Archive for January 2007

I got so caught up in practicing last week, I haven’t kept you all posted on the things that are going on.  I am still working very hard on my swing tips I was taught a couple of weeks ago.  The old saying is, you have to get bad before you get good.  I was definitely chopping the little white ball around the past two weeks, but I am seeing good things right around the corner.  I almost holed out from the fairway 4 times in the same round!  If that’s not a good sign, I don’t know what is.

My roommate and I took a “quick” road trip to Memphis, TN last weekend.  It was her mother’s 60th birthday and she wanted to surprise her.  It worked like a charm, and when we came strolling through the door, her mom broke down in tears.  It was a great thing to witness.

And I must have bad luck when it comes to law enforcement.  We stayed in downtown Memphis at my roommate’s friend’s condo that she wasn’t using.  So obviously, you have to park on the street.  Well, I woke up the next day to see a parking ticket on my windshield.  I was parked at a meter but the meter said the fee doesn’t start till 9 a.m.  The ticket showed I was fined at 8:27.  I don’t know how I got the ticket since I was well within the time limit.  But, instead of risking another New York fiasco with the courts, I decided to pay it.  No need to have something like that ruin my credit.  Guess I just need to be more careful about where I park my car!

I can’t believe it is almost February!  I am hoping to play in the Florida Open at the end of the month to get geared up for the first Futures event.  I always like to play in something before the season starts so I can work out any ticks or nervous jitters.  I am looking forward to getting on the road again and on getting some sun on my white legs!

I hope all of you are doing well and staying warm since it seems like a cold front has hit every part of the country.  Hopefully, there isn’t a lot of shoveling being done!  Take care, and I promise to get another entry up on time!  The next quote is from Arthur Ashe: “From what we get, we can make a living; what we give, however, makes a life.”

Well, I think winter officially hit the South Carolina area this week. The weather has been very uncooperative and cold! I don’t mind the cold too much but when it is raining, it makes it even tougher to get out there and practice. I hope it will only last a couple of days.

I traveled to Pinehurst last week for a couple of days. Playing that course again after not seeing it in a few years was quite amazing. I played Pinehurst #2 which holds the biggest PGA event called the U.S. Open. It was so fun to go back there and play. My game has gotten better since the last time I was there, so it was an even better experience. Many people don’t know this, but Pinehurst was the place I first realized I wanted to become a professional golfer. I felt it was my destiny. Just playing and walking on a place where the best in the game have walked, really put things in perspective for me. It made me want to be the best. I can’t wait to get back there again.

I went up there to visit some very good friends. I like to travel and see the country. But the best part of all of that, are the people I get to meet. Way back when I was still playing amateur events in college I had an event in North Carolina. I was assigned a volunteer caddy named Lynn. I didn’t know what to expect because I was not use to having a caddy. Well, it turned out to be one of the best experiences of my life. He is a golfer himself, so it helped with him knowing what to do on the course. We had such a good time out there. So for the past 7 years, whenever I was in the area, he would caddy for me. He did such a great job, that I asked him if he would caddy for me at the LPGA q-school. I credit a lot to him and his wife, Jan for helping me get to the LPGA in 2005. They are family to me now, and I owe a lot to them. Thank you Lynn & Jan.

While I was in Pinehurst, I decided to also get a lesson from one of the professionals there. I can’t get home to Pennsylvania to see my coach and I needed some advice about my swing. It was good to get some different ideas of the things I need to do. I got some great tips and I have begun working on them. Even though there are different aspects in a golf game like full swing, chipping, pitching, and putting, they are all connected in some way. Each part of your game mirrors another. So the lesson not only helped me with my full swing but also my chipping. I am excited about where my game is going. I will let you know how things progress in the next couple of weeks.

I hope all of you have a great week. I will leave you with a fantastic quote I saw on an NBA commercial the other night from Booker T. Washington: “Excellence is to do a common thing in an uncommon way.”

So it’s almost time for the 2007 season to start.  The PGA tour season started last week and it looks like it is going to be an exciting year.  It never seems like the PGA tour ever has an off-season.  They always seem to have some event on television every week.  Which makes it feel like the LPGA off-season is so long.  In my opinion, the LPGA should try and have as many events as they can.  It seems the schedule keeps getting smaller every year.  When this occurs, you give the new players and the players that haven’t quite broken out of their shell yet, less time to have a breakout season.  What do you think?

Not too much happening here on my end.  I am working a little bit more a week.  Which is good because I am not the type of person who can practice for 10 hours a day every day.  I believe you need a little variety and other hobbies to do.  So I have been trying to keep busy with playing some tennis and catching up on some of my reading.  This is probably the hardest part after you have graduated college and are finally attempting to get  your life set.  It’s easy to go every day without reading a few chapters of a book or looking at the newspaper.  And it’s even easier to sit in front of the television and catch up on all the daily current events.  I try to remind myself each day to read more and do more activities.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.  But as long as I can get a little better each day, then it just becomes habit.

I hope all of you are having a good New Year so far. I have a great quote from Ralph Blum: “Nothing is predestined: The obstacles of your past can become the gateways of new beginnings.”  Have a great week everybody!!!