Post by philknj on Jul 26, 2016 4:25:28 GMT
I arrived in Paramus, NJ around 7:10 AM, but got fouled up by a misleading image on Google Maps I saw the night before and wasted at least twenty minutes finding the correct entrance to Ridgewood Country Club. I knew I was getting close when I passed a Korean BBQ joint and a Korean church. I found the club’s entrance, which then diverted me over to the parking lot of Bergen Community College. From there you’d take a one-minute shuttle to the course.
Hye Jin Choi was going out in the first match at 8 AM, so that gave me a small amount of time to check out the two practice greens. Haley Moore, hitting a few delicate sand shots, was decked out in the colors of U. of Arizona and had a Wildcats stand bag. I assumed she would be an incoming freshman there this fall...later learned she started there this past spring. The driving range was on the other side of the 18th fairway, but I didn’t bother going there.
Choi did some stretching and warming up on the tee, including a few full swings right-handed. Then she gripped her driver left-handed and made swings that looked as good or better than any swings made by Phil Mickelson.
BTW, this is the first tournament I ever went to where laser range finders were permitted.
Ridgewood CC is a nice course with frequent elevation changes and fancy bunkers. The rough was lush but short. The holes were mostly lined with old and high trees...most of them didn’t have low branches to block recovery shots. I don’t think there were any water hazards that came into play for players of this caliber. Strangely, they had numerous school buses parked all over the course. Why? Maybe the course was being paid some kind of storage fee, but they were an eyesore.
Choi’s match against Nicole Whiston (age 14) was a rout from the start. At the par-4 1st, Choi outdrove her opponent by at least twenty yards, hit her approach to about seven feet, and rolled in a downhill birdie putt to go one-up. Same results on the par-5 3rd and par-4 5th...Choi was within seven feet for birdie range and rolled in straight downhillers. BTW, the flags were usually tucked behind bunkers or in remote positions. Two recruiters from the U. of Tennessee followed the early holes of this match. I guess that was for Whiston’s benefit because the thought of Choi playing college golf is laughable. Numerous other schools had reps roaming the course, including Princeton, VA Tech, TX Tech, UNC, South Carolina, and Oklahoma St.
Choi had TaylorMade M1 head covers, but she used an M2 driver, along with Titleist AP2 irons. In watching her up close, I tried to think of the Korean she resembles in physical stature and game. The closest match I could think of was Hyo Joo Kim. Choi’s driver backswing is not quite as long as Kim’s, but her ball striking is superb.
At the par-5 7th, Choi greatly outdistanced Whiston with her first two shots, leaving her about 40 yards to the pin. She hit a low buzz saw pitch that checked up to less than two feet from the hole and kicked it in for a four-up lead.
Whiston’s best club was the putter as she made a long birdie at the downhill par-3 8th to win her first hole. Her swing resembles Natalie Gulbis...high hands, stiff-wristed backswing and a dip on the downswing. As with almost all the players, the parents followed along (her mom is Asian). Near the end of nine holes her dad took off, probably to follow her sister Waverly (age 16) teeing off later in the morning. I was hoping to see how her swing compared to Nicole’s, but never saw her on the course.
I think it was at the par-4 9th hole where Choi had a brutal lip-out that prevented her from winning that hole too.
Choi had a hiccup at #10, a downhill par-3 with the flag tucked behind a massive bunker on the left. She started her ball right and it stayed there, landing in a bunker. She pitched out to within six feet, but it didn’t matter as Whiston made a crazy long putt for birdie. Choi’s lead was down to two, but there was no doubt in my mind that she’d win, so I left this match (Choi won 4 & 3).
I dropped back to the 8th green. Haley Moore lost this hole to Brooke Sanson, but was ahead 3-up. At the par-4 9th, I stood behind Moore’s back as she teed the ball in the middle of her stance and hit a low frozen rope that defied gravity for a remarkably long time. It seemed clear to me who would win this match so I didn’t follow them (Moore won 6 & 4).
Lucy Li and Angela Garvin were leaving the 7th green All Square, so I latched on to them. An older Asian lady with big wire rim glasses was pushing Li’s cart...maybe her mom, but not sure as there was an Asian lady following the match. As for that cart, holy cow, it was a Kangaroo Hillcrest ABX with optional seat attachment. It has an external 24 lb. rechargeable battery on a tray near the back wheels with two big alligator clamps attached to the terminals. The entire unit weighs at least 74 lbs. Was this a one-time rental, or do they travel around the country with this monster?
I had read that Li is bigger since her 2014 USWO appearance, but she still looked tiny. The 8th hole was halved, so it was on to the par-4 9th. Li uses a T/M M1 driver with the back weight set to the rear and the front weight set to a fade bias. After Li’s drive, her caddie reached into her bag and pulled out a bag of food called Figgy Pops (in big letters on the back of the bag, it said NO REFINED SUGAR), which Li ate out of with a plastic fork as she walked the fairway.
Li’s second shot was a nifty three-quarter hybrid or FW that hit the green for a two-putt par. Garvin bogeyed and fell behind by one hole. Li parred #10 and Garvin made another bogey for a two-hole Li lead. I could see where this match was going (Li won 3 & 2)...I looked at my watch and it was 10:50 AM. I started hustling back to the first tee for the 11:09 AM match, Muni He vs. Grace St.-Germain of Canada.
I reached the first tee at 11 AM. St.-Germain and her caddie were there but Muni was not. About four minutes later, a caddie emerged from around the corner of the clubhouse carrying a chintzy black Ping stand bag. As he approached the tee box, the USGA lady yelled down to him, “WHERE’S MUNI? SHE NEEDS TO HURRY!” About twenty seconds later, Muni calmly strode into view. Apparently the USGA lady doesn’t know that Muni is a STAR and that she was making an ENTRANCE.
For whatever dumb reason, the USGA posted no pictures of Muni from this round, so I’ll fill in the details: white Titleist visor, black glove, light grey Nike polo shirt tucked into a light teal Nike short skort, and white Adidas shoes with black trim, which also have the BOA lace system. The skort had no back pocket, so she wedged her yardage book into the waistband against her lower back. Her hair was arranged in two long ponytails streaked with brown highlights. Her eye candy appeal is old news, but you don’t get the full value unless you watch her walk a golf course.
St.-Germain wore a Golf Canada outfit and her bag was all Titleist. Muni had a Honma TW717 455 driver with a Honma Vizard shaft, along with T/M M2 irons...not sure if the irons were the pro versions or the shovels. She has one of the Odyssey Fang putters and uses it left hand low.
The first hole (par-4) was set at 375 yards for this day. Muni has a beautiful set-up over the ball, all the positions look good, and the shaft is a little past parallel at the top. Despite having a driver that doesn’t sound particular pleasant, she split the fairway. Her ball finished about 8 paces ahead of a 150 marker. She halved the hole.
Muni made a birdie putt at the par-3 2nd hole (154 yards) to go 1-up...and then the roof caved in. On the next eleven holes she made one good par putt and missed EVERYTHING else. It got so bad that she took practice putts on two of the greens late in her match. While it is permitted in the rules, has this ever helped anyone regain their stroke in a match?
Muni got killed 6 & 5 mostly by shooting herself in the foot. Despite the score, St.-Germain did not blow me away. A couple of her approaches sounded like dropkicks and she missed fairways, but her recoveries were pretty good...so was her lag putting. Muni was totally polite in defeat at the 13th green...congratulated and thanked everyone (opponent, parents, walking officials, and caddies). In fact, I didn’t see a single case of bad sportsmanship from anyone that day. I think it was the daddy of the Yu sisters who loudly cheered when the opposing players would win a hole or make a good putt.
Eun Jeong Seong approached the par-5 13th (535 yards) leading by four holes over an outclassed Katherine Muzi. Seong hammered her drive and Muzi might have mishit her drive, as Seong was a least 70 paces ahead. The second shot was a blind one over a fescue garbage dump. Seong took out what appeared to be a wood and went for the green in two (I assume). When I saw the target later, I thought it was a terrible decision. The flag was tucked behind a huge bunker on the far right of a shallow green and there were OB stakes down the left side. Luckily, her ball finished in the rough just inside the stakes. Both players made par. After they teed off at #14, I left this match (Seong won 5 & 4).
NJ’s Kelly Sim was scheduled for the last match, so I backtracked to the 12th tee box, where the next-to-last group teed off. But, there was no one on the 11th hole. What happened?
Two sisters from Taiwan were in back-to-back matches so I went looking for them. The first one was Yu Chiang Hou, who finished off Elizabeth Wang on the 16th green, 3 & 2. The winner waited there as Yu Sang Hou arrived All Square with Haeley Wotnosky. The 16th was halved.
The 17th hole is a dogleg left par-5 of 513 yards. Wotnosky must have been pressing now, since she hit a dreadful low hook into the rough that barely got off the ground. To her credit, she hacked her way to the green and still made par to halve the hole. Short of the 17th green in the right rough was a green temporary building. It was the TV booth still under construction on the inside.
The 18th hole is a straight par-4 of 379 yards. Wotnosky got in trouble again, but couldn’t escape this time and lost the match here. I hung out by the 18th fairway for the only remaining match in progress. Jennifer Chang won this hole and the match against Malia Nam.
I walked over to the hand-written scoreboard to see what happened to Kelly Sim. It said DQ next to her name, along with a particular rule number. I later learned she turned herself in for signing an incorrect scorecard from Tuesday’s medal play. I was unaware that she did some caddying for a player on Wednesday.
Before jumping on the Garden State Parkway to go home, I stopped at the local PGA Tour Superstore. In the women’s section I saw Nike display signs with pictures of Michelle Wie and Cheyenne Woods. I’ll bet Nike is aware of the free sensational modeling Muni He does for them. They should return the favor and send her a free Nike Method putter to try out.
Hye Jin Choi was going out in the first match at 8 AM, so that gave me a small amount of time to check out the two practice greens. Haley Moore, hitting a few delicate sand shots, was decked out in the colors of U. of Arizona and had a Wildcats stand bag. I assumed she would be an incoming freshman there this fall...later learned she started there this past spring. The driving range was on the other side of the 18th fairway, but I didn’t bother going there.
Choi did some stretching and warming up on the tee, including a few full swings right-handed. Then she gripped her driver left-handed and made swings that looked as good or better than any swings made by Phil Mickelson.
BTW, this is the first tournament I ever went to where laser range finders were permitted.
Ridgewood CC is a nice course with frequent elevation changes and fancy bunkers. The rough was lush but short. The holes were mostly lined with old and high trees...most of them didn’t have low branches to block recovery shots. I don’t think there were any water hazards that came into play for players of this caliber. Strangely, they had numerous school buses parked all over the course. Why? Maybe the course was being paid some kind of storage fee, but they were an eyesore.
Choi’s match against Nicole Whiston (age 14) was a rout from the start. At the par-4 1st, Choi outdrove her opponent by at least twenty yards, hit her approach to about seven feet, and rolled in a downhill birdie putt to go one-up. Same results on the par-5 3rd and par-4 5th...Choi was within seven feet for birdie range and rolled in straight downhillers. BTW, the flags were usually tucked behind bunkers or in remote positions. Two recruiters from the U. of Tennessee followed the early holes of this match. I guess that was for Whiston’s benefit because the thought of Choi playing college golf is laughable. Numerous other schools had reps roaming the course, including Princeton, VA Tech, TX Tech, UNC, South Carolina, and Oklahoma St.
Choi had TaylorMade M1 head covers, but she used an M2 driver, along with Titleist AP2 irons. In watching her up close, I tried to think of the Korean she resembles in physical stature and game. The closest match I could think of was Hyo Joo Kim. Choi’s driver backswing is not quite as long as Kim’s, but her ball striking is superb.
At the par-5 7th, Choi greatly outdistanced Whiston with her first two shots, leaving her about 40 yards to the pin. She hit a low buzz saw pitch that checked up to less than two feet from the hole and kicked it in for a four-up lead.
Whiston’s best club was the putter as she made a long birdie at the downhill par-3 8th to win her first hole. Her swing resembles Natalie Gulbis...high hands, stiff-wristed backswing and a dip on the downswing. As with almost all the players, the parents followed along (her mom is Asian). Near the end of nine holes her dad took off, probably to follow her sister Waverly (age 16) teeing off later in the morning. I was hoping to see how her swing compared to Nicole’s, but never saw her on the course.
I think it was at the par-4 9th hole where Choi had a brutal lip-out that prevented her from winning that hole too.
Choi had a hiccup at #10, a downhill par-3 with the flag tucked behind a massive bunker on the left. She started her ball right and it stayed there, landing in a bunker. She pitched out to within six feet, but it didn’t matter as Whiston made a crazy long putt for birdie. Choi’s lead was down to two, but there was no doubt in my mind that she’d win, so I left this match (Choi won 4 & 3).
I dropped back to the 8th green. Haley Moore lost this hole to Brooke Sanson, but was ahead 3-up. At the par-4 9th, I stood behind Moore’s back as she teed the ball in the middle of her stance and hit a low frozen rope that defied gravity for a remarkably long time. It seemed clear to me who would win this match so I didn’t follow them (Moore won 6 & 4).
Lucy Li and Angela Garvin were leaving the 7th green All Square, so I latched on to them. An older Asian lady with big wire rim glasses was pushing Li’s cart...maybe her mom, but not sure as there was an Asian lady following the match. As for that cart, holy cow, it was a Kangaroo Hillcrest ABX with optional seat attachment. It has an external 24 lb. rechargeable battery on a tray near the back wheels with two big alligator clamps attached to the terminals. The entire unit weighs at least 74 lbs. Was this a one-time rental, or do they travel around the country with this monster?
I had read that Li is bigger since her 2014 USWO appearance, but she still looked tiny. The 8th hole was halved, so it was on to the par-4 9th. Li uses a T/M M1 driver with the back weight set to the rear and the front weight set to a fade bias. After Li’s drive, her caddie reached into her bag and pulled out a bag of food called Figgy Pops (in big letters on the back of the bag, it said NO REFINED SUGAR), which Li ate out of with a plastic fork as she walked the fairway.
Li’s second shot was a nifty three-quarter hybrid or FW that hit the green for a two-putt par. Garvin bogeyed and fell behind by one hole. Li parred #10 and Garvin made another bogey for a two-hole Li lead. I could see where this match was going (Li won 3 & 2)...I looked at my watch and it was 10:50 AM. I started hustling back to the first tee for the 11:09 AM match, Muni He vs. Grace St.-Germain of Canada.
I reached the first tee at 11 AM. St.-Germain and her caddie were there but Muni was not. About four minutes later, a caddie emerged from around the corner of the clubhouse carrying a chintzy black Ping stand bag. As he approached the tee box, the USGA lady yelled down to him, “WHERE’S MUNI? SHE NEEDS TO HURRY!” About twenty seconds later, Muni calmly strode into view. Apparently the USGA lady doesn’t know that Muni is a STAR and that she was making an ENTRANCE.
For whatever dumb reason, the USGA posted no pictures of Muni from this round, so I’ll fill in the details: white Titleist visor, black glove, light grey Nike polo shirt tucked into a light teal Nike short skort, and white Adidas shoes with black trim, which also have the BOA lace system. The skort had no back pocket, so she wedged her yardage book into the waistband against her lower back. Her hair was arranged in two long ponytails streaked with brown highlights. Her eye candy appeal is old news, but you don’t get the full value unless you watch her walk a golf course.
St.-Germain wore a Golf Canada outfit and her bag was all Titleist. Muni had a Honma TW717 455 driver with a Honma Vizard shaft, along with T/M M2 irons...not sure if the irons were the pro versions or the shovels. She has one of the Odyssey Fang putters and uses it left hand low.
The first hole (par-4) was set at 375 yards for this day. Muni has a beautiful set-up over the ball, all the positions look good, and the shaft is a little past parallel at the top. Despite having a driver that doesn’t sound particular pleasant, she split the fairway. Her ball finished about 8 paces ahead of a 150 marker. She halved the hole.
Muni made a birdie putt at the par-3 2nd hole (154 yards) to go 1-up...and then the roof caved in. On the next eleven holes she made one good par putt and missed EVERYTHING else. It got so bad that she took practice putts on two of the greens late in her match. While it is permitted in the rules, has this ever helped anyone regain their stroke in a match?
Muni got killed 6 & 5 mostly by shooting herself in the foot. Despite the score, St.-Germain did not blow me away. A couple of her approaches sounded like dropkicks and she missed fairways, but her recoveries were pretty good...so was her lag putting. Muni was totally polite in defeat at the 13th green...congratulated and thanked everyone (opponent, parents, walking officials, and caddies). In fact, I didn’t see a single case of bad sportsmanship from anyone that day. I think it was the daddy of the Yu sisters who loudly cheered when the opposing players would win a hole or make a good putt.
Eun Jeong Seong approached the par-5 13th (535 yards) leading by four holes over an outclassed Katherine Muzi. Seong hammered her drive and Muzi might have mishit her drive, as Seong was a least 70 paces ahead. The second shot was a blind one over a fescue garbage dump. Seong took out what appeared to be a wood and went for the green in two (I assume). When I saw the target later, I thought it was a terrible decision. The flag was tucked behind a huge bunker on the far right of a shallow green and there were OB stakes down the left side. Luckily, her ball finished in the rough just inside the stakes. Both players made par. After they teed off at #14, I left this match (Seong won 5 & 4).
NJ’s Kelly Sim was scheduled for the last match, so I backtracked to the 12th tee box, where the next-to-last group teed off. But, there was no one on the 11th hole. What happened?
Two sisters from Taiwan were in back-to-back matches so I went looking for them. The first one was Yu Chiang Hou, who finished off Elizabeth Wang on the 16th green, 3 & 2. The winner waited there as Yu Sang Hou arrived All Square with Haeley Wotnosky. The 16th was halved.
The 17th hole is a dogleg left par-5 of 513 yards. Wotnosky must have been pressing now, since she hit a dreadful low hook into the rough that barely got off the ground. To her credit, she hacked her way to the green and still made par to halve the hole. Short of the 17th green in the right rough was a green temporary building. It was the TV booth still under construction on the inside.
The 18th hole is a straight par-4 of 379 yards. Wotnosky got in trouble again, but couldn’t escape this time and lost the match here. I hung out by the 18th fairway for the only remaining match in progress. Jennifer Chang won this hole and the match against Malia Nam.
I walked over to the hand-written scoreboard to see what happened to Kelly Sim. It said DQ next to her name, along with a particular rule number. I later learned she turned herself in for signing an incorrect scorecard from Tuesday’s medal play. I was unaware that she did some caddying for a player on Wednesday.
Before jumping on the Garden State Parkway to go home, I stopped at the local PGA Tour Superstore. In the women’s section I saw Nike display signs with pictures of Michelle Wie and Cheyenne Woods. I’ll bet Nike is aware of the free sensational modeling Muni He does for them. They should return the favor and send her a free Nike Method putter to try out.
