First Day of School!

The obligatory picture!

Today was my first day in a four week lesson session at McCormick Woods. I've been looking forward to this all week, and when I woke up this morning the first things that registered were the sun and shining and it was Lesson Day! It was a gorgeous evening in the Pacific Northwest, there wasn't a cloud or chemtrail in the sky. There are about 8 of us in the class, a couple men and a handful of sweet middle age ladies, all of us beginners. We worked on putting and chipping today, on getting our rhythm down and using our cores instead of our arms. It's funny for me, because my only frame of reference to golf is watching the Pros who make it look so easy- the Tao of Golf, I suppose. Anyway! Those few shots where I connected and sent the ball where I wanted it to go were priceless. I love golf.

Back to School

I've signed up for lessons at McCormick Woods. It's a four week beginner's course, and I couldn't be more excited! I bought some new shoes this weekend, and I'm a little bit in love with them. I spotted a golf discount store in Post Falls, ID on our way to Sandpoint for my cousin's wedding.,I made my dad pull over, I ran in and had my shoes picked out and paid for within five minutes. They're pretty little Nikes, beige with tan patent leather details. I realized I didn't own a single collared shirt, so I went "Back to School Shopping" today. I came home with several new outfits, and am so excited I keep trying them all on. I've never been more excited for school!

Way to go, Henrick! And Best Recovery goes to Chopra- he went from +3 on Thursday to tied for 14th. He's getting it back together after a very slow start this season, good job buddy!

Apparently, Smile at Me and I'm Yours

Yesterday a friend and I went to dinner at my favorite local brewery, where she made the mistake of asking about my recent trip. Well I started chattering about it while we were still in the car, continued while waiting to be seated, through ordering our beers and food and a good 3/4s of the way through the eating. To my friend's absolute credit she fought off watching a movie in her mind while I talked on and on about Elk and his damn caddy (first thing he said to me? "Oh you're staying on St Charles? I hear all the witches come out at night- you'll fit right in."), hanging out with Turnesa and telling him the story of watching him win in Vegas and Jessica spilling her coke all over while he made his final putt, sitting on the 17th green on the final day and watching Charles lose his shot at his first win... Anyway, my friend would pipe in with little questions every so often when I stopped to breathe. I was telling her about meeting Emeril Lagasse and that he was playing with Parker McLaughlin, one of my favorite golfers, and she says,"Okay so what makes someone one of your favorite golfers? Is it scores or personality or what?"

What a question! I'm almost embarrassed to admit that about half of the guys on my radar are there simply because they're cute or I saw them at a tournament and they talked to me, but I still can't really explain why a certain golfer becomes a favorite. I like Rocco Mediate because I happened to catch a couple interviews with him and I just liked him. I've already talked about Charley's huuuge smile and crazy blond hair sticking out of his hat, Moore's headband in Vegas, joking around with Quigley at the BHCC- all just little things that jumped out to me. I like the guys who aren't the biggest names, the ones who I'm used to seeing at the tournaments I go to. I guess I just like characters, cute guys and underdogs, and really, who can blame me?

Ben Crane just recently made my list of guys I follow. He's from Portland (about 3 hours from me), and Jess and I watched him for a bit while we were at the Zurich. We actually ended up chatting with his coach for a couple holes (who was such a cool guy- we kicked ourselves for not figuring out some way to keep in contact with him), we always love getting "insider perspectives" from people. Anyway, for Crane that was all it took. I watched him a bit, made some sort of quasi-third degree connection to him, and now he's highlighted on my custom PGATOUR.com leaderboard. So needless to say, yesterday I was psyched. I was gunning for him this morning, but he's sitting at +1 today, -6 total. But I also know that scores flip flop all over the place, and more often than not they're completely different when I get home from work and check than they were in the morning. In the meantime I'll be mentally cheering on a long list of favorite golfers from the cafe today, hoping Chopra is birdie-ing it up while I'm pulling shots and steaming milk.

When You See Us at a Tournament, Don't Call Us Groupies!

I found this while looking at pictures from the Zurich- can you spot the two non-groupies arriving at the tournament?

In the past six months Jessica and I have been to three PGA Tournaments; the Justin Timberlake Shriners, the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, and just two weeks ago the Zurich Classic. It's how we choose to vacation, we save up our money and time, shop around for the best travel deals, get people to cover us at work and upset all of our family and friends by chattering non-stop about it, then we go. We spend every day, all day on the course- we don't care to sit around in the clubhouse all day and sip drinks, we prefer to either sit at a hole or follow certain groups. There is an ever growing list of guys we follow, golfers that are either our buddies or we just happen to like them for one reason or another, and we know all about them- their stats, their swings, how long they've been on the tour, if they've ever been yelled at for walking in some one's back swing... the point is, we're fans- we know them. When they play well we're psyched, when we see them Double Bogey what should have been an Eagle putt on 18 we're bummed.

I get that we're somewhat of a rarity- we're two blonds walking around a course mostly full of middle age business men. There are plenty of Golf Wives/Girlfriends, but especially in the early days of a tournament us single ladies are few and far in between. (Which, by the way, needs to change. According to the internet there are plenty of lady golf fans! Where you at, ladies???) Look, I'm not complaining here, I've never been one to mind being a focus of attention and I can definitely attribute most of our cool experiences to being a standout during a tournament. It's fun and flattering, and Jessica and I often find ourselves giggling over a free drink or when a pro tosses us a water bottle or when someone asks which golfer we're with. It doesn't set women back a few decades to say that, and I believe we (as women) have advanced enough that we can say, with our post-feminist banners raised high, that we will use our gender to our advantage even if it means being a bit silly from time to time.

That being said, not being taken seriously starts to get annoying. I can't even tell you how many times we've said "No, we actually like golf..." when asked why we're really spending our vacation at a tournament. And then we hear it- "Oh, so you're like golf groupies." I think that most of the time men don't fully realize they're insinuating that Jessica and I go to golf tournaments just to fawn over the golfers and (hopefully!) sleep with them and maybe even get them to buy us stuff or invite us to go on tour with them or whatever, but it's a bit insulting nonetheless, especially for Jessica who is happily, happily married. Not to mention its insulting to the golfer's relationships. Here's the other thing- somehow being a girl means that you have a crush on whoever your favorite golfer is. It's a very strange thing, and I find myself wanting to make a little announcement at the tee- "Excuse me everyone, I would just like to let you all know that I do, in fact, like the game of golf and I have an appropriate amount of affection for Charley Hoffman. I'm not looking for anything special, I just want to watch an athlete I admire play a game I love. Thank you for your attention- have a good day."

If you attend tournaments often, chances are at some point in the future you'll see Jessica and I soaking up the sun and taking in the golf. We are currently plotting and scheming (something we do a lot of) different ways to find ourselves at a lot more tourneys (think Business Opportunity). Come talk to us! We love making friends with fellow golf fans, and we're always happy to talk golf. But please don't call us groupies, we're just like you- fans.

Home from the Zurich Classic in New Orleans!

Jessica and I on Bourbon Street, sunburned and happy after watching golf all week.

Our trip was amazing. I swear there is a review and some funny stories coming, but literally from the moment I walked to into my home my family has been hit with 3 fairly major dramas over the past week. A few highlights for now-

We've been fans of Chopra for a while now, and we were able to chat with him a bit and followed him for at least a couple holes every day. He is definitely in my top 5 golfers after this trip, he just seems like a really cool guy. I can tell these things.

Elkington and Ryan Moore were paired together for the first two days, which was cool because they're two of my favorites. It was really exciting to see Moore play particularly well on Friday. Unfortunately Elk didn't make cut, which sucks because he has yet to make a cut during a tournament Jess and I are attending. I really want to see him turn it around, and I am so rooting for him this week at the Players (which he's won twice now).

I love Charley Hoffman. Love him love him love him. I seriously wish he was my best friend.

I'm a fairly not confrontational person, but if I get called a freaking golf groupie one more time... it's so stupid how many times we were called that, just because we're girls whose idea of a perfect vacation happens to be going to a tourney. Jessica came up with a great comeback by Saturday- "Find me one golfer I've slept with!" You won't find a single one, we really just love golf!

We made a few more friends, had a blast in New Orleans, and are ready to go again as soon as an opportunity arises. If you haven't been to a tournament yet, please get yourself to one as soon as you can, it's the best experience!

Oh yeah, I'm psyched about Sean O'Hair winning the Quail Hollow! He is one to keep your eye on. He was supposed to play the Zurich but withdrew at the last minute which left me pretty bummed- it was almost like he didn't take my feelings into consideration (like my dad pointed out).