Post by verdantgarden on Apr 27, 2018 3:10:57 GMT
Wilshire Country Club is in the heart of Hollywood. The famous sign is visible from several vantage points. The north-south bus line that follows along the East side of the course heads for the intersection of Hollywood and Vine.
The east-west bus line, the one I took to and from my hotel, travels along Beverly Boulevard, the street the cleaves the course in two with the front nine south and the back nine north of Beverly.
A tunnel connects the two nines. It is only the width of a golf cart and is unlit. A staff member stood on each end of the tunnel and coordinated traffic through it via walkie-talkie. Special control was taken on the crowd following the final group on Sunday. They were kept herded behind ropes and parsed into the tunnel 30 individuals at a time. It was a trip walking the tunnel Thursday. It was late in the day and I was naturally wearing sunglasses. Not for the claustrophobic.
The course is rolling but not much hilly. The biggest climb was probably for the players getting to and from the Wu-Tang Clan symbol-shaped green on the par 3 7th. Spectators weren’t allowed greenside.
There are plenty of bunkers which the players found frequently.
Small ravines interlace the grounds of which the players had to be cautious. So, there were plenty of little bridges to cross over.
Most of the cart paths was simply dirt ground. It would be very messy to try to walk as a spectator if it was rainy. I got melodramatic on Twitter when I looked out my hotel window Thursday morning and saw the rain falling. But it was short-lived. The day remained relatively cool and breezy that day that I decided to wear my sports jacket. It got sunnier and warmer as the days progressed. It never got intolerably hot, but it was a relief when the high clouds arrived late Saturday afternoon.
Except for Beverly Blvd, there were hardly any other roads bordering the course. Plenty of residences, houses and apartments, a few undergoing remodeling or building meaning the hammering and sawing of workmen during the first three rounds. One homeowner located by the ninth fairway kept a couple of geese and a peacock in their backyard. Imagine the raucous noise that generated. I overheard some guy say there was nothing the Club could do about it. Talk about petty.
Spectators bought tickets and entered the course on the North side. After a short walk past the usual tents and mobile units, one suddenly finds oneself right at the 10th tee. The pathway is roped off while the ladies tee off to your left towards the hole on your right. I later learned that the hole was the 11th for club members while the 17th was normally the closing hole. What was normally the 10th made for an unusual par-3 18th. This hole allowed the easier set up of stands and tents for the crowds than the 17th.
Amenities were spare the first day. There was a concessions tent by the clubhouse that was there for the whole tournament. They offered sliders and pizza mainly along with drinks and chips. There was also one small concession stand one each nine but they had only chips and the drinks, including water, came in a cup with a straw. Blessedly, food trucks came on later days.
Staffing was light early on as well. The were hardly any marshals for the first couple of rounds and more groups than not lacked score-sign carriers. I don’t think Ariya’s group had a sign carrier for her first three rounds. That may be due to the short amount of time the organizers had to put this tournament together.
In my opinion, the crowd sizes weren’t too shabby. Nothing like the ghost town I found early on in Portland last year. Attendance was boosted by the presence of Korean speakers. I followed the penultimate group of Eun-Hi Jee, Inbee Park and Jin Young Ko on Saturday and the final group on Sunday and I was surrounded by Koreans and Korean Americans.
Since I was in Hollywood, I decided to follow the marquee group of Michelle Wie, Brooke Henderson and Jessica Korda. It turned that while each of them had their moments, none were really rocking it consistently. It would turn out Brooke, last week’s winner, would miss the cut after playing poorly Friday. An amusing moment occurred on six. Wie had a short par putt to clean up when a bug landed on the rim of the hole. She tried to shoo it away with a tee but the bug fell into the hole. Wie made her putt and quickly plucked her ball out.
Other highlights of the first round included a birdie at 18 by Amy Yang despite her sore elbow which I saw here flex and rub after her tee shot on 12. I also saw consecutive birdies by Sei Young Kim on 12 and 13.
I had forgotten how slight Hyo Joo Kim is. I’m talking tiny. Moriya is short, but Hyo Joo is slight. It surprises me she had the juice to do well on tour.
Friday early I decided to check out a couple of new Seoul Sisters. But I turned out to be bad luck. Hae-Ran Ryu turned out to be fairly tall, about 5’8”. She had a relaxed stride, almost slouchy. Her 2nd on 10 was too long and found the back bunker leaving her a downhill chip with little room on the green. Bogey. Another bogey on 11 as her tried to go flag hunting at the right-side of the green. Her ball went too far right into a bunker.
The next group on 11 included Danielle Kang who performed a miracle par save. Her tee shot went way right into the dirt and weeds – almost out of bounds. For her second she decided to direct her shot along the boundary fence landing just to the left of the 12th tee. Her third shot was a thing of beauty. She lofted her ball high in the air over the bunker and danced around the hole for a tap-in.
I also brought bad juju to Jeong Eun Lee on Friday. On the par 3 12th, her tee shot was short right with her ball rolling back into the corner of the bunker leaving her with an awkward stance. Her 2nd failed to climb the hill in front of her and her ball rolled all the way back down behind her. It was her only bad round of the tournament.
Two highlight holes I witnessed on Saturday. First on hole no. 2, Ariya Jutanugarn brought out driver (!) to enable her to reach the par 5 in two with the pin placed in the front of the green. She did it marvelously. Her ball rested to within six feet. Unfortunately, it was a downhill putt and the ball broke left at the hole. Easy birdie though. The second scenario happened late on 15. Sherman Santiwiwatthanaphong landed her ball way left near the 17th green. Need I write she lofted her shot perfectly as it found the hole for an eagle? She gave her caddie a long-distance high five (he was up on the 15th green) and urged the cheering crowd.
One player was not affected by my “charms”: Jin Young Ko. She had a helluva tournament and was always contending. She played even better Saturday. Her only stumble was on 16 when she got into bunker trouble. (Did Kay Cockerill say she had to “take her medicine” on the broadcast?)
She gave it a fight on Sunday but Moriya had the stuff. The champ was making the par saves and getting the occasional birdie. Again, her only blemish was on 16. It was a joy watching her sister Ariya cheer her on a celebrate after the victory.
To end my report, I want to tell you what Jin Young had written on her yellow golf bag:
Love god. Love people.
JIN YOUNG KO
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The east-west bus line, the one I took to and from my hotel, travels along Beverly Boulevard, the street the cleaves the course in two with the front nine south and the back nine north of Beverly.
A tunnel connects the two nines. It is only the width of a golf cart and is unlit. A staff member stood on each end of the tunnel and coordinated traffic through it via walkie-talkie. Special control was taken on the crowd following the final group on Sunday. They were kept herded behind ropes and parsed into the tunnel 30 individuals at a time. It was a trip walking the tunnel Thursday. It was late in the day and I was naturally wearing sunglasses. Not for the claustrophobic.
The course is rolling but not much hilly. The biggest climb was probably for the players getting to and from the Wu-Tang Clan symbol-shaped green on the par 3 7th. Spectators weren’t allowed greenside.
There are plenty of bunkers which the players found frequently.
Small ravines interlace the grounds of which the players had to be cautious. So, there were plenty of little bridges to cross over.
Most of the cart paths was simply dirt ground. It would be very messy to try to walk as a spectator if it was rainy. I got melodramatic on Twitter when I looked out my hotel window Thursday morning and saw the rain falling. But it was short-lived. The day remained relatively cool and breezy that day that I decided to wear my sports jacket. It got sunnier and warmer as the days progressed. It never got intolerably hot, but it was a relief when the high clouds arrived late Saturday afternoon.
Except for Beverly Blvd, there were hardly any other roads bordering the course. Plenty of residences, houses and apartments, a few undergoing remodeling or building meaning the hammering and sawing of workmen during the first three rounds. One homeowner located by the ninth fairway kept a couple of geese and a peacock in their backyard. Imagine the raucous noise that generated. I overheard some guy say there was nothing the Club could do about it. Talk about petty.
Spectators bought tickets and entered the course on the North side. After a short walk past the usual tents and mobile units, one suddenly finds oneself right at the 10th tee. The pathway is roped off while the ladies tee off to your left towards the hole on your right. I later learned that the hole was the 11th for club members while the 17th was normally the closing hole. What was normally the 10th made for an unusual par-3 18th. This hole allowed the easier set up of stands and tents for the crowds than the 17th.
Amenities were spare the first day. There was a concessions tent by the clubhouse that was there for the whole tournament. They offered sliders and pizza mainly along with drinks and chips. There was also one small concession stand one each nine but they had only chips and the drinks, including water, came in a cup with a straw. Blessedly, food trucks came on later days.
Staffing was light early on as well. The were hardly any marshals for the first couple of rounds and more groups than not lacked score-sign carriers. I don’t think Ariya’s group had a sign carrier for her first three rounds. That may be due to the short amount of time the organizers had to put this tournament together.
In my opinion, the crowd sizes weren’t too shabby. Nothing like the ghost town I found early on in Portland last year. Attendance was boosted by the presence of Korean speakers. I followed the penultimate group of Eun-Hi Jee, Inbee Park and Jin Young Ko on Saturday and the final group on Sunday and I was surrounded by Koreans and Korean Americans.
Since I was in Hollywood, I decided to follow the marquee group of Michelle Wie, Brooke Henderson and Jessica Korda. It turned that while each of them had their moments, none were really rocking it consistently. It would turn out Brooke, last week’s winner, would miss the cut after playing poorly Friday. An amusing moment occurred on six. Wie had a short par putt to clean up when a bug landed on the rim of the hole. She tried to shoo it away with a tee but the bug fell into the hole. Wie made her putt and quickly plucked her ball out.
Other highlights of the first round included a birdie at 18 by Amy Yang despite her sore elbow which I saw here flex and rub after her tee shot on 12. I also saw consecutive birdies by Sei Young Kim on 12 and 13.
I had forgotten how slight Hyo Joo Kim is. I’m talking tiny. Moriya is short, but Hyo Joo is slight. It surprises me she had the juice to do well on tour.
Friday early I decided to check out a couple of new Seoul Sisters. But I turned out to be bad luck. Hae-Ran Ryu turned out to be fairly tall, about 5’8”. She had a relaxed stride, almost slouchy. Her 2nd on 10 was too long and found the back bunker leaving her a downhill chip with little room on the green. Bogey. Another bogey on 11 as her tried to go flag hunting at the right-side of the green. Her ball went too far right into a bunker.
The next group on 11 included Danielle Kang who performed a miracle par save. Her tee shot went way right into the dirt and weeds – almost out of bounds. For her second she decided to direct her shot along the boundary fence landing just to the left of the 12th tee. Her third shot was a thing of beauty. She lofted her ball high in the air over the bunker and danced around the hole for a tap-in.
I also brought bad juju to Jeong Eun Lee on Friday. On the par 3 12th, her tee shot was short right with her ball rolling back into the corner of the bunker leaving her with an awkward stance. Her 2nd failed to climb the hill in front of her and her ball rolled all the way back down behind her. It was her only bad round of the tournament.
Two highlight holes I witnessed on Saturday. First on hole no. 2, Ariya Jutanugarn brought out driver (!) to enable her to reach the par 5 in two with the pin placed in the front of the green. She did it marvelously. Her ball rested to within six feet. Unfortunately, it was a downhill putt and the ball broke left at the hole. Easy birdie though. The second scenario happened late on 15. Sherman Santiwiwatthanaphong landed her ball way left near the 17th green. Need I write she lofted her shot perfectly as it found the hole for an eagle? She gave her caddie a long-distance high five (he was up on the 15th green) and urged the cheering crowd.
One player was not affected by my “charms”: Jin Young Ko. She had a helluva tournament and was always contending. She played even better Saturday. Her only stumble was on 16 when she got into bunker trouble. (Did Kay Cockerill say she had to “take her medicine” on the broadcast?)
She gave it a fight on Sunday but Moriya had the stuff. The champ was making the par saves and getting the occasional birdie. Again, her only blemish was on 16. It was a joy watching her sister Ariya cheer her on a celebrate after the victory.
To end my report, I want to tell you what Jin Young had written on her yellow golf bag:
Love god. Love people.
JIN YOUNG KO
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
