Post by philknj on Jun 7, 2016 20:47:33 GMT
I arrived at 8:10 AM, just as Karlin Beck teed off at #1. It was overcast and the gnats were out in force. A caddie was kind enough to lend me his can of bug spray (I forgot mine at home), so I could spray my cap. After a quick stroll to #10, I saw Jenny Shin tee off. Her right shoe says J-TIBS, whatever that means. I returned to #1 to wait for the wild swing of Sakura Yokomine. She has her own logo to represent her name or initials on her bag, and I think it was stamped on the soles of her irons, too (Ai Miyazato does the same). As Sakura prepared to hit, Jing Yan, en route to #10, stopped to watch. Yan was a Washington Husky for about three months, but still wears their cap. After last week’s NCAAs, it’s probably bolted on now.
Mi Hyang Lee was teeing off at 1 PM, so I had time for general wandering. On the way to the driving range, I passed Beatriz Recari who was wearing yoga pants...probably just left the LPGA physio van. At the range, anyone not swinging a club was waving a hand in front of their faces (gnats).
Dani Holmqvist and the violent transition from the top of her driver swing to impact got my attention. She’s now wearing a PXG cap and I think she has switched to their driver (only). The Internet shows her with a Ping driver last week in Michigan and she had a Taylor-Made M2 driver in her 2016 LPGA portraits before that.
Her ball flight with the driver was inconsistent. Her caddie was much involved in setting her up over the ball, checking her club and hand position positions at address. PXG also had a rep there watching, and based on how he spoke, he’s probably a teaching pro by trade. He had a long discussion with Dani afterward, which included a drill she should try: hit a dozen balls with a slowed swing so they go 100 yards, swing a little faster on the next dozen so they go 150 yards, swing a little faster on the next dozen for 175 yards, etc.
Amy Hung visited the practice bunker with a basket of balls. She hit several short shots out of the sand and expressed her opinion that the Callaway practice balls were too firm. She’s still with Taylor-Made and had a long talk with their rep. It’s possible she scheduled a fitting session for next week, as Mr. Taylor-Made punched a lot of stuff into his smart phone. Then she held up the head cover of her putter and said “and what about this?” He replied “what’s today’s date?” After a few taps on the phone, he said “You’ll have it in your locker by Friday morning.”
I left the range and made a brief stop at #1 of the Pines course. The pro-am there hadn’t started yet. A guy there guessed it would start at 11 AM, but he didn’t have a grouping list I could borrow to see what pros would be there.
I went out to the course looking for a group to follow and found it at 13th green. After one of the amateur’s putts, Danielle Kang said “Have we not had a discussion about leaving putts short?” The nearby 14th tee box had the Black Bear meats on the grill and they asked if I wanted one, so I went for the bratwurst. Benyapa Niphatsophon was in the group ahead of Kang. She’s a tall slender player who’s ranked 10th in driving distance and I believe it. At #14, she teed the ball high and forward in her stance and smashed the crud out of it.
While Kang waited to hit at #14, an amateur asked about her health. “I have three bulging discs and a bone bruise” was the reply. She also groused about Benyapa’s group being so slow. She was asked about winning two cars in back-to-back events with aces...did she take ownership of the cars or were they lease deals? The answer was neither; she took cash because both were in Asia. The Buick she won in Taiwan was worth $80K, but the taxes are so high there that she took home $40K. Kang is good to follow because she doesn’t mumble and her voice carries. Her Taylor-Made bag has a marking for Sherwood CC and she had a round patch for Gretzky Hockey School on her sleeve.
After her group teed off, I proceeded down the 13th fairway, which is one of the two drive measuring holes for the tournament. I spotted a crazy long ball in the fairway...or was it crazy long? I found a 129 sprinkler in the right rough next to the ropes and her ball was five paces ahead of it in the left-center of the fairway. After confirming Rachel Rohanna hit it, I walked to the tee box where the blocks were two paces behind a 401-yard marker. Subtract 124 from 403 and you get 279 yards. Is she really that long? I don’t think so, but more on that later in my 1st round report.
I followed the Kang group to the 18th hole. One of the ams hit a rare good drive and said, “Even a broken clock is right twice a day.” That broke up Danielle; she had never heard that saying before (“I have to Instagram that s#%t!”). This is where I wish I had brought my camera this year so I could video her swing...I got her swing at #18 once before and I think the backswing was longer then than now. Maybe those injuries...
The MHL group teed off at 1 PM from the First tee. I would drop off occasionally to look at other players. For instance, I was behind the right ropes down range when Karen Stupples tee off at #3. I couldn’t see the ball in the air, but I heard it land about ten feet behind me in the rough...no warnings, no nothing. I guess Stupples and her “caddie” Lisa Cornwell couldn’t see the ball or me. I should have been watching the guy with the orange directional paddle in back of the tee box. Sooner or later, I’m gonna get nailed at one of these pro-ams...too many close calls this year.
Mi Hyang’s pro-am was a pleasant experience, as usual. She checked if I needed water (no thanks, I came with some), asked if I wanted ice cream at #5 (no thanks, but I went for a can of Stella Artois instead). They had a couple of decent ams and after 16 holes they made it to the electronic scoreboard, which showed the top-15 scores. Mi Hyang’s daddy followed the group, sometimes close, sometimes at a distance. He almost got creamed at the 18th hole. He was standing behind or under a one-person shelter structure left and maybe three feet below the tee box. One of the ams pulled a low bullet off the heel of his driver that struck the shingled roof of the shelter. I never saw the ball or where it bounced too...just heard a loud whack off the shingles.
After they finished, I went to see who was wrapping up over at the Pines course. Katherine Kirk was the first recognizable player and the next player was Irene Cho Coe. Number 18 is a par-5. ICC took out a wood for the second shot from the rough and a hit grounder (“225 to the hole and I tried to kill it”). Music was playing from her cart and her Vokey wedges were stamped COE MONEY.
I called it a day and went to the pick-up area for the shuttles around 6:45 PM...had to wait about fifteen minutes with numerous volunteers...the spectator school buses had stopped running, but the volunteer vans were still running. One of the vols said she’s been coming to this event for six years...also said the prizes they hand out at the volunteer dinner this year were not as plentiful as before...just two sets of green fees for foursomes at local courses, versus five or six sets when she first started.
Mi Hyang Lee was teeing off at 1 PM, so I had time for general wandering. On the way to the driving range, I passed Beatriz Recari who was wearing yoga pants...probably just left the LPGA physio van. At the range, anyone not swinging a club was waving a hand in front of their faces (gnats).
Dani Holmqvist and the violent transition from the top of her driver swing to impact got my attention. She’s now wearing a PXG cap and I think she has switched to their driver (only). The Internet shows her with a Ping driver last week in Michigan and she had a Taylor-Made M2 driver in her 2016 LPGA portraits before that.
Her ball flight with the driver was inconsistent. Her caddie was much involved in setting her up over the ball, checking her club and hand position positions at address. PXG also had a rep there watching, and based on how he spoke, he’s probably a teaching pro by trade. He had a long discussion with Dani afterward, which included a drill she should try: hit a dozen balls with a slowed swing so they go 100 yards, swing a little faster on the next dozen so they go 150 yards, swing a little faster on the next dozen for 175 yards, etc.
Amy Hung visited the practice bunker with a basket of balls. She hit several short shots out of the sand and expressed her opinion that the Callaway practice balls were too firm. She’s still with Taylor-Made and had a long talk with their rep. It’s possible she scheduled a fitting session for next week, as Mr. Taylor-Made punched a lot of stuff into his smart phone. Then she held up the head cover of her putter and said “and what about this?” He replied “what’s today’s date?” After a few taps on the phone, he said “You’ll have it in your locker by Friday morning.”
I left the range and made a brief stop at #1 of the Pines course. The pro-am there hadn’t started yet. A guy there guessed it would start at 11 AM, but he didn’t have a grouping list I could borrow to see what pros would be there.
I went out to the course looking for a group to follow and found it at 13th green. After one of the amateur’s putts, Danielle Kang said “Have we not had a discussion about leaving putts short?” The nearby 14th tee box had the Black Bear meats on the grill and they asked if I wanted one, so I went for the bratwurst. Benyapa Niphatsophon was in the group ahead of Kang. She’s a tall slender player who’s ranked 10th in driving distance and I believe it. At #14, she teed the ball high and forward in her stance and smashed the crud out of it.
While Kang waited to hit at #14, an amateur asked about her health. “I have three bulging discs and a bone bruise” was the reply. She also groused about Benyapa’s group being so slow. She was asked about winning two cars in back-to-back events with aces...did she take ownership of the cars or were they lease deals? The answer was neither; she took cash because both were in Asia. The Buick she won in Taiwan was worth $80K, but the taxes are so high there that she took home $40K. Kang is good to follow because she doesn’t mumble and her voice carries. Her Taylor-Made bag has a marking for Sherwood CC and she had a round patch for Gretzky Hockey School on her sleeve.
After her group teed off, I proceeded down the 13th fairway, which is one of the two drive measuring holes for the tournament. I spotted a crazy long ball in the fairway...or was it crazy long? I found a 129 sprinkler in the right rough next to the ropes and her ball was five paces ahead of it in the left-center of the fairway. After confirming Rachel Rohanna hit it, I walked to the tee box where the blocks were two paces behind a 401-yard marker. Subtract 124 from 403 and you get 279 yards. Is she really that long? I don’t think so, but more on that later in my 1st round report.
I followed the Kang group to the 18th hole. One of the ams hit a rare good drive and said, “Even a broken clock is right twice a day.” That broke up Danielle; she had never heard that saying before (“I have to Instagram that s#%t!”). This is where I wish I had brought my camera this year so I could video her swing...I got her swing at #18 once before and I think the backswing was longer then than now. Maybe those injuries...
The MHL group teed off at 1 PM from the First tee. I would drop off occasionally to look at other players. For instance, I was behind the right ropes down range when Karen Stupples tee off at #3. I couldn’t see the ball in the air, but I heard it land about ten feet behind me in the rough...no warnings, no nothing. I guess Stupples and her “caddie” Lisa Cornwell couldn’t see the ball or me. I should have been watching the guy with the orange directional paddle in back of the tee box. Sooner or later, I’m gonna get nailed at one of these pro-ams...too many close calls this year.
Mi Hyang’s pro-am was a pleasant experience, as usual. She checked if I needed water (no thanks, I came with some), asked if I wanted ice cream at #5 (no thanks, but I went for a can of Stella Artois instead). They had a couple of decent ams and after 16 holes they made it to the electronic scoreboard, which showed the top-15 scores. Mi Hyang’s daddy followed the group, sometimes close, sometimes at a distance. He almost got creamed at the 18th hole. He was standing behind or under a one-person shelter structure left and maybe three feet below the tee box. One of the ams pulled a low bullet off the heel of his driver that struck the shingled roof of the shelter. I never saw the ball or where it bounced too...just heard a loud whack off the shingles.
After they finished, I went to see who was wrapping up over at the Pines course. Katherine Kirk was the first recognizable player and the next player was Irene Cho Coe. Number 18 is a par-5. ICC took out a wood for the second shot from the rough and a hit grounder (“225 to the hole and I tried to kill it”). Music was playing from her cart and her Vokey wedges were stamped COE MONEY.
I called it a day and went to the pick-up area for the shuttles around 6:45 PM...had to wait about fifteen minutes with numerous volunteers...the spectator school buses had stopped running, but the volunteer vans were still running. One of the vols said she’s been coming to this event for six years...also said the prizes they hand out at the volunteer dinner this year were not as plentiful as before...just two sets of green fees for foursomes at local courses, versus five or six sets when she first started.
