The Golfchick

That chick blabbing about anything golf related.

Page 26 of 48

The U.S. Senior Open that doesn’t exist

Stuart over at the Waggle Room alerted me to a terrible injustice in the golf world. I guess I already knew at some level but I’m not sure why it wasn’t more clear on my radar.

The U.S. Senior Open is now taking place at Whistling Straits, with Allen Doyle trying to become the second three-time winner and first to win the tournament three years in a row.

The Senior Open is one of 15 national championships run by the United States Golf Association (not counting the Walker Cup and Curtis Cup). Every one of those championships is played twice – once for the men (the U.S. Open, U.S. Amateur, U.S. Senior Amateur, for example) and once for the women (U.S. Women’s Open, U.S. Women’s Amateur, U.S. Women’s Senior Amateur).

Every one of those championships except one. Because while the 50-and-over guys get their Open championship this week, there is no U.S. Senior Women’s Open. And that’s really inexcusable. It’s well past time for the USGA to add a Women’s Senior Open.

Check out his full post in which he lists some players he knows would be playing if they held such an event based on his own communications with some of them.

I know I’d love to see such a tournament. Do they think people wouldn’t watch and that they couldn’t get sponsors and advertisers?

The one thing his post doesn’t have is a call to action. He ends the post by simply stating that the USGA needs to “get off its duff” and add the championship to its playlist. Maybe if we all emailed the USGA with our desire to watch those legendary golf chicks battle it out, they’d get the picture. And if you’re a potential sponsor, you know what to do.

Update: Stuart added a link for you use if you want to write that letter.

Another update: Sarah at The Daily Mulligan wrote a letter to the USGA you can copy and paste.

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This July 4, support the troops with your old golf gear

Want to do more to support the U.S. troops than put a magnet on your SUV?

Fellow golf blogger Bill Wolfrum put up this great post on how we golfers can demonstrate our support. Check it out and donate what you can to celebrate our anniversary of the freedom they protect.

military golf chick

This military golf chick needs practice our support!

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This just in: Dictionary could change entry because of Michelle Wie

Comfortable with usage additions and modifications to include slang, the au courant Dictionary.com could break new ground if its latest proposal to change the spelling and pronunciation of an established word gets approved. I was just informed via an imaginary press release that the popular online dictionary is considering such a change thanks to pop culture phenomenon, golfer Michelle Wie:

Wieth·draw: [weeth-draw, weeth-] verb, –drew, –drawn, –draw·ing.

5. to remove oneself from some activity, competition, etc.: He withdrew before I could nominate him.

“withdraw.” Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. 02 Jul. 2007. <Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/withdraw>.

Update: I’m getting reports that Nike has declined to make a statement about whether the publicity would be good or bad and whether or not it matters.

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Julieta Granada blogs

Julieta Granada, who won last year’s ADT championship and set an LPGA record for a $1 million first place check, is currently T2 (at -1) at the weather-delayed U.S. Open at Pine Needles. But did you know she is also a blogger?

Julieta Granada bio

Already this season, she’s had two top 10 finishes and earned over $250K. You’d think she’d be too busy or have better things to do than blog. But no. This sweet young player from Paraguay has agreed to blog about her preparation and time leading up to the HSBC Women’s World Match Play Championship (July 19-22 at Wykagyl Country Club in New Rochelle, NY).

Originally, HSBC thought it would be too much to ask of a golfer and set their sights on getting a caddy to blog about their pro’s preparation. Understandably, they are thrilled to have Julieta, a “self-proclaimed computer addict,” according to James Gregson, and anticipate at least 10 posts from her in the month leading up to the event. I just checked her blog and she posted from Pine Needles before play began. She discusses her preparation, her off time (including her family and her dog, Bimba) and much more. Her writing is as charming as she is and it’s so great to see regular updates and insights from an LPGA professional. Kudos to HSBC for this great score!

Comments are enabled, so she might even reply if you want to communicate with this superstar of a golf chick. Great job, Julieta! And good luck!

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U.S. Open & Golf courses for women

First, I have to get this out – It should be called the U.S. Open. Period. They don’t call the one the men play the U.S. Men’s Open. Golf is golf no matter which gender plays.

That being said, I am a subscriber to the magazine Golf For Women. I mean come on, I have to keep up with what’s going on in the world for golf chicks.

The latest issue of GFW includes their biannual picks for the Top 50 courses for women. And guess what course is their new #1? That’s right, the location of this weekend’s U.S. Open: Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club in Southern Pines, NC. The players sure seem to agree. I gotta say, Pine Needles looks amazing. I sure would like to get my clubs on it. Besides, NC isn’t on my list of states played yet so I could kill two birds with one stone. Since no one invited me out for the U.S. Open so I could pull a Brandon Tucker and cover the tournament and play the course the day after, it’ll just have to remain on my to-do list.

Pine Needles

Top 50 courses

I think GFW is a top notch magazine and perhaps all they’re missing is my voice. However, I have to call them out on something here. That list I mentioned – the Top 50 courses for women – has a little glitch. (You know if you print it, some people will read it.) In order to be eligible for the list, the courses must meet a few criteria:

  • Must have at least one set of tees under 5300 yards
  • Should have at least two sets of tees under 6000 yards
  • Minimum of two tees must be rated for women
  • Should have few forced carries from the forward tees
  • Be in top condition
  • Present a women friendly environment

Of course the last three are subjective but the first three are pretty clear cut. Except for that pesky “should” in the second bullet. There are only two courses on the list that don’t meet that particular condition and given the name and prestige of one of them, I’m left wondering if there isn’t some external influence allowing these courses to make the list instead of others that are deserving.

#15: Sunriver Resort, Meadows Course in Sunriver, OR: 5287/6022/6625/7012

#19: Pebble Beach Golf Links: 5198/6116/6348/6737

Sunriver just barely surpasses the 6000 mark and both Sunriver and Pebble have those tees rated for women. Still, Pebble Beach being what it is I have to wonder if that should would be a must if not for that course needing a place on the list. Yeah, it’s on my list of must-plays, it’s just that $425 green fee that snags me up. Plus, I’d probably want to play the 6348 tees and they’re not rated for women so I couldn’t post the round if I did.

Personally, I dig courses that have all tees rated for women. Sure, most women aren’t going to want to play from the tips – including me – but I like to have options. Most men shouldn’t be playing from the tips either, but they have that choice.

*Side note: noticing a rant in my tone I checked the calendar and indeed, this post is brought to you by proud sponsor PMS.

Golfchick’s proposal

I hereby submit a new course for consideration by the GFW raters for the next list:

Osprey Meadows at Tamarack Resort, Donnelly, ID.

Osprey Meadows Score Card

Not only is the course a great layout for players of all abilities, all tees are rated for men and women. Plus, they’re denoted by shapes and colors like ski slopes and have handicap recommendations. I think it’s brilliant.

Greg and I just got back from a trip to Idaho and our stay and play at Tamarack was enchanting for both of us. Plus their greens fees are friendly from $75-$119! (Hurry and play before they realize what they have and raise those prices!)

There will be much more on Tamarack, Osprey Meadows and that whole Idaho trip to come including photos. I just wanted Golf For Women to be aware of this place and hope they give it a place on their list next time around.

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Sam Alexis Woods’ practice regimen

Born with a 4 handicap, she could probably hold off on starting her practice routine, but here is Sam Alexis Woods diligently working on her grip in her sleep. What you can’t see in a still picture is the flexing of the hands that follows the rhythmic and adorable gurgling baby sounds.

Sam Alexis Woods

Also seen in this picture is the conspicuously empty white clothing, like a blank canvas just calling out for a sponsor. I guess Nike will have to take their endorsement package to an all new obscene level to snag this little sweetie.

Woods family

Ever the dog lover, I couldn’t resist including this family photo featuring Taz (the border collie) and Yogi (the scene stealing labradoodle). I think the baby’s in there, too.

(Both photos © Gretchen Dow Mashurski, from Tiger Woods’ official website)

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Ankle fashion

I saw this picture on Eagle Par Birdie in a post about The Copa de las Americas and had to share it here.

Team Canada

I see I’m not the only one with prominent ankle tan lines. Yes, yes, it is a badge of honor.

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New home for my second anniversary

new golfchick logo with tee Tomorrow is the two-year anniversary of The Golf Chick blog. I’ve been meaning to move to my new domain for awhile now and figured this was a good time to do it. I’ll start my third year of blogging with a fresh new look and location.

I know I’ll experience some moving pains so you may still see some changes as I tweak things here and there. I have all the content copied over and each post has its own new permalink but all the hard coded links from my old site still need to be changed. All links to my old blogger site – to the homepage there or any individual posts – will be redirected to www.thegolfchick.com. If anyone has any ideas of how to fix that so it automatically redirects to the individual permalinks, I’d be happy to look into it. It’s going to be a tedious process to get all my own links fixed so that my “Golfchick Chronicles” feature will work without just redirecting to my homepage, but I will get it done eventually. I also know the redirect is pretty slow and I’m open to ideas on how to resolve that as well.

Obviously, if you subscribe to my feed, you’ll need to change it to continue getting the latest.

I cleaned out my blogroll and golf sites lists and gave them their own special pages accessible from the nav bar. I drew the cutoff line at around two months, so if you start posting again and want back on the list, let me know. If I have forgotten anyone of if you’d like to exchange links, please email me.

Back in December 2005, Bogey Man created the cute little chick-in-the-golf-ball logoLittle golf chickNew golf chick logo that I’ve been using ever since. I really appreciate it and have enjoyed it so much since then! So to thank him, I’ve completely ripped him off by creating my own version of his idea for my updated look. I still really like his version and will probably use both his and mine at times.

I am leaving tomorrow for a nice long weekend (yes, it will include golf and should result in some interesting posts) so I wanted to get this changeover done today.

If you encounter any problems with the new site (other than the permalink situation), please let me know. I’m kinda winging it here. Chicks do that. I will also welcome any other feedback you care to share.

It has been a great two years and I look forward to writing much more and introducing some new features as the months go on. Thanks for reading!

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Golfchick sighting on Shakesville

Admittedly, I don’t read too many non-golf blogs. It’s a time issue, mostly. One I do like to read is Shakesville. While its success and readership dwarfs that of this humble blog, I only discovered it recently, thanks to the addition of contributor William K. Wolfrum, the strapping golf blogger I also read over at Worldgolf and on his own site.

Wolfrum recently posted a brief Q&A on Shakesville featuring yours truly. In it, I talk about how I started golfing, blogging and attempt to make my own little contribution toward promoting women’s golf. The Golfchick on Shakesville. I’m honored.

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Apparently there’s some big golf tournament going on

Sports writers and golf bloggers are covering the U.S. Open and Oakmont Country Club with the same fervor of CNN covering Paris Hilton. No detail left unreported.

Of course the difference is sports writers and golf bloggers are supposed to write about golf. It’s right there in their titles. The Cable News Network is supposed to cover the news. Even if they could somehow win an argument that Paris Hilton is news, that doesn’t excuse them from failing to report on all the real news going on while they spend 24 hours on Shawskank Redemption (thanks, Jon Stewart).

But since this isn’t the Shmaily Shmow, I’ll get back to golf.

There is so much being said about this tournament and the golf course that I really don’t feel I have much to add. Just like I do, you can get all the latest from the fine bloggers in my links list as well as the journalists on the commercial sites. I’ll just watch and root on my favorites like the fan I am. And I’ll be checking in with Brandon Tucker for live bloggerage from the event. Congrats to Worldgolf for getting media credentials for their bloggers at recent events!

Speaking of Worldgolf, they’re conducting a survey and if you complete it, you’re entered into a drawing to win a set of Ping clubs and bag.

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