Birthday Girl Under Par

Can you imagine shooting 71 in a major championship on a very tight, tough course with swirling winds at 50 years of age? Body swinging in sync-check, hitting ball long-check, getting ball up and down-check....can you imagine it? Playing on the biggest stage, two decades after giving birth to your first child and thirty years into a strong marriage? Congratulations and Happy Birthday Juli Inkster! I'm constantly reminded of this amazing woman's ability year after year. Not only is she one of the finest competitors ever to play the game with 31 wins and 7 majors, but she is truly one of the most real, down to earth, giving people I've ever met. She's a great wife, mom, sister and friend and I salute her on this special day. Thank you Carol and Jack for bringing this wonderful woman into our world. Keep paving the way Jules!

Locust Hill on Steroids!

This year's LPGA Championship presented by Wegmans is going to produce one great golfer! At 6506 yards, it's not the longest course played for this Championship. However, given the already challenging layout of Locust Hill, the additional yardage and other tweaks to the course have turned into a bear. Ten of the fairways have been "pinched" in, or narrowed by 4 or 5 yards....that's like narrowing a bowling lane by a couple of feet. Bordering the slim fairways is 3+ inches of lush Kentucky bluegrass/rye rough and loads of trees. Superintendent Rick Slattery has the greens rolling 12-12.5 on the stimp meter. Also, the course has been lengthened by 150 yards, which doesn't seem like much on paper, but it is mostly felt on #1, 4, 9, 10, and 14 and will cause grief for the players.

Rochester has been inundated with a ton of rain in the last month, in addition to a good inch the last couple of days, so the course is dark green, lush and slow. Several players claimed that they barely advanced 8 irons more than 100 yards when hitting out of the rough. We could see some ugly scores this week, especially if the greens firm up and continue to be lightening fast. Length off the tee is always an advantage, but not at the expense of direction.

Who will win? The straight driver and best putter. My picks are: Ai Miyazato (except for the fact she's trying to win two in a row), Cristie Kerr, Karrie Webb, Suzann Pettersen, Anna Nordquist (different to defend at a new course), and dark horse Song-Hee Kim. Even though Jiyai Shin won at this course last year, she's not at 100% after her appendectomy and won't be a factor. Oh, let's not forget Yani Tseng who won the first major of the year and is the only one to have a chance to grab the first two legs....Can't wait to see what happens tomorrow!

Paula's Shoprite experience

OK, beyond Ai's amazing performance last week was Paula Creamer's remarkable comeback from surgery. That she was able to compete at the highest level and darn near win an LPGA tournament 2 1/2 months after major surgery was remarkable.

Dr. Hunt performed surgery on her thumb March 31 after trying several unsuccessful non surgical options. She ended up seeing 4 different hand specialists and tried various braces and gloves to help support the thumb and enable her to swing relatively pain free. However, none of the solutions lasted and eventually her injury crept into real life as she couldn't hold a plate in her hand w/o dropping it. At that point it became apparent she'd have to go the surgery route. Her left thumb surgery ended up being much more complicated than initially thought. Originally, the surgery was supposed to just tighten up tendons and ligaments that were stretched and too loose. Ultimately, when they opened up the hand, they discovered that the ligaments and the surrounding foundation were torn. Also, a tendon on top of the thumb was moved back into place to avoid it falling off completely in the future. Long story short, her thumb was basically reconstructed.

All off this started over a year ago in June of 09 when Paula started feeling her hand bothering her. After a couple of cortisone shots, she managed to play fairly well through the year with a T6 at the Women's Open, T3 at the British and T2 at Lorena's event in Guadalajara. In November, her thumb started acting up at the Tournament of Champions at Houston. Another cortisone shot followed, then the off season. February 18, 2010 on the 16th tee in Thailand, Paula hit a knock down shot on the par 3 and felt her left thumb pop/tear. She played the last 3 holes in tears and at the end wondered if she'd ever play golf again. She withdrew after a first round of 69.

After Dr. Hunt did the surgery, he was very conservative with her time frame for coming back to golf. Paula was in a cast for 3 weeks and then it was 6-8 weeks before she could start hitting balls. She started with putting, added chip and runs, then pitch shots followed with wedges. It was several weeks before she could hit more than a 9 iron.

Given that she had only played 3 rounds of golf leading into the first hole of the Shoprite LPGA, it's pretty amazing she even completed the tournament much less finished in the top 10. I'd have to say those first two rounds of 67-65 were amazing considering what she'd been through. Even though she shot 71 on Sunday, she was in contention for much of the day and had a chance to win. Don't forget that she was in major pain the entire way and had to ice her hand 8-10 times each night after play. I have to say that was one of the grittiest performances I've seen in a long time. I was truly astounded as to the level of play that Paula brought to the week. She couldn't go after shots hard. She couldn't "work" the ball or hit knock down shots. Nevertheless, she stayed within herself and did what she could....and what she could was better than most.

This week Paula is in Rochester, NY for the LPGA Championship presented by Wegmans. I think this week is going to be a huge physical test for Paula. Last week's course was short and she had lots of lofted irons into holes and didn't have to hit out of thick rough. This course is set up in major fashion with narrow fairways and small, firm greens. The rough is going to pose a huge problem to Paula in terms of testing the strength of her hand and forearms. Also, she's going to have to hold back the number of balls she hits and be patient with her shot selection. She will have to monitor the hand daily and be honest with herself when it comes to pushing it too fast and too far.

I sincerely hope Paula can bounce back and play all the events that she desires. However, she should error on the safe side and rest her body rather than push herself to compete in too many events and risk straining more body parts in the long run. I certainly wish her all the best.

Ai Miyazato is #1

Watching Ai Miyazato as she effortlessly waltzed around the Seaview Resort yesterday in 64 shots, I found myself captivated....and not just because I was staring at a monitor calling the shots for Golf Channel's telecast. I was inspired and uplifted because of the simplicity she displayed in winning her 4th LPGA event of the year (5th overall) and first on US soil. The utimate compliment of any action done is "you made it look so easy!" That's exactly what Ai did. All of us who play golf and have played golf competetively know it wasn't easy at all. She withstood pressure from returning Paula Creamer, charging Suzann Pettersen and newcomer MJ Hur, among others and continued to execute. Only she knows how it truly felt, but to watch her play so brilliantly knowing she'd be the first Japanese player, woman or man, to achieve the #1 Ranking in the World was impressive.

Beyond the flawless technique, dazzling short game and amazing putting, Ai looks like she's having a blast! In this day of angry outbursts, grimacing faces, death stares or even worse--the robotic, trance-like way golfers work their way around the course, it's refreshing to see such simple pure joy from Ai. Watching her makes you want to grab your own clubs and head out to the course. Next time I tee it up, I am going to visualize her slow, beautiful timing and try to emulate it. I'd suggest the same to everyone!

As if attaining the #1 Rolex Ranking weren't enough, Ai is in Rochester to try and win her first Major at the Wegmans Rochester LPGA Championship. Chako Higuchi is the only Japanese woman to capture a major and she won the LPGA Championship in 1977. The great Hall of Fame golfer Ayako Okamoto won 17 times on the LPGA tour but never captured a major. Hiromi Kobayashi who was set to be the next Ayako was Rookie of the Year in 1990 and won 4 times, but no major. Japan follows Miyazato feverishly and to have her win a major would be "Major" indeed. Ai has handled the pressure of a nation admirably, although it took her several years to feel comfortable and find her "style".

I know she has the game to win a major and will win one in the near future. Expecting her to win this week, making it two in a row might be too much to ask. In the meantime, enjoy Ai and all she brings to the game.

2010 Sundance Film Festival

What a weekend in Park City! We arrived in Salt Lake City on a direct flight from SFO. It's a very easy 1 1/2 hour flight and then only a 45 min ride from the airport to Park City. Getting to Sundance is easy. Getting into the films takes some persistence and patience. Unless you pre- purchased a ticket package or have connections with a sponsor or someone in the film industry, the only way to see a film is to get in line at the main ticket office the day of and hope to get one of the few hard tickets they have for sale....or, get into the wait list line at each movie you want to see. It's a long, hard process to queue up and wait for a numbered ticket to only re-queue up in the proper order and hope to be able to purchase a ticket for $15. The competitor in me liked the idea of getting there early to be at the front of the line and get a low wait list number. The other part of me disliked having to devote so much time in line in order to see a movie. I avoid lines like the plague! I won't stand in the post office line if there's more than 6 people. I guess the determined part of my personality persisted as Danny and I saw 8 films in four and a half days. We were committed to seeing as many as we could, soaking up as much of the atmosphere of Sundance as possible.

My mother asked if we ate any good meals. Negatory! We basically ate on the fly in between movies.The only time we broke from watching films was to take a nap and then go to Doolans to watch the second half of the Jets vs Colts playoff game and then the Vikings/ Saints game. Oh yeah, we also hung out with lots of visitors at the No Name Saloon to celebrate Danny and Kelly's 42nd Birthdays.

So, what films did we see and how do I rate them? Here goes, in order of how I liked them.....

#1 Welcome to the Rileys, starring James Gandolfini, Kirsten Stewart and Leo. This movie was my favorite of the week. The intense performances of the 3 principle actors was extraordinary and the script was equally good. At first, it's hard to look past James' Tony Soprano character, but I quickly forgot about that and felt as though he embodied his new character. It was nice to see Kristen Stewart evolve past her Bella character and delve into something deeper and more complex. Her performance was excellent. I didn't know much about Melissa Leo, but she brought so much to the story with her subtle performance.

#2 Sins of my Father. Sins of My Father, a documentary on the son of Pablo Escobar and his perspective of growing up as the son of the largest cocaine dealer in the world. It was a very interesting viewpoint to a story we all know.

#3 Teenage Paparazzo. Delightfully entertaining movie about a 13 year old boy named Austin Visschedyk who becomes a member of the Papparazi. Adrian Grenier directs and produces this documentary on the general growth and success of the paparazzi phenomenon thru his experience with young Austin. The film is full of fun clips and good sit down interviews with actors. Adrien Grenier has done a great job with his first movie as producer/director. I really enjoyed the Q & A afterward w/ Adrien and his cast and crew. He was very intelligent and eloquent as he answered questions.

#4 Douchbag. Funny story of two brothers and their broken relationship. The amazing thing about this movie is that one of the main actors, Andrew Dickler, is actually a very accomplished editor and made his debut as an actor in this movie. He was extremely natural and interesting in front of the camera.

#5 The Dry Land. This was a very tense, serious look at soldiers coming back home after serving in Iraq and trying to fit back in to their former lives. America Ferrera stared in and co-executive produced this drama. Very well done, but hard to watch.

#6 Please Give. After a great start, this movie loses steam. The performances were very good, but the script sort of stalls and leaves you thinking there could have been so much more. The characters were interesting, but they weren't allowed to go very far and ultimately the ending was disappointing.

#7 HIGH School. There was a lot of buzz for this movie and for the majority of the under 25 crowd that was on hand for the premiere, they were satisfied. It's about two kids that get their whole HS stoned to foil the drug testers on campus. The film had a lot of promise at the start. The main characters were funny and interesting and Adrien Brody was amazing as a whacked out drug dealer. He was so strange! It looked like he had a lot of fun going out on a limb and playing such a weird person. However, the movie became a tad boring because it went over the top with slapstick and craziness.

#8 Bass Ackwards. Aimless Linas Phillips drives across the country and on the way he learns a lot about himself and comes out of his shell. The film moved as slowly as Linas' 1976 VW bus travelled across the country. I was impressed that Linas wrote, directed and stared in this flick, but I admit I closed my eyes a couple of times fighting sleep during the show.

A couple of movies we wanted to see but didn't were Runaways w/ Dakota Fanning and Kristen Stewart. This was the movie about Joan Jett and Cherie Currrie and the band they were in called the Runaways. I'll watch that when it's released in two months. Get Low has an incredible cast with Robert Duvall, Bill Murray and Sissy Spacek among others....you can't go wrong with a group like that. HappyThankyouMorePlease has to be seen just for the title!

All in all, the experience of Sundance amidst the beauty of Park City made for a great trip. I don't think I'll make it an annual trip, but I certainly want to return again. But, I'll definitely get hard tickets in hand so that more movies can be seen and more than 5 hrs of sleep can be had each night.

Gal Pal Trip 2010

Just returned from our annual Gal Pal trip, this year to Pacific Grove. Every year we get together and go either to wine country or to Carmel/Monterey. The group consists of 8 women and we all know each other through golf. We either played junior, amateur or professional golf together and funny enough until two years ago, we never played golf on this trip. Nobody competes professionally anymore, although we are all self proclaimed Alpha females who are extremely competetive.....at least compared to the average female!

The women in this group teach golf , coach golf at universities, or work for the National First Tee....we also have one who works in commercial real estate and one in who works for law enforcement. It's quite a collection of careers. Nobody is shy or at a loss for words!

Bottom line is we laugh and relax and get away from our "regular" lives. Most of the gals are moms and they appreciate a couple of days w/o catering to their kids and husbands needs.

We play games at night like dominos, catch phrase, taboo, and believe it or not a very intense game of spoons! Nothing that requires too much brain power!

We had an awesome round of golf at Ft. Ord's Bayonette course. The course was in tip top shape and the weather was perfect for mid-January. We had 4 two person teams and played a shamble, which you pick the best drive and then play your own ball into the hole from there. This allowed us to not have to grind over every shot and promoted "team" play. We also had a foursome to foursome competition. Everything turned out great for team K-2 (Kiernan and Kay) as we won the twosome and foursome bets. I also won a couple of skins! Thanks Kiernan for all of your long, straight drives. I love having 8 iron or less into every hole!

I actually played very well despite not practicing or playing in weeks. I had a very clear head, not cluttered with swing thoughts and saw only the target. My routine has become even more simple and I focused only on club selection and setup. Ahh, it's nice to play with simplicity. Did I mention we played in just under 4 hours? Fast golf=Fun golf!

Thank you ladies for a fabulous get together! You are all fantastic and I look forward to our next rendez-vous. Cheers!

Twenty Ten

Can you believe the 1900's are firmly behind us now? Doesn't it seem like yesterday we thought Prince's "party like it's 1999" was so far away? The number 2010 is quite dramatic to me and signifies a new decade and era even more than when the calendar turned to 2000. So, what do we do now that we are at the beginning of not just a new year, but a new decade? I think it's important at the beginning of the year to take inventory of what each of us has in our lives both physically and spiritually. It's a good time to asses the positives and negatives in our lives and figure out what we need and what we can get rid of, both figuratively and literally. Look at yourself and your life honestly and decide what things need to change and what things should remain the same. Change can be very positive and healthy. At the start of a new year, it's fun to take up a new hobby or activity....especially for us edging up there in age. It stimulates the mind and body and keeps us engaged and growing. My plans for the New Year are to simplify, simplify. I'm going to continue to edit things out of my life and home that are extraneous. I will organize my office and notes for work. I plan on volunteering more--I'm looking at Project Open Hand, the SF Child Abuse Prevention Center, and the SF Golden Gate Parks and will figure out which groups work best with my schedule. I'm going to jump into the pool and start swimming a couple of days a week and Danny and I are going to resume ballroom dancing. There will be personal things to work on as well, but I'm not going share those! Lo siento. Best wishes to all for a happy, healthy year. Be safe and enjoy time with your loved ones, whether they are two or four legged!