Post by bullfinch on Jul 14, 2024 6:03:22 GMT
As the saying goes “the early bird gets the worm” and in this case the early fans get the photos.
Since round 2 had yet to be completed we caught the 8am shuttle bus to the course and there were hardly any fans there. All the super groups were on the back 9 so in the space of around 45 minutes I became an LPGA groupie and had photos taken with Nelly, Amy, Charley, Lydia, Ayaka, Jeeno, Linn Grant, Angela Stanford, Alison Lee, Lottie Woad, Gemma D, and Hye-Jin Choi. The best pic was taken by Furue’s manager as Ayaka was in day glow yellow, my wife was in bright pink and I was in more sober maroon. I’m still not sure who is taller - my wife or Ayaka.
I then read La Gazette and was surprised to find on page 3 the player interviews featured not one but two Koreans alongside Celine. Jin Young Ko and Mi Hyang Lee had their moment in the spotlight.
We then had time for breakfast whilst the spectators were streaming in and the crowds were certainly much bigger than the first 2 days. The groupings for round 3 were published and we opted for double Korean delight of Amy, Six and also Sagstrom. My wife wears a bucket hat so she could connect with Amy and Sagstrom.
All were near or on the green in 2 at the first. Six was in the bunker but it didn’t seem like the hardest shot to get out of albeit this was the bunker Georgia took 3 shots to get out of on Thursday. Unfortunately Six under cooked her chip and it failed to get over the crest on the green and a bogey was the outcome. Amy had a short chip and run into the green of less than 5 yards but failed to get over the crest and ended up near where Six was. Amy then went on to three putt and a disastrous 6 was the outcome. Not good!
Six recovered on the par 3 second with a great birdie putt from distance whilst Amy missed a birdie putt from much closer in. Onto the third and while Six seemed to be hitting her stride with another birdie, Amy dropped another shot to now be 3 over for the day after 3 holes! We then moved onto the fourth where all the good work done by Six at the previous hole was undone as she made bogey.
We stayed with this group until hole 6 at which both Amy and Six made bogey. It was turning into a bad day for them. We then had to move on as we had a dinner reservation in another country to make and needed to catch the 4.15pm ferry to Lausanne. As a result we picked up the Gaby Lopez, Rose Zhang group for holes 15-18. Gaby and Rose were playing solid and Gaby made a good birdie on 18 after laying up before the water before producing a fine dart into the green. It was then time to get the bus.
We spent a pleasant few hours in Lausanne and the Tom Abbott restaurant tip came good as the views from the Sky Lounge at the top of the Hotel Royal Savoy were spectacular. On the ferry back we bumped into Leona Maguire’s twin sister and mum. Leona had missed the cut and was able to change her flight to head back to Ireland but there was no room for the rest of her family so they were staying on until Sunday.
It was good speaking to Lisa to get a great insight into life on tour. She mentioned some of the US girls had skipped Evian due to it’s scheduling as normally they can do a European swing of Evian, Scottish and British Opens together. Also Evian is expensive and they get no help with costs. She mentioned for the Asian swing earlier in the year some of the US/European girls get a stipend to help with costs so it makes it worth their while to travel that far. She thinks Evian will need to do the same at some point.
Back at the hotel we had time for a quick cappuccino out on the terrace where Grant Boone and Morgan Pressel were holding fort on another table. Grant said his good byes to the group but Morgan was up for a big night as she got some more drinks in. We left them to it.
Sunday is check out day and I’m not sure we can stay until the end as we have a flight to catch so we‘re looking at groups teeing off around 9:30. It maybe Minjee and Georgia or Jin Young and Gemma. We ideally want to be in a group where some players are on the charge.
I can’t see a Korean sister winning so we are now rooting for Furue.
Since round 2 had yet to be completed we caught the 8am shuttle bus to the course and there were hardly any fans there. All the super groups were on the back 9 so in the space of around 45 minutes I became an LPGA groupie and had photos taken with Nelly, Amy, Charley, Lydia, Ayaka, Jeeno, Linn Grant, Angela Stanford, Alison Lee, Lottie Woad, Gemma D, and Hye-Jin Choi. The best pic was taken by Furue’s manager as Ayaka was in day glow yellow, my wife was in bright pink and I was in more sober maroon. I’m still not sure who is taller - my wife or Ayaka.
I then read La Gazette and was surprised to find on page 3 the player interviews featured not one but two Koreans alongside Celine. Jin Young Ko and Mi Hyang Lee had their moment in the spotlight.
We then had time for breakfast whilst the spectators were streaming in and the crowds were certainly much bigger than the first 2 days. The groupings for round 3 were published and we opted for double Korean delight of Amy, Six and also Sagstrom. My wife wears a bucket hat so she could connect with Amy and Sagstrom.
All were near or on the green in 2 at the first. Six was in the bunker but it didn’t seem like the hardest shot to get out of albeit this was the bunker Georgia took 3 shots to get out of on Thursday. Unfortunately Six under cooked her chip and it failed to get over the crest on the green and a bogey was the outcome. Amy had a short chip and run into the green of less than 5 yards but failed to get over the crest and ended up near where Six was. Amy then went on to three putt and a disastrous 6 was the outcome. Not good!
Six recovered on the par 3 second with a great birdie putt from distance whilst Amy missed a birdie putt from much closer in. Onto the third and while Six seemed to be hitting her stride with another birdie, Amy dropped another shot to now be 3 over for the day after 3 holes! We then moved onto the fourth where all the good work done by Six at the previous hole was undone as she made bogey.
We stayed with this group until hole 6 at which both Amy and Six made bogey. It was turning into a bad day for them. We then had to move on as we had a dinner reservation in another country to make and needed to catch the 4.15pm ferry to Lausanne. As a result we picked up the Gaby Lopez, Rose Zhang group for holes 15-18. Gaby and Rose were playing solid and Gaby made a good birdie on 18 after laying up before the water before producing a fine dart into the green. It was then time to get the bus.
We spent a pleasant few hours in Lausanne and the Tom Abbott restaurant tip came good as the views from the Sky Lounge at the top of the Hotel Royal Savoy were spectacular. On the ferry back we bumped into Leona Maguire’s twin sister and mum. Leona had missed the cut and was able to change her flight to head back to Ireland but there was no room for the rest of her family so they were staying on until Sunday.
It was good speaking to Lisa to get a great insight into life on tour. She mentioned some of the US girls had skipped Evian due to it’s scheduling as normally they can do a European swing of Evian, Scottish and British Opens together. Also Evian is expensive and they get no help with costs. She mentioned for the Asian swing earlier in the year some of the US/European girls get a stipend to help with costs so it makes it worth their while to travel that far. She thinks Evian will need to do the same at some point.
Back at the hotel we had time for a quick cappuccino out on the terrace where Grant Boone and Morgan Pressel were holding fort on another table. Grant said his good byes to the group but Morgan was up for a big night as she got some more drinks in. We left them to it.
Sunday is check out day and I’m not sure we can stay until the end as we have a flight to catch so we‘re looking at groups teeing off around 9:30. It maybe Minjee and Georgia or Jin Young and Gemma. We ideally want to be in a group where some players are on the charge.
I can’t see a Korean sister winning so we are now rooting for Furue.