The Golfchick

That chick blabbing about anything golf related.

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Tested My New Honey Badger Swing at Charity Golf Tourney

July 24, 2011 / / 9 Comments

As I mentioned in my last post, I had a little breakthrough with my golf swing progress last week. After some exciting practice sessions, I was eager to try it out on a golf course, and I had a great opportunity to do just that on Friday.

golf chick honey badger smile

I played with two friends (the 4th canceled last minute) in a fun charity tournament to benefit The American Cancer Society. Since it was a scramble format, there was no real pressure on my swing to tempt me back to comfort since I had two others to back me up if all went wrong. However, with their 35 and 40 indexes, I did have some work to do. They were actually quick to point out that when I went last and we really needed to hit a green, that’s when I performed the best. Not really a surprise to me; I dig the pressure.

Photo right- honey badger that ate the canary

Photo below – gallery on 18 at tourney

Gallery on 18

golfchick wins kp

My swing felt great. Sure, I had a few that missed the mark but overall I am striking the ball much better. I should have counted the greens I hit but we were having too much fun. We shot even par so you know I had to have hit a bunch of them. I was sticking them pretty tight, too. I also had a nice chip-in for birdie. Made a few fantastic putts as well. I love this game!

There was only one hole in the closest to the pin contest and it was for all golfers, not split by gender (although we did have about a 15 yard advantage – 135 vs 150). Honey badger nailed it! 7 iron, no roll – sat right next to its ball mark about a flag length below the hole. Photo left – with tournament organizer & not unhappy about winning.

I got some more practice in yesterday – below is the 7 iron swing that won me 110 clams. You can see it’s still a little loose on top so I have even more room for improvement.  As I remember shouting a couple times on Friday – THIS IS FUN! Some more practice this week and maybe I’ll go test it out in my own scoring round. Breaking 80 is still the goal!

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When Will The Golf Chick Break 80? Pool Announcement and Progress Report

July 21, 2011 / / 8 Comments

As my golf swing continues to progress, I started the pool about when I will break 80 over on my Golf Chick Facebook page last week and people are getting their votes in. There is an over/under for the less adventuresome but some people are also naming specific dates. I’ll tell you something – there will likely be a prize or two and it will be a lot harder to choose a winner from people who only picked over or under. Just saying. Wagering amongst one another is up to you and the laws that govern you (does that cover my ass?).

People who read this blog regularly will have an advantage because you’ll know the progress I’m making. Scores I’m shooting, how practice is going, how dedicated I am (or not) day to day, week to week, how I’m feeling about it all, etc. Some people are choosing the “over” in the pool, which I perceive as an underestimation of me – one I look forward to proving wrong. Perhaps they’re doing it on purpose to motivate me, but if you haven’t voted and are considering the same – here’s another clue: I’m plenty motivated now. That grenade has been jumped on. Pick a more winning date.

Golf Chick Break 80 pool

A couple people have chosen their own birthdays as my break 80 date, which I think is fantastic. I wish I could give that birthday gift – the first one is next week though! Zoinks! Plus, I should tell you potential pool participants that while I do manage to play during the week at times, I’m much more likely to play on weekends. By the way, if you don’t use Facebook, feel free to make your pick here in the comments of this post. If you are dropping by my FB page to make your pick, I’d love it if you would click its “like” button if you haven’t yet!

Quick answers and summary of progress: People have asked me on Facebook and Twitter about my progress. All my golf and swing progress is documented here on my blog. Quick review to date – best score before swing change: 82. Best score since swing change: 86, however that was too soon and I don’t feel it was my authentic new swing. I played 5 rounds with a flawed new swing and am now back to only practicing to get it more ingrained and it’s feeling better already (details below). I’m playing a scramble charity event this Friday (July 22) and plan to continue to grind away at the range after that. I will throw in a round from time to time to keep practice interesting. As I mentioned earlier, weekends are far more likely for such rounds to occur but some weekdays are possible.

Golf Swing Progress Update:

I had three amazing practice sessions the last three nights. I focused only on my irons and really had them working well. Getting back to the fundamentals after so many days on the course really made a difference and I was able to focus on how what I should be doing and feeling rather than the outcome of each shot on a course. I was striking the ball very well and more consistently than ever. Not just since I got my new swing but EVER. Which, according to Jay Lim, my swing coach, (and perhaps every other instructor) is precisely the objective. Consistent repeat-ability. I’m getting there and it feels amazing.

Golf Tip – From the Horse’s Mouth – Am to Am Translation

I’m sure it has been spoken and written countless times but something occurred to me on the range the past couple days that really made a difference for me and felt like a breakthrough. One of my weaknesses Jay has been coaching me on is how I lead with the hands or arms instead of the shoulders on the backswing. He keeps telling me the shoulders need to start the swing. If he explained why I don’t recall but the reason I just figured out on my own is that it makes it 10 times easier to keep my left arm straight(er) and control the steepness of my swing plane. Jay usually speaks my language very well, which is important in a student/swing coach relationship, but whatever he said or I read about consistency and leading with the shoulders did not really click for me until I came to this revelation two days ago and reinforced last night and tonight. I share it with you now in the hopes it might do the same for someone else. To put it the way it made sense in MY head: lead, almost push back, with the front shoulder to keep the arm “connected” in the swing. If I lead with my hands or club, the shoulders have a hard time keeping up and it’s almost impossible not to bend my left elbow. If I turn my shoulders first, it practically keeps itself straight! Then if I keep my plane (which I’m doing better by keeping my right knee bent), it’s much easier to contact the ball consistently because my arm doesn’t have to “figure out” where to go. It has already been there.

Romance in the Air

I am falling in love with my new golf swing so I need to name it now more than ever. You know, before I start calling it some cutesy name like “Cupcake” instead of a fierce name like a honey badger deserves. I’m considering Chuck, or Norris (not both – I can’t see myself loving Chuck Norris but he could be my swing’s namesake). I am so excited. I seriously cannot stop thinking about my swing and when I’ll be able to spend more time with it. It feels like new love. For a golf nerd. If you read this far, I bet you know just how I feel. Admit it.

UPDATE: I DID IT! July 11, 2015.

Took me long enough, but I finally broke 80! I shot 78 at Falcon Ridge golf course from the maroon tees (4440 yards). I normally play the gold tees there but we played with another couple and I decided to step up and play the forward tees since the woman was playing there and the guys were split, so rather than stop at four sets of tees… you know how that goes. Anyway, even though it’s exceptionally short, it’s still a challenging course and you have to make the shots. So it counts! 😛

78 scorecard

 

Then, less than a week later we went back and I played the gold tees (5279 – still short, but with a 124 slope that’s my spot). After breaking 80 from the forward tees, breaking 80 from here was my next goal. Guess what? NAILED IT! Shot a smooth 77 for a new personal best!

77 scorecard

Haven’t seen the 70’s again since, but my new goal is to break 80 at any other golf course. Then just try to keep it in the 70’s.

I’ve always been pretty chill on the golf course because, well, I’m “not good enough to get mad.” But now that I’ve seen and felt the 70’s, I find myself feeling more frustrated out there when I don’t play well. Maybe I need to look into meditation.

~May they all roll true.

Honey Badger Don’t Care – But My Golf Swing Needs More Progress!

July 18, 2011 / / 3 Comments

Rather than practice like a good girl this weekend, I went out and played golf. Why? Because I’m a honey badger and I don’t care! I may be a ninja on the greens (stealthy, smooth and fierce) but when my swing is ready, it’s going to be badass honey badger all the way. If you’re a honey badger you won’t care but the hilarious video below contains language that may be inappropriate for sensitive ears & environments.

I can pull off honey badger attitude today, however, the swing portion still needs some training. After some seriously mediocre play on Friday and Saturday, the only golf I did on Sunday was to watch Darren Clarke win the British Open and spend some time smacking balls at the range with my irons. My execution was less than stellar and I found myself having to access databanks in my brain to basically re-learn some of the aspects of my new swing. Which means, I was not doing it right on the course. Not at all.

So my practice session was actually quite valuable. I was reminded of The Almighty Process and that I need to get back to it. The swing just is not ingrained in me yet and without the time and thought process that goes along with practicing, it seems I’m mostly reverting to my old swing with maybe a couple new aspects thrown in. Not effective. I am determined to do this right. I have a charity tourney on Friday but other than that it’s going to be mostly practice for me for awhile. Sure, I’ll have to thrown in a round here and there but strictly as practice – where I don’t care about the outcome of the swing (no competition) and just try to put the correct new swing to use on course. Have to keep practice fun or it becomes a chore, right?

Saturday was a club tournament and I played with my friend Cristen. She’s awesome and you will be seeing/hearing more about her in the future here on TGC. She suggested the name “Minx” for my swing. It may become bold and impudent but does my swing seem flirtatious or of low morals to you? Haha I kind of like the name though. Think it may have to be more along the honey badger lines though. Any more ideas?

Speaking of honey badger (again), I want to give a shout out to my friend Brad Schott, whom I know through twitter, for turning me onto this honey badger thing. I am now an official member of the Honey Badger Golf Club, which is something Brad is developing for a potential launch this fall. I can’t really share any details with you for now but I think it’s going to be a lot of fun! If you’re interested, you can follow him on Twitter for now until he gets a website up for it. He’s @GolfSchott and @HoneyBadgerGolf. Are you a honey badger?

Cute statue at home on Sterling Hills Golf Club, where we played Saturday.

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Breaking 80 Progress: Golf’s Little Victories

July 13, 2011 / / 2 Comments

Not every day can be a huge leap forward in progress when you’re working on overhauling your golf swing and improving your game. In fact, many say “it will get worse before it gets better.” I haven’t had many days like that, but I have had my frustrations. This past weekend I planned on practicing, not playing, since I played three days the weekend before and struggled to find time to practice much in the week since. On Friday, I had a last minute request for a meeting the next day for a nine-hole par-3 round. I could not turn it down.

Saturday Shenanigans

Since I’m still not even comfortable with my new swing, my routine when I play lately is to be sure to stretch well and warm up sufficiently so that I have last minute reminders of how it’s supposed to feel. That didn’t happen Saturday as I met with this client in advance and arrived at the course at the same time – so I followed his lead: Car, shoes, check in, first tee. Okay then. That used to be my way as well.

It took me several swings to find the proper impact position, and since every hole was a par 3 (and there were only nine of them), you can imagine how that effected my score. Luckily, it did not effect the business relationship. He understands about swing changes and trying to improve. Probably even appreciated it more than he let on. My chipping was decent and my putting was fair (though business talk and unnecessary amounts of chatter in general hindered that as well). Overall, I never really got warmed up and feeling the golf and I shot 38 on the par 27 course. I thought we were finished with the business and planned to stick around and smack about 100 balls on the range. I got tempted away with more business talk and, more importantly, the promise of a cold adult beverage. Over the course of the rest of the meeting, I agreed to the extra 20 hours/week I mentioned in my last post. It’s an excellent move for my income and spark but it’s adding to the challenge of improving my golf game due to the time constraints. I’m still convinced I can do it all. Like this hawk, who evidently tee’d off just before we arrived, then grabbed dinner and flew away.

Sunday, Not So Funday

After the afternoon cold one and the summer heat, I found myself having an uncharacteristically Kristen Saturday night. I guess I figured that night and the next day might be my last chance to really relax for awhile. I caught up with some friends, phone calls, emails, texts and Facebook, and think I went into overload. I shut down. I even shut down my twitter. Yup, someone get a thermometer. I decided to make Sunday a day of what I consider luxury. No work, no practice. Just decadence and things I enjoy:

1. Sleep late as possible. 2. Play with and take care of Vito’s needs. 3. Brunch (must include bacon, potatoes & bloody mary). 4. Golf (round, not practice) 4. More quality Vito time. 5. Bubble bath (must include adult beverages, candlelight and wonderful music) 6. More sleep.

Well, put up the mission accomplished banner because I did all those things. Yet somehow I was not fulfilled. I even threw in a bonus – in light of the previous day’s meeting and seeing some irresistible shoes in the pro shop, I purchased them on the spot and wore them on the course. That, alone, would usually give me permagrin for the day. The last time I was at this course, a guy I played with said I “brought the giddy.” Saturday? I couldn’t find a single authentic smile to pose for my trademark Golfchick self portrait for you. It was sad.

My mind was in so many places and so distracted, I was anything but a ninja on the greens. I had five 3-putts. Yes, FIVE. 38 total putts. I played the white tees and shot a 102. It felt awful, scoring wise. Probably because of the putting. But I also had some terrible iron shots despite a successful stretch and warm up before the round. I wasn’t too bad off the tee until a few holes on the back nine after I started feeling demoralized. It was a strangely sad day despite all my best efforts to make it delightful.

Of course I had to share the harsh truth with you.

HOWEVER… If you know anything about my mental game on and off the course, you must have figured I’d come up with a silver lining to use moving forward. (Not to mention the title of this blog post might have given you a clue.) And, naturally, the one I found relates to my swing. Well, aside from having some kickass new shoes. (See The Golf Chick shoe album on Facebook for that update if you missed it.) That silver lining is my chipping. It was spot on. I was almost Seve-like. Had a couple decidedly Phil shots as well. Chipped one in like a ninja. The guys I played with repeatedly commented positively on my short game skills and they sure as hell weren’t talking about my putting.

So that felt really good. And I’m sure my score would have been a lot higher without it. Especially with five three putts and no iron game to speak of. In fact, a couple months ago, I might have killed for a 102 from the whites. It did post with a differential below my index! I am far from discouraged. Now I’m just busy as hell and even more hell bent on finding time to practice, play, improve and break 80!

Still looking for a way to set up an online pool so people can choose a date for me to break 80. Any ideas? I have been looking at baby pool templates since they use dates but nothing seems to work just right. My friend Meg has me down in her calendar for Oct 29 and suggests an over under. Anyone else have any ideas?

Best golf and human interaction to you all. May they all roll true!

xoxo – Kristen

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Breaking 80 Progress – Golf Chick Update

July 7, 2011 / / 3 Comments

I played three rounds of golf over the long Independence Day weekend, taking my new swing out to the course after strictly range practice the past couple weeks and was excited to see how it would work. I looked at the rounds just like practice, but more fun than banging balls on the range.

On Friday, I just walked on at a local course I’m familiar with and was paired up with three other singles. All nice guys and we had a good time. In fact, I kinda fell a little in love with the nerdy married one because he had such a pretty swing. My swooning may have distracted my own game a bit but they all said they were impressed with my swing, new or not. My short game and putting really let me down. However, when I posted my score (96) – the system actually warned me “your score is lower than usual.” No bells, whistles or confetti… maybe that happens when you break 80. We will see.

The next day my hands and wrists were really hurting (I may need to figure out a good pain remedy for this new swing & my arthritis that hasn’t bothered me much since childhood) so I didn’t play or even practice my full swing. I did, however, hit the practice facility for a long overdue short game session of chipping and putting. It paid off the next day.

Making New Friends

Someone I have connected with on Twitter – Kent (a.k.a. @Voxjazz) came to town and we were able to hook up for a couple rounds the following two days. On Sunday, we met out at Ojai Valley Inn & Spa, where there is a gorgeous golf course I had previously only heard about – and heard great things. By the same designer as Riviera, the course did not let me down. It was amazing. If you go for the first time I recommend arranging ahead of time for the optional caddie service. We did not and were met with some difficult decisions.

Kent is a good golfer with aspirations of playing – and winning – on the Champions Tour and I think he will do it. He had mentioned before we met that he’d be happy to give me advice on my swing progress. He then saw a tweet of mine to my swing coach, Orange County golf instructor Jay Lim, that I would try not to let any other influences effect our progress, and Kent was completely respectful of that and didn’t make a single suggestion. In fact, he said he wouldn’t change a thing. As for my putting? He said my putting stroke reminded him of Steve Stricker! Umm… isn’t he one of the best putters on the PGA Tour? Hello, ninja!

That first day with Kent in Ojai, I actually shot an 86. Yes, 10 strokes better than the day before on an unfamiliar, more difficult course. The company you keep? I think so. Thanks, Kent. The system didn’t warn me about my score when I posted it that day. I think I’m going to start carrying my own confetti for when the day comes I post lower than 80. Maybe some noisemakers, too.

I have a lot of work to do yet on my swing. The third day my hands were in pain again and I proceeded to shoot a 99 – also on a difficult course. And yes, all three rounds were from the white tees. I can tell that I’m not executing my new swing every shot. It’s not ingrained in me enough yet and I will continue to practice practice practice to get it there so I don’t fall back on old habits when I don’t concentrate enough.

I think I should start a pool on when I’ll break 80. Place your bets. Anyone want to volunteer to run it? Not sure how to set it up on here… but I think it would be fun!

Meanwhile, here is a compilation of some swing videos and photos from over the weekend. I hope you enjoy it! May they all roll true!

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Swing Progress Report – Golf Chick Hub

June 27, 2011 / / 13 Comments

I still haven’t named my new swing but I am getting more familiar with it. After posting my swing video and getting feedback from my swing coach Jay in the comments and on the phone, I went ahead and started practicing with my driver rather than just my irons.

Here are some of the changes I’ve made that I worked on with my irons every day leading up to driver practice:

Posture/stance: stick out butt more, chin up, ball farther from feet

Swing: weight more on heels, weight shift before club passes, more descending blow, more rotation of wrists/arms, more extension at and after impact, flatter swing overall including finish.

Yes, I was pretty much doing everything wrong. And this was just with irons off the ground. Hadn’t even really discussed hybrids, woods, drivers and tees with coach yet.

Feeling It!

In my last progress update I mentioned feeling soreness in new and exciting places. Some aren’t as exciting as others. I have had arthritis since I was young, mostly in my wrists and shoulders but it’s been pretty manageable over the years. I knew the descending blow was going to be a blow in this area and I was not wrong. I mostly practice on mats, which hurts. I did take a few swings on the grass (against the rules – what a rebel) and found I was actually taking proper divots, which was exciting. It’s not so much painful while I’m doing it as it is later that night and especially the next morning, but I can handle it.

More fun and exciting are the places that I know will just get stronger and stop being sore once I work them out more. Like some of the muscles I’m using in the rotation that have been… shall we say – seldom used – until now. More on strengthening and fitness in upcoming blogs.

Another pain in the neither new nor exciting column is lower back. If you’ve read this blog for awhile, you’ll know I’ve had troubles in this area before. I haven’t had back pain in awhile and got complacent with my stretches. That’s going to change. I wasn’t playing much and when I did even when I’d score 100 or more, most of those strokes were short game or putts. When I practice, I hit at least 100 full swing, full effort shots with new technique. Every day. My back is feeling it.

Torque Hurts

After Jay saw my video and I started practicing driver, I really started to feel it. Why? Torque. He told me to keep my right leg bent, among other reasons, to better control my position at top of back swing. When I do that, I obviously twist more with my shoulder turn. My hips are more in charge of starting my swing and unwinding my body and there’s just a whole lot more activity in my lower back. Perhaps this is where I lost distance and control in the first place – maybe I tried to correct my swing to ease my back woes. Whatever. Sorry, back. We’re going to have to work this out with a better fitness routine for you because I’ll throw you out before my new swing if I have to.

I’m really trying to shorten my swing and keep my left arm straight. As you can see in my version of the Konica Minolta Biz Hub, which I’ll call GolfChick Hub or just ChickHub, I don’t do a good job of that yet. I am keeping my knee bent more now though. Perhaps that explains why I’m nearly hobbling around today, babying my tender back that keeps having mini spasms. More torque with the same Daly-esque turn cannot be good for it. And yes, a bit more rotation with a lower ball flight and flatter finish is evident. Of course I will keep working on it and keep you posted.

Setup through pre-impact

Chick Hub set 1

Impact, release & ball flight

Chick hub set 2

Follow through

chick hub set 3

Finish and hold pose

chick hub set 4

By the way, I welcome your suggestions for names for my new swing. My last swing was called Stella.

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Golf Improvement Update – My Swing on Video

June 22, 2011 / / 7 Comments

Here is my swing – filmed yesterday at Lakeside Country Club in Burbank. Time to judge and laugh! Keep in mind this is my driver, which I haven’t worked on at all yet with my new swing in practice. I’m kind of glad because I didn’t have any “before” footage of my swing and now I do. Chicken wing still prominent. By the way, judge all you want but remember… I have a coach. Thanks. (c:

This was supposed to be a half swing, as were all my shots yesterday. However, somewhere between the waggle and the swing, that idea vanished. Could have been as I was giggling internally as Peacha was filming and commenting as though she thought I couldn’t hear her there. My response to her after the shot is a half-truth. I said “that felt good.” Well, the result and the impact felt decent but I knew I had executed poorly. However, we were only on the 10th hole and I wasn’t going to go vocalizing something negative. Not how ninjas roll. Plus, I just wanted to respond and get off camera as quickly as possible. The shot went up over the top of the hill about 220 yards. Not much roll as the ground was soft and damp.

I’m not sure how many of my drives I thought were half swings weren’t, but I hit 14 out of 16 fairways with them. Once I start working on that club I suspect that stat may go down like my GIRs yesterday. I made some really good iron shots and lots and lots of poor ones (which I rather expected) so I only had 3 GIR. The course only had nine holes open (which explains why there were potential 16 fwys… we played the same 9 twice which only had one par 3). The rest are under construction for irrigation but the holes that we played were beautiful. I can’t wait to go back when it’s all finished.

Jimmy Youngs and The Golf ChickHuge thanks to Peacha for hosting me at Lakeside yesterday. What a sweetheart.  I also really enjoyed playing with a caddy. Ours was Jimmy Youngs, a fun guy and a great caddy. He knew when to stir me up and when to ease my mind. I loved hitting a drive up the middle and walking down the fairway with my driver or nothing at all. Strutting almost. One of the three greens I hit was a great shot from the rough on a par 5. Jimmy said “it’s 115 but play a soft 125 just left of the pin.” I did just that and told him I wanted to take him everywhere with me. He handed me my putter and said “see you on the green with the gallery.” It was a great day.

Side note: Jimmy is also a 3 handicap golfer. He used to be an actor (this is Lala land, after all). You may have seen him in the original Footloose as Chuck Cranston, slapping around Ariel (the Lori Singer character), and getting his ass kicked by Kevin Bacon. For me, isn’t that one degree of separation? I did it. If you know me, you’re now at 2 degrees.

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Mesquite Amateur 2011 / Golf Chick Wrap Up Part 2

June 13, 2011 / / 1 Comment

… Okay so where was I? Oh yes, after the night of the first Mesquite Amateur theme party, sound asleep in my room at the Casablanca, dreaming about a stellar round. In case you missed it, here is part one of the Mesquite Am wrap up. And now for another epic blog post.

Such a round did not materialize for me. Although we played the same course (Oasis Canyons) as I did during my practice round, it looked and felt entirely different. When I looked at the card and saw the red tees at 4739 yards and the golds at 5335, I assumed we would play the golds. My bad. The reds just did not suit my eye or my game. My visualization certainly didn’t involve hitting 5 iron off so many tees. I was all screwed up and I lost confidence throughout the day in all my clubs. After the round, I worked that out on the range, hitting another 100 balls while the rest of the ladies were eating, drinking and socializing.

Oh by the way – I neglected to get a photo with my playing partners Garnette and Susan that first day (although I did put Garnette’s shoes up on Facebook for the Golfchick’s best shoe contest). And while I don’t seem to have any pics of me in my golf attire that day, I did snap a close up of my top because it’s a cool Golf Chick logo shirt I wanted to share with you.

It’s not meant to be a pervy boob shot, I just wanted to make sure to get the lime green piping, the TGC logo with the bling around it and the swoosh on the button placket. I think it’s a very cute top!

Back in my room, I relaxed a bit, tweeted some more and started the shoe contest on Facebook. Throughout the week, people would take photos of great golf shoes they saw during their rounds and post them to The Golf Chick Facebook page. My favorite men’s and women’s shoe submissions would win a Daphne’s Head Cover for the person who submitted them – not necessarily the person wearing them. It was quite fun.

That night at the tent party, I was supposed to address the golfers about The Golf Chick group and giveaway some prizes but I got bumped for time. They did invite me up to make a brief announcement to the group that I would be doing the prize giveaway over by the pool after the dinner. Trouble with that is, people had plans and got lured by the casinos so we only had about 45 people show up. Oh well, more prize opps for them! That night I gave away a Callaway Golf GPS to one lucky winner and $250 in gift cards good at all the pro shops in Mesquite, so we had a lot of happy people. Plus we got to mingle a bit more with one antoher!

A quick shout out to my fellow Mesquite Amateur sponsors (shown on the screen in the pic): The presenting sponsor, Golf Mesquite Nevada, The City of Mesquite, NV, and The Mesquite Resort Association.

And oh yeah… the long drive competitions were held on the first day and they presented those awards that night. When we approached my drive on the marked hole, we were excited to see that I got to move the marker and put my name on it. There weren’t too many groups behind us so I hoped it would hold up but you never know. Incidentally, remember Jana from the Callaway demo day long drive in my last post? Her name was on the marker for her flight … about 30 yards in front of mine. At least we’re consistent. Next year I’m going to have a new swing and I will be hitting a lot further than this 200 yard crap so she better watch out.

Cuttin’ a Rug with the Canucks

After the prize giveaway, we turned loose on the casinos and lounges. I wanted to mingle with more people than a blackjack table would allow so I opted for the main lounge at the Casablanca. I arrived with a couple friends and there were several tables of golfers scattered around. I noticed a couple guys with some crazy fun energy and went and joined them at their table for a little while. Neil and Paul are brothers from Canada and they were a lot of fun. I brought them back to the table with my friends Rich and Bill. Before we knew it, all the golfers were sitting together and having a rollicking good time. Neil and I went out on the empty dance floor, where he then knelt down, removed my shoes and tossed them aside to the applause of the crowd. That was just the start of the dancing!

Tourney Day 2

On Wednesday, we played The Palms course, which is the oldest course in Mesquite and the site of my alltime record round of 82, which I shot there last year during the Mesquite Am. I had hoped for some more of that magic. Alas, it wasn’t to be. I shot the exact same score as the day before (101) which I figured would put me somewhere near the middle of the pack. Not good enough. However, it was a fun day with my playing partners. I rode with “Badass Vicki,” who is always up on stage when they need volunteers for entertainment or on the video reel doing something crazy. You can’t miss her and if you’ve been to a Mesquite Am you probably know who she is. In the other cart were Roxanne and Kathy, two terrific ladies. Incidentally, I played The Palms with Kathy last year when I shot my record round. This year, it was her turn. How awesome is that? In the pic Left to Right – Vicki, me, Roxanne, Kathy. Every one of us landed that green you see across the ravine. Sure it’s a big green but that’s a daunting carry in person. No birdies were made but two of us, including me, made par.

After the round, I did a little shopping at the Palms pro shop to spend my winnings from the long drive and got a really cute skort.  *Side note: That morning before the round I spent one of my certificates on a couple gloves since I left mine out on my bag in the hot car and it got all hard and gross.  This is exactly why I don’t leave my golf shoes in the car. If you don’t know this, hear me now. The heat and sun will remove the luster and shorten the lives of your leather goods including your awesome shoes.

Looks like I also paused in the pro shop to look at some shoes on my Facebook page and maybe tweet a little. Someone busted me and posted this pic of me tweeting on my own Facebook page. Thanks, Dana – you sneaky girl!

Cigars Under the Stars

That night at the tent party, volunteers (yup, including Badass Vicki – she is called that for her coffee company) took to the stage and entertained us with antics called out by the emcees. Pretty funny stuff.

I got up on stage and gave my Golf Chick spiel, shouted out my peeps and I think I gave away a prize or two. Then we headed over to the pool for the ever popular “Cigars Under the Stars” after-event. As a new non-smoker, this wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be. Although I wouldn’t have inhaled, I refrained from smoking a cigar because I thought just the motion could undermine all my mental work. I do believe I caved in and chewed a straw or two, though! Hmm… I can’t be sure, but that looks like Neil (nutty canuck) might be getting a bit frisky with Ryan (loudmouth dude) there on the ground (front left). Cheeky! Well, the single malt had been flowing! And yes – more dancing ensued.

Last Day of Tournament

Since I hadn’t played well the first two days and didn’t have much chance of getting into the money, I made up my mind to relax, drink, take pictures and not care so much about the golf for our round at Casablanca Golf Club. I also figured that might even help my game. I had fun playing with Brittany, who was a hot little number from Florida and a great sport. She wore a super short skirt (pictured at right) just for my twitter followers. She was also super chill and a cool chick. I’m sure we’d hang out and play golf if we lived near each other. I started the day with a bloody mary but moved on to rum soon after that. I was actually having a decent round but didn’t know it. Brittany mentioned it to me on the last hole, so I proceeded to take an 11 there. Let’s just say it involved water and someone’s backyard and that my “good shot” on the entire hole went in the greenside bunker. With that 11, I shot 96. Thanks a lot, Brittany. I thought you were cool. Heh. My scored landed me smack in the middle of my flight for the tournament. Much better than last year’s DFL, but still disappointing. I like to play well and I like to make sure my peeps have a good time. I’m going to be working towards doing better in both areas for next year. And if you have any suggestions, please let me know what you’d like to see to make The Golf Chick portion of the event better for you!

This swing yielded me a green in regulation and I two putted for my par.

Final night’s festivities!

Back in the tent for the dinner party, all the flight winners were announced. I was happy to see so many of the Golf Chick participants in the money and some even moved onto the championship round the next day! Huge congratulations to Dana Boyette, who was the 1st runner up for low net overall! She was also the most active Golf Chick player in the shoe contest and on FB in general (she’s the one who snapped a pic of me tweeting!) and won herself a prize for all that activity. Thanks for being so fun, Dana, and well done! Those of us not in the championship round did, of course, find the dance floor yet again.

Congrats as well to Jim and Lepha Luttrall, who both won their flights as well as the Golf Chick Couples prize, which was this fabulous golf cart cover generously contributed by Golf Shield! Thanks very much to them. They currently have a buy one get one free promotion going on so if you’re interested you might want to check it out sooner than later!

You can see everyone’s final scores and all the Mesquite Am results on their website here, then clicking “event info” and “event results 2011.”

Also a big thanks to Daphne’s Headcovers and Crystal Golf for donating such great prizes for the Golf Chick participants! Daphne’s makes the most adorable headcovers I’ve ever seen – but none better than this custom job.  Crystal Golf makes colorful and fun golf balls with 70 compression for the real player, not just a novelty! My favorites are the peach and the ladybug balls.

Some more winnahs!

Big thanks to everyone who participated with The Golf Chick group of players at the 2011 Mesquite Amateur! I had a great time getting to know you and wish I could have spent more time with you all. I hope to see you all back for more fun next year, with more crazy side-prizes, good times, great giveaways and wonderful company, and bring some friends! Meanwhile… may they all roll true!

Hugs! Kristen

Next post.

Mesquite Amateur 2011 / Golf Chick Wrap Up Part 1

June 9, 2011 / / 1 Comment

I had been eagerly anticipating the 2011 Mesquite Amateur golf tournament since the last day of the 2010 Mesquite Am. This year, as one of the sponsors of the event rather than just a player or media participant, I was actively involved in promoting the tournament and wound up with 69 people signed up to play with the Golf Chick group, plus the 13 guests of theirs who came along for the alternate daily activities and prime time parties. I could not have been more excited when the day finally rolled around for me to go and meet them all! Mesquite rocks and this is a long-ass post. And it’s only volume one. Don’t worry, I’m including bold type, italics and pictures for the children busy people.

Almost There!

My drive on Sunday from Southern California to Mesquite NV was physically uneventful but mentally strenuous as I prepared for my dual roles of hostess and competitor. I thought I was pretty well prepared for the former and concentrated primarily on getting in an aggressive mindset to conquer the field in golf. After all, I packed a championship round outfit and everything for Friday! My mind kept wandering to tasks I would need to accomplish onsite to ensure good times for my Golfchick peeps then would snap back to visualizing familiar golf holes, great golf shots, and beautiful putts. It was a roller coaster that had me fairly exhausted by the time I arrived that afternoon. I handed off the GolfChick swag and prizes to the tournament director and met back up with my personal items in my room where I proceeded to unpack my substantially overpacked bags (that happens when one drives), have a couple cocktails and plan my golf outfits for the week. Why do I bother that last part – I change my mind every morning anyway. I went down to the casino and played some blackjack where I ran into a media friend from previous trips here – Mike. We both walked away from the tables ahead that night. Things were looking positive.

When I got back to my room I got a text from none other than Tony – of Hooked On Golf Blog (HOG) and The Golf Space – someone I’ve “known” since practically the inception of this golf blog back when it was still on blogger (about 6 years ago) but had never met in person! He said he had just arrived so I spun around and went back down to the lobby where he said he was. We had a long overdue hug and headed to the lounge where we fell into a natural conversation like we’d been hanging out in person all these years. Relaxed and authentic, Tony is a great guy and someone I consider a true friend.

I think I got to sleep before midnight, and I know I woke up at 2:15, never to get back to sleep that night. My mind just would not shut down. I kept thinking of golf shots and trying to let the smooth tempo of my imaginary swing lull me to sleep like a metronome – to no avail.

Memorial Day Practice Round

The Mesquite Am occurs the week of Memorial Day. Monday isn’t an actual tournament day, but the day everyone registers and either just arrives, plays a practice round or participates in the organized skins game. I haven’t done the skins game yet but plan to next year (Hi George)! For the last three years my routine has been to dress in a red, white and blue golf outfit and hit one of the courses for a leisurely practice round and this year was no different. I planned to play with an up and coming LPGA hopeful but she flaked on me got a flat tire (kidding, KyLee!), and the twosome they paired with us also didn’t show.  I called Mike from the night before and he met me on the back nine. It was a nice round overall at the Oasis Canyons course. I’m a flaming patriot and thought of all the sacrifices of our troops and their families many times throughout the day. I also honored another kind of hero we recently lost – Seve Ballesteros – with my choice of the navy blue golf top. As you can see from the photo, I’m so patriotic I went for the lady liberty look with my hair. No, those aren’t just unplanned flyaways. Really.

Each year I go to Mesquite I mention to someone in charge how nice it would be to see US flags on the flagsticks like I see at home on other patriotic holidays. Kind of disappointed. Hear me, Mesquite?

Registration hadn’t opened before I left for my round so I headed over there directly when I was finished playing. The place was packed with golfers just coming back from their respective rounds to check in. The Golf Chick table looked awesome with all my swag giveaway goodies and prizes on display.  I met a few of my peeps and chatted with the volunteers who were running it. These people are amazing all week long. Always smiling, always helpful and always ALWAYS just happy to be there. I hear there is a waiting list to be a Mesquite Am volunteer. Incredible job they do! Here is the Golf Chick Mesquite Am 2011 swag bag and its contents:

Golf Chick Mesquite Am swag bag

And some close-ups of the smaller items…

The magnetic ball-marker “chicky charm” necklace! These were SUCH a hit! These were originally Inspired by Putterflys but took on a life of their own. When you remove the magnetic ball marker, the smashed bottlecap backing also displays the adorable (if I do say so myself) Golf Chick logo so you’re not bare while you putt! I have had a lot of people express interest in these so you may see them for sale here soon. Let me know if you’re interested in these, the hats or anything other Golf Chick logo merchandise in the comments section!

Many thanks to Bella Luna Foods for providing the gorgeous bottles of Extra Virgin Olive Oil to all the Golf Chick participants. A very generous donation that was well received and appreciated! You can also like them on facebook here.

And here is the bag tag – front and back. This is a blank, but Golf Chick registrants had their names pre-printed instead of the blank line there.

Next year I think I have to find a way to play a practice round and still be at the registration table the whole time to meet everyone when they first check in. I felt like I missed out on getting to know so many awesome people!

After registration, I headed over to catch the end of Demo Day at Casablanca Golf Club. I ran into some friends from previous years there and met some fun new peeps. I competed in and lost the long drive at the Callaway booth to Mesquite local, Janna, the obvious front runner from the start. She beat me by 30 yards (keep that in mind for the next Mesquite post if you can). I snapped this shot of some fun boys in Loudmouth Golf shorts only to find out later that they were Golf Chick players – they totally busted me for tweeting that pic when they saw me later at the casino. Fun guys!

After a quick shower, change and compulsory (and compulsive) facebook session, I headed over to the big tent in the parking lot for the welcome dinner… the first prime time party of the week where all the golfers get together for the first time for a themed dinner. The Golf Chick Group had reserved seating, taking up half of the front row tables. I met some great folks that night from my awesome group of peeps (what else do you call golf chick people? Hah!) I also had the pleasure of finally meeting Patricia Hannigan of Golf Girl’s Diary – a blog about the fun, fashionable side of golf. She was super sweet and I was impressed to see her there to compete in this event since her reputation has been more as an advocate for social golf, pro tour appreciation, and social media than for keeping score, let alone competitive playing. Sadly, we didn’t get to talk long before I was swept away. I saw her again later … but you’ll have to stay tuned for the next post for that!

After some more socializing and meeting peeps, I headed to my room for a relatively early night considering my lack of sleep the night before. I organized myself for the next night’s Golf Chick duties and went to sleep visualizing my best round ever. Same course I played today. Could almost see every ideal shot. Let the games begin. After I sleep…

To be continued…

Next post (Part 2)

Mesquite Am Early Bird Deadline Tomorrow! (Make that Today)

March 31, 2011 / / 1 Comment

Thanks so much to those of you who have already signed up for the Mesquite Am – we have a good looking group coming together of “golf chick participants.” How do I know? I’ve met some of you and I have to assume anyone who signs up for this must be good looking. Heh. Oh, plus we’re already at about 60 people in our group, so the statement also applies to size! Plenty of room for more though!

Tomorrow Today is the last day to get in on the the early bird deals! If you sign up by Midnight (Pacific Time) on March 31 (I guess that would actually be 11:59:59 PM), you get the discounted entry fee of $475 and get entered into the Golf Chick drawing for a chance to win your hotel stay free. On April 1, the entry fee goes up to $525, and the Mesquite Am will draw the name from all the golfchick participants for the complimentary hotel stay winner (stay tuned – I will let you know!)

Guests and parties

Also – I noticed several of you are bringing non-golfing guests, which is great. We will have adequate seating for all of us reserved at the tent on welcoming night. After that, we’re on our own at night and can sit wherever we want. For those of you who still haven’t signed up, guests can join the nightly parties for $125 (that doesn’t change on April 1). There is also plenty for non-golfers to do during the day which will be listed in the program.

Let’s get together!

Speaking of nightly parties, would anyone be interested in all of us going out somewhere together after dinner that first night? I was thinking of maybe getting a shuttle bus or something and hitting the town for a couple hours – something casual like a lounge with live entertainment, billiards, darts, or even karaoke – just so we can get to know each other a little bit before we go off to our pairings for the tournament. Please let me know if you’re interested in the comments so others can see what you’re saying. Also, anyone who has registered, please don’t assume I have your email address – if you haven’t contacted me, I don’t. I may be contacting golfchick participants aside from this blog so please make sure I have your email address. If you leave a comment, I can get it that way, or you can always send me a note to kristen(at)thegolfchick(dot)com.

We’re going to have so much fun. I can’t wait to see or meet you in Mesquite in a couple months! Spread the word!

Sign up here (don’t forget to enter “golf chick” at the bottom of the form either in the “promotion code” or “how did you hear about the event” box!

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