|
|
Post by philknj on May 30, 2023 1:29:12 GMT
It appears that my days of digging up the unvarnished and unguarded LPGA dirt at this event are OVER. I didn't realize until last week that spectators are now banned Tuesday thru Thursday.   I can think of two reasons why ... first, you'll have fewer volunteer hours to fill and second, you'll have few shuttle days which are probably expensive and were not used heavily on Tue. thru Thu. in prior years. I'll still be down there, after making a change to my schedule.
******
With no apparent publicity, my favorite lefty blonde is no longer an amateur ... at $500 a pop, Erica Shepherd entered herself as a non-member pro in the Monday qualifiers for Shoprite, Meijer and Dana. She might find the Seaview Bay course to her liking .... it's mostly left-to-right, which fits her chronic hook draw shots.
|
|
|
|
Post by philknj on Jun 5, 2023 13:39:58 GMT
HoJo the road warrior is flying in from ROK this week ... she has not played this event during the May/June months since 2015.
Two of the three sponsor invites have been named, Maisie Filler (U. of Florida) and Chiara Noja (LET). I though Meaghan Francella would be one, too, but they added her via the Tournament Winner category instead.
|
|
|
|
Post by HappyFan on Jun 5, 2023 20:57:17 GMT
Hyo Joo said in an interview in Korea that she has been struggling with illness for the past several months (she didn't say what kind or I didn't understand what it was). It has sapped her energy and she has lost several pounds. But this last week she finally felt good again, so she's hopeful that will mean good things the next couple of months.
|
|
|
|
Post by philknj on Jun 6, 2023 0:13:53 GMT
Mo Stacks had a sore or tight back at Mizuho ... before hitting at the 18th tees, she took out a towel from her bag, lay on her back, bent her knees and turned them to one side while her caddie added his weight to maximize the twist in her torso. She still trunk-slammed, but she might be feeling better now as she shot 67 to win the Monday qualifier. Second place went to Gurleen Kaur (69) ... Shepherd and Clemente weren't even close. They haven't announced the third sponsor invite yet  ... let's pick up the pace, Tuesday is practice day. Getting a junior like Anna Davis for that spot would be excellent (if she hasn't gone home already). |
|
|
|
Post by philknj on Jun 6, 2023 13:11:55 GMT
Sierra Brooks is the final invitee ... even though she hasn't finished higher than T-30 on the Epson tour this year ... and she's not working any of the six pro-ams (amateurs Clemente and Filler are working them!) ... if Ina Yoon had Brooks' management team, life would be so much easier.
|
|
|
|
Post by tonyj500 on Jun 6, 2023 17:06:58 GMT
My field rating for this event is an embarassingly low 31.5%, down from 36% last year.
My breakdown is 38% from the LPGA Priority List and 25% from the Rolex Rankings.
The field will be led by top ten players:
Atthaya Thitikul
Hyo-Joo Kim
Georgia Hall
Brook Henederson
Top ten players skipping the event this week:
Jin Young Ko
Nelly Korda
Lydia Ko
Lilia Vu
Minjee Lee
Lexi Thompson
Only seven of the top 25 players are in this week's field.
The Monday Qualifiers are:
Mariah Stackhouse -4
Gurleen Kaur -2
Other Stuff:
The last 5 stroke play LPGA Tournaments have been decided by a playoff. That is a new LPGA record. In fact six of the last seven have been decided that way.
Atthaya Thitikul's top ten finish this past weekend was her 6th of the year, tying her with Nelliy Korda for the LPGA lead.
Both Ayaka Furue and Ashleigh Buhai picked up their 5th top ten. Furue has finished 4th, 2nd, and 4th in her last three starts.
Rose Zhang became the 4th first time winner on the LPGA this year. Zhang's win was the third by an American player this year which leads the tour.
Rolex Rankings:
Rose Zhang made one of the biggest moves in history (if not the biggest) moving up 420 spots. She skyrockets from No. 482 to No. 62.
Jennifer Kupcho moves 26-21
Hae Ran Ryu 35-30
Cheyenne Knight 42-38
Eun Hee Ji 56-45
|
|
|
|
Post by SoYeonFan on Jun 6, 2023 18:40:23 GMT
Jennifer Kupcho should have not moved up since she blew her chance to win the Tournament.
Not only did she make bogey on the Play Off hole, but she also left birdie putts short coming in.
She is one of my favorite U.S players along with Jessica Korda and Danielle Kang.
|
|
|
|
Post by don on Jun 7, 2023 2:47:10 GMT
It occurs to me Tiger might have fulfilled Earl’s prophecy and become the greatest humanitarian since Ghandi when he turned down a billion Saudi dollars.
|
|
|
|
Post by philknj on Jun 7, 2023 2:50:05 GMT
TonyJ, are you down there now? What is the air like? Holy crap, I was playing in a scramble outing today and suddenly the entire sky turned gray around 5 PM  ... it's the fallout from the Cannuck wildfires. I have a tee time in the Tuckerton area on Thursday and I might cancel it with great reluctance. As for Friday, there's a good chance for rain at the Seaview ... does anyone know if that improves air quality? As of now, it's not as bad as Cambia Portland in 2020 ... the Wed. and Thu. pro-ams are still scheduled to go ahead. I just noticed that K. McPherson moved up to the #144 spot on the field ... replacing MA LeBlanc, I think ... maybe dropped out because of the air? How would you like to play a 36-hole USWO qualifier in Duxbury, MA tomorrow? 
*******
Caddie list is out ... MHL gets Nicholas DiBello, who didn't make much this year with Polly Mack. The Yangster is off, so Jan Meierling is going with Ana Belac. Cheyenne Knight is off, so Cheeseburger Chad is going with Angela Stanford. Mickey Mouse is off, so Casey Johnson is going with Lindy Duncan.
*******
This year's ticket design winners:
|
|
|
|
Post by philknj on Jun 7, 2023 19:13:14 GMT
"The world's biggest pro-am" kicked off today ... the elderly ams better put 911 on their speed dial. As of this moment, the air quality score in Absecon is 117 ("Unhealthy"). That seems to be average score across NJ today, but the "schmutz" is not traveling uniformly every day ... there were areas in NJ yesterday in the 40s, while Atlantic City was like 170 (higher = worse). I cancelled my Thursday golf in Tuckerton and rescheduled it for Princeton ... we'll see if I outsmarted myself tomorrow. As for the USWO qualifier in Duxbury, MA, they caught a break with scores in the 30s across the eastern half of the state.
The pairings are set for Friday ... MHL with Unlucky Five and UCLA Law at 2:03 PM, not bad to follow if I'm still breathing by then. Other groups:
Muni/Bianca/Do
HoJo/Yuna/JTibs
Chungchungkar/Haeji/Yubol
J. Song/Stephenson/Uribe
Reto/Vongtaveelap/Valenzuala
Su Oh/Gina Kim/Duncan
Lindberg/Roussin/WW Zhang
|
|
|
|
Post by fanofseri on Jun 8, 2023 3:44:18 GMT
Players from Pakistan, India & China have a big advantage.
|
|
|
|
Post by philknj on Jun 8, 2023 3:47:30 GMT
Forget about the U.S. GIC ... had to turn to a Japanese source to find out what's going on down there ... Minami Katsu has the answer. 
Just looked at the air quality forecasts ... they've gotten a little WORSE for the next three days.  The thought of pulling a handcart while wearing an N95 mask at the golf course tomorrow just doesn't appeal to me, so I cancelled that tee time. I also bagged the idea of going down to Round One ... if the air radically improves for Saturday, I'll probably go, but it doesn't look good for now. It's not just being out on the course for 10+ hours, it's also the 2-hour drive down there and another 2 hours back ... I drove about 30 minutes today and it feels like the schmutz has permeated my car ... multiply that time span by eight, yuck. Fortunately, I get KPMG at Baltusrol in a couple of weeks, when all this s*** will be gone (I hope).
Yuna meeting the Callaway rep, who I've seen at the Seaview before.
The Callaway family is still the house brand at the resort.  |
|
|
|
Post by tonyj500 on Jun 8, 2023 16:10:40 GMT
TonyJ, are you down there now? What is the air like? Holy crap, I was playing in a scramble outing today and suddenly the entire sky turned gray around 5 PM ... it's the fallout from the Cannuck wildfires. I have a tee time in the Tuckerton area on Thursday and I might cancel it with great reluctance. As for Friday, there's a good chance for rain at the Seaview ... does anyone know if that improves air quality? As of now, it's not as bad as Cambia Portland in 2020 ... the Wed. and Thu. pro-ams are still scheduled to go ahead. I just noticed that K. McPherson moved up to the #144 spot on the field ... replacing MA LeBlanc, I think ... maybe dropped out because of the air? How would you like to play a 36-hole USWO qualifier in Duxbury, MA tomorrow?
https://www.instagram.com/p/CtAagwnsJ2h Phil, I am passing on this one this year. There are just too many Jersey events to keep up with. I will be in Baltosrol for the KPMG and then flying to Pebble Beach for the Open. |
|
|
|
Post by HappyFan on Jun 8, 2023 19:17:58 GMT
Wimps! A couple of years ago, the air quality here was about 250-300 for like two weeks thanks to fires (I think those were from California, can't recall). In fact, we were listed as one of the top ten worst air qualities in the world. Under 200 AQ seemed like paradise when we finally got it!
|
|
|
|
Post by HappyFan on Jun 8, 2023 19:21:41 GMT
|
|
I can think of two reasons why ... first, you'll have fewer volunteer hours to fill and second, you'll have few shuttle days which are probably expensive and were not used heavily on Tue. thru Thu. in prior years. I'll still be down there, after making a change to my schedule.
... let's pick up the pace, Tuesday is practice day. Getting a junior like Anna Davis for that spot would be excellent (if she hasn't gone home already).
... it's the fallout from the Cannuck wildfires. I have a tee time in the Tuckerton area on Thursday and I might cancel it with great reluctance. As for Friday, there's a good chance for rain at the Seaview ... does anyone know if that improves air quality? As of now, it's not as bad as Cambia Portland in 2020 ... the Wed. and Thu. pro-ams are still scheduled to go ahead. I just noticed that K. McPherson moved up to the #144 spot on the field ... replacing MA LeBlanc, I think ... maybe dropped out because of the air? How would you like to play a 36-hole USWO qualifier in Duxbury, MA tomorrow? 
The thought of pulling a handcart while wearing an N95 mask at the golf course tomorrow just doesn't appeal to me, so I cancelled that tee time. I also bagged the idea of going down to Round One ... if the air radically improves for Saturday, I'll probably go, but it doesn't look good for now. It's not just being out on the course for 10+ hours, it's also the 2-hour drive down there and another 2 hours back ... I drove about 30 minutes today and it feels like the schmutz has permeated my car ... multiply that time span by eight, yuck. 