Post by philknj on May 16, 2022 13:04:00 GMT
I drove in to Upper Montclair Country Club in Clifton, NJ at 8:30 AM. It looked the same from when I was last there for the LPGA’s old Sybase Classic in 2009. The driving range was set up outside the spectator entrance, which was one unused fairway for pros and amateurs that was far left of the 1st hole. Back in the old days, I think the range was wider and closer to the old 10th hole (1st hole today).
I passed by the outdoor VIP dining area and saw LPGA media boss Steve Eubanks having breakfast with Gina Kim. I passed by them later a little after 10 AM, just as they were leaving the table. They were together at least 90 minutes ... if an article gets posted on Gina soon, you’ll know why. It’s also possible that he is a genuine person ... I heard him praise the LPGA players in general at the Seaview driving range last October. Bianca Pagdanganan is another one of his favorites. She was wearing a wrap on her right wrist and he wanted to know all about her condition. He’s also quite friendly with her dad.
There were no boxes set up with pro-am pairing sheets, but I was directed to the 1st hole tent and picked them up there. This “nine and nine” pro-am had me doing mental gymnastics on who would be where all day. I checked my watch after a couple of changeovers which indicated that it took two hours and fifty minutes to play nine holes. So, if I wanted to see Hee Young Park begin her day, my sheets said she was the second pro in the 12:10 PM group going off at the 1st hole (with Angel Yin), meaning I had to be at the 10th tee at 3 PM. It was at that point that the departing and incoming pros would do a group photo with the amateurs. (See attached sample below)
Angel gave a team scouting report to her replacement, said the woman in her group was a pro. The Rocket’s jaw dropped and then she pointed to the forward (women) tee asking if she hit from there and Yin nodded yes. The ringer was Kate Granahan, who shot 77 during the Monday qualifier. This looked unfair, but maybe it wasn’t. The electronic scoreboards were operational, but displayed no scores, just commercials. Maybe they weren’t keeping score.
The Rocket had a crummy little stand bag with big Titleist script on it. She plays a Titleist ball, but I think that’s it with them ... Mizuno Pro 223 irons and a Callaway Epic driver. Her caddie was Joojong Joe, the same person listed as her agent. Is this her husband?
The amateur list included a few sports stars of past and present. Minjee Lee turned over her group to Sophia Popov at 10th tee which included ex-New York Knick Allan Houston and current New York Islander Kyle Palmieri. Houston had no problem crushing the driver. Another notable amateur in this group was LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan. Gaming a Callaway Rogue driver, she hit a non-piercing but respectable cut into the fairway. I was more impressed with her Callaway Rogue iron shot approach ... hit the green with ease although it was a bit long of the flag. Well, she should be more than decent at the game since she played for Princeton’s team.
I followed a few players here and there on the course. The layout was still memorable from thirteen years ago, but reversing the front and back nines this year kept fouling up my thinking process.
Morgan Pressel was driving a cart near the 1st tee and picked up Grant Boone. Greg Johnston, Nasa Hataoka’s caddie, had just finished working his player’s morning nine and was asked by Morgan if he remembered the course from 2007-09. He said he recalled a little of it and now thought the trees were all in play no matter how well you drove it.
Brittany Lincicome began her day at the short par-4 10th hole. It’s a little downhill and bends to the left with high trees at the elbow. The pros were hitting hybrids or fairway woods off the tee ... that’s what Bam Bam did, but then she hit a driver right after that. I’m guessing the driver shot was for the benefit of her team.
I followed Bam Bam thru at least the par-5 12th hole, which has a tributary off the Third River protecting the front of the green. The Third River runs under both lanes of the Garden State Parkway, as well as a service road leading out of the rest area on the northbound side. Until the mid-1970s, I used to live on the other side of the GSP and once sneaked onto UMCC going under three overpasses without getting my feet significantly wet ... stepped on rocks and mud, avoided sticker bushes, slipped around fencing ... when you’re young and stupid it looked like a good idea.
I caught up with Allisen Corpuz for her last couple of holes, before her team of four women (modest-to-poor ability) transitioned to Hye Jin Choi. I also spent a good deal of time with Ayaka Furue on the front nine ... the highlight was the par-3 6th hole over water with the flag on the far right. With a breeze factored in, she first wanted to hit a hybrid, but her looper Mike Scott convinced her to go with an iron instead. She drilled it pin-high and broke out with a huge smile and a gasp of astonishment. Scott has a heavy Irish or UK accent ... maybe he was the guy I saw with Nasa H. at the Seaview in 2017.
Liu won the award for most exotic irons ... so obscure that I didn’t recognize them, but they had two red dots on the back of them. Her caddie said they were Miura. After further research, they must have been Miura PP 9005 G (Passing Point Neo Genesis) irons.
blog.tourspecgolf.com/miura-giken-pp-9005g-irons/
Speaking of gear, another women’s bag rarity was seeing Maude-Aimee Leblanc and Pauline Roussin-Bouchard carrying quatre irons.
The ordinary grounds pass fan experience is so-so at best here. The roping leaves you too far away from the action in most cases. Two of the exceptions were the 2nd and 7th tee boxes, where you could get close to the players. Some holes were good with yardage markers in the rough, while others seemed to have none. It occurred to me that there were almost no “ordinary” fans here at all, even though it was free admission. Late in the day, I counted about twenty people around me at the 10th tee and was outnumbered 20-to-1 by players, amateurs, volunteers, caddies, officials and miscellaneous credentialed observers.
I passed by the outdoor VIP dining area and saw LPGA media boss Steve Eubanks having breakfast with Gina Kim. I passed by them later a little after 10 AM, just as they were leaving the table. They were together at least 90 minutes ... if an article gets posted on Gina soon, you’ll know why. It’s also possible that he is a genuine person ... I heard him praise the LPGA players in general at the Seaview driving range last October. Bianca Pagdanganan is another one of his favorites. She was wearing a wrap on her right wrist and he wanted to know all about her condition. He’s also quite friendly with her dad.
There were no boxes set up with pro-am pairing sheets, but I was directed to the 1st hole tent and picked them up there. This “nine and nine” pro-am had me doing mental gymnastics on who would be where all day. I checked my watch after a couple of changeovers which indicated that it took two hours and fifty minutes to play nine holes. So, if I wanted to see Hee Young Park begin her day, my sheets said she was the second pro in the 12:10 PM group going off at the 1st hole (with Angel Yin), meaning I had to be at the 10th tee at 3 PM. It was at that point that the departing and incoming pros would do a group photo with the amateurs. (See attached sample below)
Angel gave a team scouting report to her replacement, said the woman in her group was a pro. The Rocket’s jaw dropped and then she pointed to the forward (women) tee asking if she hit from there and Yin nodded yes. The ringer was Kate Granahan, who shot 77 during the Monday qualifier. This looked unfair, but maybe it wasn’t. The electronic scoreboards were operational, but displayed no scores, just commercials. Maybe they weren’t keeping score.
The Rocket had a crummy little stand bag with big Titleist script on it. She plays a Titleist ball, but I think that’s it with them ... Mizuno Pro 223 irons and a Callaway Epic driver. Her caddie was Joojong Joe, the same person listed as her agent. Is this her husband?
The amateur list included a few sports stars of past and present. Minjee Lee turned over her group to Sophia Popov at 10th tee which included ex-New York Knick Allan Houston and current New York Islander Kyle Palmieri. Houston had no problem crushing the driver. Another notable amateur in this group was LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan. Gaming a Callaway Rogue driver, she hit a non-piercing but respectable cut into the fairway. I was more impressed with her Callaway Rogue iron shot approach ... hit the green with ease although it was a bit long of the flag. Well, she should be more than decent at the game since she played for Princeton’s team.
I followed a few players here and there on the course. The layout was still memorable from thirteen years ago, but reversing the front and back nines this year kept fouling up my thinking process.
Morgan Pressel was driving a cart near the 1st tee and picked up Grant Boone. Greg Johnston, Nasa Hataoka’s caddie, had just finished working his player’s morning nine and was asked by Morgan if he remembered the course from 2007-09. He said he recalled a little of it and now thought the trees were all in play no matter how well you drove it.
Brittany Lincicome began her day at the short par-4 10th hole. It’s a little downhill and bends to the left with high trees at the elbow. The pros were hitting hybrids or fairway woods off the tee ... that’s what Bam Bam did, but then she hit a driver right after that. I’m guessing the driver shot was for the benefit of her team.
I followed Bam Bam thru at least the par-5 12th hole, which has a tributary off the Third River protecting the front of the green. The Third River runs under both lanes of the Garden State Parkway, as well as a service road leading out of the rest area on the northbound side. Until the mid-1970s, I used to live on the other side of the GSP and once sneaked onto UMCC going under three overpasses without getting my feet significantly wet ... stepped on rocks and mud, avoided sticker bushes, slipped around fencing ... when you’re young and stupid it looked like a good idea.
I caught up with Allisen Corpuz for her last couple of holes, before her team of four women (modest-to-poor ability) transitioned to Hye Jin Choi. I also spent a good deal of time with Ayaka Furue on the front nine ... the highlight was the par-3 6th hole over water with the flag on the far right. With a breeze factored in, she first wanted to hit a hybrid, but her looper Mike Scott convinced her to go with an iron instead. She drilled it pin-high and broke out with a huge smile and a gasp of astonishment. Scott has a heavy Irish or UK accent ... maybe he was the guy I saw with Nasa H. at the Seaview in 2017.
I dropped by the 10th tee at 4 PM to check out ex-NJ Devil Ken Daneyko, but he was replaced by a civilian. I don’t know if Daneyko was at the course anywhere. Sophia Schubert was supposed to take over for Andrea Lee, but Ruixin Liu filled in for her. Liu has one of the biggest shoulder and head turns back to the top of her swing that I’ve ever seen on this tour. If she had a big left heel lift, she’d be called Jack Nicklaus.
blog.tourspecgolf.com/miura-giken-pp-9005g-irons/
Speaking of gear, another women’s bag rarity was seeing Maude-Aimee Leblanc and Pauline Roussin-Bouchard carrying quatre irons.
The ordinary grounds pass fan experience is so-so at best here. The roping leaves you too far away from the action in most cases. Two of the exceptions were the 2nd and 7th tee boxes, where you could get close to the players. Some holes were good with yardage markers in the rough, while others seemed to have none. It occurred to me that there were almost no “ordinary” fans here at all, even though it was free admission. Late in the day, I counted about twenty people around me at the 10th tee and was outnumbered 20-to-1 by players, amateurs, volunteers, caddies, officials and miscellaneous credentialed observers.
I left around 7:30 PM and vowed to arrive here early enough the next day for Round One to avoid two hideous traffic jams I hit this morning.
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