Post by HappyFan on Aug 24, 2015 16:49:38 GMT
Hey guys!
The reason I wasn’t able to do a round 2 update of the Bogner KLPGA event is because I went to round 2 of the Canadian Women’s Open in Vancouver! Sorry for the lack of notice beforehand, this literally came together that morning, as I finished all the work I needed to do and had a day free. So I hopped into my car and away I went.
The first player I followed when I got there was the defending champion, So Yeon Ryu. There was a nice photo of her on the program and a big photo of her with the trophy when you entered the tournament. She was playing with Juli Inkster and Anna Nordqvist, and IMO Anna was the tallest of all the ladies I saw yesterday (for whatever reason, Lexi Thompson did not seem that tall to me, even though I know she is 6 foot +).
Anyway, Ryu was at 3 under when I headed out there, but I got to her just in time to make a bogey and fall back to 2 under. I followed her on the front nine. The fifth hole seemed to give everyone in her group trouble. So Yeon missed the fairway, missed the green, and did not hit a very good chip. She bogied to fall to 1 under, and at that point I decided I was not bringing her good luck and moved on.
Hyo Joo Kim was doing well, and she was paired with Minjee Lee, so they were my next destination. They were on the other side of the course, though, so it took a while to get there. I was hoping to also catch Inky, who was at 4 under, but she finished just before I got to the 18th hole. On the way I passed Jennifer Song and Amy Yang on different holes. Jennifer was playing well and I saw her tee off on the 18th hole. I was always under the impression she was very short off the tee, but her drive seemed pretty high and decently long, at least from my angle. Amy was not having a great week; I saw her in the fairway hit a shot. It was great to see two more players I had never seen in person before!
I got to Hyo Joo just as she made a birdie to move to 5 under. Hyo Joo was pretty much like you would have expected: great driving, strong approaches, nice short game. Minjee was really bombing it off the tee. The third member of the group was Mo Martin, and at least twice, Minjee hit her fairway wood farther than Martin hit driver (and like 20-30 yards farther). Hyo Joo didn’t make any more birdies in the five holes I watched her, alas. But Minjee did hit it really close on 17 for a short birdie to earn money for charity.
My favorite moment watching them came after they teed off on 16 or 17, can’t recall. Hyo Joo and Minjee were walking together down the fairway. Kim was very animated, talking about something or other, which amused Minjee, who had a big grin on her face (she has seriously white teeth; they were practically glowing). She put her arm around Kim’s shoulder as they walked. It’s nice to see these two very young people bonding like that; after all, they’ve already known each other for a very long time.
After lunch, my next goal was to watch Q Baek. Q was only even par for the week (she would go on to miss the cut by a shot), and she was playing with Lee Ann Pace and Pernilla Lindberg, both of whom were in the top ten. I was really interested in seeing if I could figure out what’s been holding Q back this season.
I was pretty impressed with what I saw. Q is a lot bigger than I expected. For the five holes I watched her, she hit nothing but perfect drives which were also decently long. Her putting was great, as was her short game. What really hurt her were her approaches. She did not hit a single really good approach during the stretch I watched. A couple of times she hit decent ones, but they were always a little short, or a little too right or left, and they always seemed to put her into a jam. On one hole, she missed the green but still putted in for birdie. She had several other 40 foot putts that she left right next to the hole, and one other chip that she hit really well.
On 18, she hit her drive right down the middle. The flag here was near the front of the green. She hit her approach a little off line, putting it on a mound in front of the green. From there it was virtually impossible to chip it close, and indeed she put it about 15 feet past the hole and made bogey. Once again, it had been the approach that did her in.
While I had been watching Baek, I also caught sight of Mirim Lee and Chella Choi on different holes. Two more gals I had never seen before in person. Chella was having a horror day, so no big smiles, but she definitely was not using her dad as a caddie anymore (I didn’t see him anywhere). Mirim was playing with Christina Kim.
After Baek made the turn, I headed over to 9. There were three groups in a row that I liked, and I switched between them as they played the back nine. First was Inbee, playing with Creamer and Thompson. It was painful watching Creamer, who couldn’t seem to do anything right. It will be an absolute joke if Inkster picks her for the Solheim Cup. Next was Sei Young Kim, paired with Alison Lee and Brittany Lincicome. After that was Ha Na Jang, paired with Laura Davies and someone else I can’t recall.
On 9, both Sei Young and Lincicome missed short putts. In fact, Brittany missed two of them. But a little later, I watched Ha Na nail a birdie there to move to 3 under.
I eventually settled at the par 3 12th to watch Inbee’s group. Inbee hit a nice iron to about 15 feet. I remember thinking that, if she wanted to be a factor in this thing, this would be a good time for her to make a run. Right after that, she drained a pretty birdie try. But that still only move her to 1 under, a long way back.
After watching Sei Young get up and down on 12, I hurried to catch up with Inbee on the par 5 13th. I saw her hit an approach, it looked like a wood, but I couldn’t see the green. Given there were no cheers or applause, I figured it was a lay up I saw. Later, I got to the green, and watched what seemed like an endless series of shots by Thompson, then Creamer, then Thompson, etc. Inbee just hung out and waited. Finally, she put her ball down about five feet from the hole and drained the putt. The crowd went crazy! I then learned it was for eagle. Holy crap, she hit the ball to within 6 feet to set up an eagle and there had been no cheers at all? What is wrong with those fans???
The last five holes are all fairly straight 400 yard or so par fours. Inbee hit a great approach on 14 and drained another birdie, moving her to 4 under. This was getting good! On 15, she left her approach off the green to the right. There was a big grandstand there, and though she had a tricky breaking putt coming off a little ledge from the rough, I still felt like those fans were going to get a treat. And they did, yet another birdie! Even Inbee smiled after that one. (At this point I noticed her hubby, following a fair distance behind. Interestingly, he trailed her group but did not seem to be standing near her when she played. I guess maybe he didn't want to distract her when she was at the office?).
She just missed the green on the 16th, but was not far at all from the flag. It should have been a straightforward up and down, but she hit her chip too far and just missed the par save. Oh well, back to 4 under.
On 17, she again missed the green, but hit her chip to a foot for a save. On 18, after a perfect drive, she nearly dunked her approach in the hole, causing a huge ‘OOOOO’ from the gallery (that’s more like the fan reaction I expected on the previous par 5!). But she missed the birdie.
I stuck around as Sei Young left her approach a foot from the hole on 18 and moved to 4 under with a birdie. Then I headed out. My last sight as I left was MJ Hur getting into a car. She IS tall. Yet another of the Sisters I hadn’t seen before. Got home by 9:30! A long day but a lot of fun..
The reason I wasn’t able to do a round 2 update of the Bogner KLPGA event is because I went to round 2 of the Canadian Women’s Open in Vancouver! Sorry for the lack of notice beforehand, this literally came together that morning, as I finished all the work I needed to do and had a day free. So I hopped into my car and away I went.
The first player I followed when I got there was the defending champion, So Yeon Ryu. There was a nice photo of her on the program and a big photo of her with the trophy when you entered the tournament. She was playing with Juli Inkster and Anna Nordqvist, and IMO Anna was the tallest of all the ladies I saw yesterday (for whatever reason, Lexi Thompson did not seem that tall to me, even though I know she is 6 foot +).
Anyway, Ryu was at 3 under when I headed out there, but I got to her just in time to make a bogey and fall back to 2 under. I followed her on the front nine. The fifth hole seemed to give everyone in her group trouble. So Yeon missed the fairway, missed the green, and did not hit a very good chip. She bogied to fall to 1 under, and at that point I decided I was not bringing her good luck and moved on.
Hyo Joo Kim was doing well, and she was paired with Minjee Lee, so they were my next destination. They were on the other side of the course, though, so it took a while to get there. I was hoping to also catch Inky, who was at 4 under, but she finished just before I got to the 18th hole. On the way I passed Jennifer Song and Amy Yang on different holes. Jennifer was playing well and I saw her tee off on the 18th hole. I was always under the impression she was very short off the tee, but her drive seemed pretty high and decently long, at least from my angle. Amy was not having a great week; I saw her in the fairway hit a shot. It was great to see two more players I had never seen in person before!
I got to Hyo Joo just as she made a birdie to move to 5 under. Hyo Joo was pretty much like you would have expected: great driving, strong approaches, nice short game. Minjee was really bombing it off the tee. The third member of the group was Mo Martin, and at least twice, Minjee hit her fairway wood farther than Martin hit driver (and like 20-30 yards farther). Hyo Joo didn’t make any more birdies in the five holes I watched her, alas. But Minjee did hit it really close on 17 for a short birdie to earn money for charity.
My favorite moment watching them came after they teed off on 16 or 17, can’t recall. Hyo Joo and Minjee were walking together down the fairway. Kim was very animated, talking about something or other, which amused Minjee, who had a big grin on her face (she has seriously white teeth; they were practically glowing). She put her arm around Kim’s shoulder as they walked. It’s nice to see these two very young people bonding like that; after all, they’ve already known each other for a very long time.
After lunch, my next goal was to watch Q Baek. Q was only even par for the week (she would go on to miss the cut by a shot), and she was playing with Lee Ann Pace and Pernilla Lindberg, both of whom were in the top ten. I was really interested in seeing if I could figure out what’s been holding Q back this season.
I was pretty impressed with what I saw. Q is a lot bigger than I expected. For the five holes I watched her, she hit nothing but perfect drives which were also decently long. Her putting was great, as was her short game. What really hurt her were her approaches. She did not hit a single really good approach during the stretch I watched. A couple of times she hit decent ones, but they were always a little short, or a little too right or left, and they always seemed to put her into a jam. On one hole, she missed the green but still putted in for birdie. She had several other 40 foot putts that she left right next to the hole, and one other chip that she hit really well.
On 18, she hit her drive right down the middle. The flag here was near the front of the green. She hit her approach a little off line, putting it on a mound in front of the green. From there it was virtually impossible to chip it close, and indeed she put it about 15 feet past the hole and made bogey. Once again, it had been the approach that did her in.
While I had been watching Baek, I also caught sight of Mirim Lee and Chella Choi on different holes. Two more gals I had never seen before in person. Chella was having a horror day, so no big smiles, but she definitely was not using her dad as a caddie anymore (I didn’t see him anywhere). Mirim was playing with Christina Kim.
After Baek made the turn, I headed over to 9. There were three groups in a row that I liked, and I switched between them as they played the back nine. First was Inbee, playing with Creamer and Thompson. It was painful watching Creamer, who couldn’t seem to do anything right. It will be an absolute joke if Inkster picks her for the Solheim Cup. Next was Sei Young Kim, paired with Alison Lee and Brittany Lincicome. After that was Ha Na Jang, paired with Laura Davies and someone else I can’t recall.
On 9, both Sei Young and Lincicome missed short putts. In fact, Brittany missed two of them. But a little later, I watched Ha Na nail a birdie there to move to 3 under.
I eventually settled at the par 3 12th to watch Inbee’s group. Inbee hit a nice iron to about 15 feet. I remember thinking that, if she wanted to be a factor in this thing, this would be a good time for her to make a run. Right after that, she drained a pretty birdie try. But that still only move her to 1 under, a long way back.
After watching Sei Young get up and down on 12, I hurried to catch up with Inbee on the par 5 13th. I saw her hit an approach, it looked like a wood, but I couldn’t see the green. Given there were no cheers or applause, I figured it was a lay up I saw. Later, I got to the green, and watched what seemed like an endless series of shots by Thompson, then Creamer, then Thompson, etc. Inbee just hung out and waited. Finally, she put her ball down about five feet from the hole and drained the putt. The crowd went crazy! I then learned it was for eagle. Holy crap, she hit the ball to within 6 feet to set up an eagle and there had been no cheers at all? What is wrong with those fans???
The last five holes are all fairly straight 400 yard or so par fours. Inbee hit a great approach on 14 and drained another birdie, moving her to 4 under. This was getting good! On 15, she left her approach off the green to the right. There was a big grandstand there, and though she had a tricky breaking putt coming off a little ledge from the rough, I still felt like those fans were going to get a treat. And they did, yet another birdie! Even Inbee smiled after that one. (At this point I noticed her hubby, following a fair distance behind. Interestingly, he trailed her group but did not seem to be standing near her when she played. I guess maybe he didn't want to distract her when she was at the office?).
She just missed the green on the 16th, but was not far at all from the flag. It should have been a straightforward up and down, but she hit her chip too far and just missed the par save. Oh well, back to 4 under.
On 17, she again missed the green, but hit her chip to a foot for a save. On 18, after a perfect drive, she nearly dunked her approach in the hole, causing a huge ‘OOOOO’ from the gallery (that’s more like the fan reaction I expected on the previous par 5!). But she missed the birdie.
I stuck around as Sei Young left her approach a foot from the hole on 18 and moved to 4 under with a birdie. Then I headed out. My last sight as I left was MJ Hur getting into a car. She IS tall. Yet another of the Sisters I hadn’t seen before. Got home by 9:30! A long day but a lot of fun..
