lee with AF-703). Kelly Sim (not here) had the AF703s at last year’s qualifier. Another memorable bag was Maria Jose Bohorquez of Colombia who had Yonex N1-CB irons.
Brooke made par at #1, but the nails went into her coffin at the par-4 2nd and par-3 3rd with double bogeys. From a bunker at #2, I thought she had an easy shot to get it out, although she was on the short side of the flag. But, her swing was way too dainty...it hit the top of the grass bank and rolled to the bottom of the grass...then she popped it on to the green and two-putted for a six. At #3, she it into the left bunker, leaving her a slanted lie and a green that ran away from her, which she three-putted for a five.
I looked in Brooke’s bag and she was gaming Ping G-30 irons and a beat-to-s**t Cleveland Tour Action 485 56-degree SW (Beryllium/Copper). She had the latest Callaway Epic Flash driver, although it sounded clanky when she hit it. She had only one drive where it had that low-pitch muffled sound that gave you the impression that she really tagged it. Around the 6th hole, she pulled out a big cigar and fired it up. As she walked off the 9th green with a 44, she was saying to her caddie positive stuff and he replied, “Yeah, that was just the warm-up nine.”
Hios, a recent grad from Towson U., played Ping gear and displayed a respectable game...was +1 on the first nine and played like someone who was good enough to win this event. She wore a Westchester CC shirt, had a Mass Golf badge on her bag and another badge for playing an event at Rolling Green GC in 2018, so she has been around the regional block. As she left the 9th green, the USGA person informed her that her group was 14 minutes behind its allotted time and 18 minutes behind the group ahead of them. Her caddy asked, “Are you going to tell that other girl?” I guess Shao was the group’s turtle.
After Brooke’s group continued to #10, I wandered around without purpose for the rest of the AM rounds. My plan was to follow Cindy Ha’s group for her first nine holes of the afternoon round. I checked the scoreboard beforehand...my rosy scenario for Hios went out the window as she botched the back nine and finished with a 76. The Poser of the Day award goes to the looper (probably daddy) of Alix Lowe. He wore a green caddy bib with LOWE in block letters on the back. Really? Do her a favor and take it off, she opened with 86!
The pairing of Ami Gianchandani and Sydney Yermish was waiting under the USGA tent at #1 with a 1:20 PM tee time. Ami was a tall rail with Clark Kent glasses and decked out in Yale’s uniform. She fouled up her AM with a 76 (a rules guy in a cart told me earlier that she couldn’t make a putt), but I was curious to see how she drove the ball. The 1st is excellent for measuring drives...it’s wide, straight and reasonably level...it was set at 375 yards. The USGA lady asked Yermish what year of college or high school she was in...the answer was, “I’m thirteen.” Yes, she had a husky frame attached to an extremely youthful face. This Baby Huey drove it about 240 at #1 while Ami hit it one step past the 115 marker (or 261 yards).
I remained in the left rough of the #1 fairway as Cindy Ha teed off at 1:30 PM...hit it 252. She was paired with Anna Bowman, who finished in last place. Ha’s chances for victory looked decent as she scored 72 during the AM. She’s been in the low minor leagues since turning pro and this was my first time seeing her in person...a good-sized young lady with even tempo...doesn’t look like she’s swinging hard, but gets the ball out there with competence. Her sticks were in a Hamilton Farm GC stand bag...included an Adams Super LS 22 hybrid. I can’t recall seeing any players hauling a “tour trunk.”
Ha’s travel plans for Charleston took a dent at #3. She got the hard part done by hitting the green, but followed that with a four-jack. I don’t think this club has caddies...I’m guessing the guy on her bag was a member (wearing Nike and Adidas attire)...he had the look of a golfer, but maybe he wasn’t too helpful reading the greens. Also, Ha is from way up north in NJ, so she might not have much experience playing here.
Ha’s travel plans for Charleston were pushed through a shredder at the par-5 8th hole. How many courses have a par-5 as the #1 handicap hole? Probably not many, but that’s the 8th here. Ha reached the front of green in three. The flag is on the upper-right plateau...the rest of the green runs downhill away from the plateau. I was behind the line of her birdie putt attempt. For some reason, she started it way left. I knew it had no chance and then it took a left turn and ran down the hill to the collar. Her putt up the hill ran past the flag at least three feet and she missed the next one...tapped in for a seven. Turn out the lights, I don’t see how anyone can win here with two four-putts on the scorecard.
Did some more wandering after this, which included a visit to the par-3 17th hole (201 yards). The capsule-shaped green is 80 yards deep with bunkers running the entire length on both sides. It’s so long that they have a wooden plank path in the left bunker, so you don’t have to walk a mile to get from the center of the green to your golf cart on the left side. Now for the best part – there’s a half-pipe depression cutting through the center of the green from left to right. It’s a perfect hole for beginner snowboarders in the winter. The flag was at the bottom of the half-pipe which seemed fair.
At the end of the day, Megha Ganne won it at Even par. I didn’t see her play at all, but I did see the first alternate Emma Albrecht (in Notre Dame uniform) finish up at the par-4 18th hole. She is finishing her senior year at ND and it was probably her sister carrying her bag (who is a freshman teammate at ND). Albrecht missed her drive right, but hit it cleanly out of the rough while avoiding overhanging trees. I think her ball ran off the back of the green and she couldn’t save par...finished at +1.
The only issue left was determining the 2nd alternate. I was surprised to see that Cindy Ha fought back on her last nine and finished in three-way tie at +3 with Brynn Walker (U. of N. Carolina) and Aneka Seumanutafa (Ohio State U.). The two collegians were near the scoreboard as the USGA announced the results, but Cindy Ha wasn’t in sight. When he got to announcing the playoff for second alternate, he concluded by saying, “Cindy Ha had to go home.” LOL, she wouldn’t have “gone home” if she was in a playoff for 1st alternate.
I decided to watch the first hole of the playoff at #1. If it went any longer, I would not continue. Walker hit a good drive (260) and Aneka hit a monster drive (284). Both players hit it to about seven feet and made the putts. I started my walk to the parking lot...later learned that Aneka won on the 2nd hole. Never heard of her before, so I looked her up later. She was a freshman this season and took over as OSU’s best player after Jaclyn Lee dropped out to turn pro at the end of 2018.
On the way to the car, Ganne was talking a up a storm on the cell phone while in daddy’s SUV. As I drove out, she had the back hatch open and was arranging stuff while wearing the low medalist medal...probably went to bed with it.
Final scores:
www.golfgenius.com/pages/1944593
Photo gallery:
www.flickr.com/photos/80065765@N06/sets/72157704731763942