Wow, we had sssssoooo much fun at the pro-am in Angola.  They had a dj for us and we stayed up and sang and danced the night away.  I played the next day with 4 guys who were so fun.  They really make my job joyful.  It doesn’t hurt that we ended up winning the pro am either.  :)  From the pro-am we went to Hammond, IN.  On Wednesday evening we were treated with tornado type weather.  And I can honestly say I was scared.  I’m from Idaho and we have rain, snow, lightning……no tornados!!!!!!  But we all survived and got to play the tournament.  From there we went to London, KY.  It was 4th of July week so there was a lot of red, white, and blue.  The tournament organizers had a pig roast for us on Friday night and a huge fireworks display for us on Saturday.  Talk about 1st class.  It was great.  My friend Michelle and I unfortunately both missed the cut, so we spent Sunday driving home.  We had last week off and let me tell you it was such a great week for me!!!!  I have had a lot of things going on personally and professionally and I’m so excited to see how they pan out…don’t want to count my chickens, so you’ll have to just wait.  Other than that, the week off was relaxing.  I went to the beach 4 times in 6 days and loved every minute of it.  I’m sitting in my room right now trying to figure out how to pack for 5 weeks in only 1 suitcase….ugh.  Guess that’s the fun part of my job.  Hahaha.  I’m hoping to come back in the next couple weeks with some exciting news so stay tuned!!!! Until then make lots of birdies!!!  :)

Missing in action that’s for sure.  So I’m going to start being better…. Trying to write every week and keep you updated.  So forget everything since last time I wrote, b/c who knows when that was…oops.  This week I am in Decatur, Illinois.  We had some interesting weather.  The course was under water on Wednesday night and we weren’t sure how we were going to play.  Somehow, a miracle happened, and the water went back into the creek where it was supposed to be, and we teed off 90 minutes late, but we got round 1 finished.  Mom and dad have been out for a few weeks.  Dad caddied, however for a little back ground….last week he threw his back out.  So when I missed the cut he came to Decatur to have it worked on.  He  caddied Thursday and said he felt fine, but Friday morning was a different story.  He was really in pain, so him and mom took off for home.  Boo.  I played decent, but things just didn’t go my way.  So another cut missed, but my head is up, and I have a positive attitude.  Everyone goes through a slump at some point in their career, its just how you handle it that shows your true character!!!  I read this….When you go through disappointments, you may feel like you’ve been buried, but the fact is, you’ve simply been planted. You’re coming back…..so I’m keeping that in mind.  So tomorrow I’m off to Angola, IN for a pro am.  A city with great memories.  I spent the first 2 years of college there, so I’m looking forward to it!!! Unitl next time (hopefully sooner than later)

Golf seems to be getting better.   Since the last time I wrote I missed the cut in Daytona, but I made the cut in Brownsville.  I was excited about Daytona.  My best friend, Dasha caddied for me on Saturday.  Unfortunately I missed the cut by one so she couldn’t loop on Sunday, but it was a really special day.  I actually played really solid for the 2 days, so good things were happening. 

During the week off I went with the UNCW girls to conference.  While we didn’t come out on top, I was so proud of the girls for fighting as hard as they could for 3 days.  They never gave up which was great!!!  To our seniors Carmen, Ashley and Sarah, we will miss you. 

Last week was Brownsivlle and I’m happy to report I finally had a job on Sunday…..about time!!!!!  I didn’t play my best, but I did a lot of good things.  Went to Houston for a pro-am on Monday after the tourney, and did you know that in order to fly, you need an ID?  Make sure your ID isn’t in your golf bag in a car on the road while you are going to the airport to fly.  My wonderful friend, Meredith had to come back part way and get me b/c my ID was in her car with her and I was going to fly…..oops.  Well instead of a flight it turned into a road trip.  So I guess it was ok, at least it was with someone who I can laugh with for 4 hours.  :) 

Now I’m in San Antonio.  Sitting on the porch of my housing and waiting for my girls to arrive.  5 sorority sisters from college are coming for the weekend and I’m SO excited!!!  I’m sure I’ll have some good stories and pictures to post…so until next time!!!!!!

So this week I am in Daytona Beach for another Duramed Futures Tour event.  At our pro-am party they drew some names of girls to win a chance to ride a couple of laps around the Daytona 500 track.  My name was drawn and I was so excited!!!!  We rode in a pace car and got to go 120 on the straight-a-ways and 110 on the curves.  It was a lot of fun.  I’m trying to figure out how to put up the video, however the video isn’t as cool as it was in real life!!!! Enjoy!!!

team in georgia

So lots of things have been going on in the last month or so.  I started the month off going to 2 college tournaments with the girls.  They worked really hard and improved each week.  Our first event was in Augusta, Georgia and our second was down in New Orleans.  Had a really great time and the girls did too. 

After New Orleans I went out on the road for my own golf.  I started the season off in Winter Haven, Florida.  The golf didn’t go as well as I planned, but there were good things that did happen, so I’ll just keep focusing on that.  Week 2 we were in beautiful Puerta Vallarta, Mexico.  It was a great event with really great hospitality.  For a 1st year event everything about the event was 1st class.  The course was in awesome shape and the people there and the volunteers were just as great as any other week on tour.  It was a week that people will be talking about for awhile!!!  For me, once again, golf didn’t go as planned.  I did figure a bunch of things out the second day.  I ended up missing the cut by one shot, but there were even more positives from the week. 

Me and Sarah

After I flew back from Mexico it was off to another college event.  Bryan National in Greensboro, NC.  The girls struggled a bit, but they are keeping their heads up.  We have a good week and a half to get ready for conference.  They are looking forward to working hard so that we can come out of there the 2010 CAA Champs. 

I’m sitting in the living room finishing up my packing as I’m headed to Daytona, FL this afternoon for our next Duramed Futures Tour event.  It’s a familiar track, city, housing, and area, so I’m looking forward to it.  Hope that the golf starts coming around soon and I can report some good news!!!  Until next time….. :)

Wow, what a weekend.  I just got back from Louisiana for a pro-am.  But it’s not any ordinary pro-am, this is one that you show up on a Thursday after driving throught the snow, play in the snow all morning before eating Mexican food and singing kareoke on Friday, go to a Mardi Gras parade on Saturday night, RIDE IN a Mardi Gras parade on Sunday throwing beads to all the people, and then FINALLY play golf on Monday.  The David Duncan Memorial Pro-Am is in honor of my good friend Mereidth Duncans father.  18 of us come into town to play in the event and we are treated with true Louisiana hospitality.  It’s such a great time and for a good cause.

Sorry it’s been too long…I’ll try to give you the quick version of life in the last few months.  Finished the season and was pretty disappointed with the end result.  After season I moved from Greenville, SC to Wilminton, NC.  After moving I worked really hard to get ready for q-school, but it just wasn’t my week.  After a week of bad weather, bad rulings, and just bad luck, I decided to go home to Idaho for awhile.  I surprised my family for Christmas which was really nice.  I was there through the new year where I flew from home to Phoenix.  I went to the Tostidos Fiesta Bowl, where I met up with some good friends from tour.  I was cheering on my Boise State Broncos who played the TCU Horned Frogs.  I was sitting with Angela Stanford (TCU Alum) in the TCU section, so I was a little outnumbered.  My boys pulled it off though and it was a really fun game!!!!!  After the game it was back to Wilmington where I started doing something new.  I am the assistant coach at the University of North Carolina Wilmington.  I am really enjoying it and the team is great.  We are looking forward to an amazing semester and we’ll hopefully wrap it up by making it to Nationals, which we are hosting!!!!!  So now I am working on my game as well as working with the girls.  I am excited for both seasons to start and I am really excited for 2010.  I am unbelievably happy with everything in my life right now and it’s such a great feeling!!! Until next time….everyone BE HAPPY!!!!!!

Golf is a funny game.  It’s a game that is full of it’s ups and downs.  Every person who has ever played the game, seen the game or heard of the game can verify that.  I love my job.  I think I have one of the best jobs in the world and every day I feel so blessed to be able to play a “game” for a career.  I have been out here for 7 years going between the Duramed Futures Tour and the LPGA.  This game has given me so many things through my years.  Every week we acquire more and more fans, we meet new families who want to do whatever they can to help us out, as well as see old families we have stayed with for years.  We get a chance to be away from everything that we know that is comfortable and gain our independance, but we also find friends to travel with who help us stay grounded and feel less alone.  Looking around I see many healthy women who are playing a great game and really enjoying life.  This got me to thinking, what can all these healthy women do to help other people around the country?  A blood drive sounded like a great idea to me.  “Every 2 seconds someone in the United States needs blood.  Only 5% of the eligible US Population donates blood every year.” (from redcross.org)  Giving blood is the only way to get blood.  There is no substitute.  There is no way to “make” blood like there is many other things to help people who are sick.  It takes an hour out of our day and our body will replenish itself within 24 hours.  Sounds easy enough right?  I thought so.  So, I brought up the idea to the Fellowship group on the Duramed Futures tour and got their full support, and the ball officially started rolling.  I talked with the Duramed Futures Tour staff to find a tournament that would be a good “fit” and our event in Connecticut was the winner.  The charity is Chip in for a Cure which helps with cancer, so we thought that donating blood there would be a great fit.  We ha ve been working with the tournament staff there and with the American Red Cross as well to get this going.  We wore ribbons on our hats or clothes and people started asking what it was for.  And the blood drive got talked up.  It was on our pre and post-information sheets to get the word out to all the players.  There will be many of the tournament staff, the Duramed Futures Tour Staff, Fellowship group members, as well as players and caddies from the tour who are going to be stopping by that day to donate blood.  On Tuesday July 14th from 11 am to 5 pm The American Red Cross will have a Blood Mobile out at the tournament course.  This blood drive is open to anyone who would like to participate.  Players, parents, caddies, staff, FANS, and anyone else who would like to help support such a wonderful cause are more than welcome to stop by.  Being young and healthy I feel a responsibility to be able to give back to people who need what I can give.  As a tour player there are people that I don’t even know who are out there supporting me and what I do from afar, so for me to be able to do that for someone ,and it may even save their life, is a true blessing.  I am looking forward to the blood drive and I am hoping that it will be a huge success.  I am so excited to see an idea actually become a reality!!!!!!!  Please plan to take an hour out of your day, you never know whose life you may be saving!!!!! For more information go to www.redcross.org or www.givelife.org

Well it’s been a pretty busy time since my last update.  June started off with me going to spend a few days with a good friend in Michigan.  I had a brilliant plan of driving over to Iowa and playing a practice round for our Duramed Futures event there and then driving to Chicago to do the same for the US Open qualifier course.  This plan would have been perfect if I hadn’t injured my neck somehow.  I ended up driving to the courses and then just walking them and not able to play.  I did get to see them so I thought that was better than not. 

After Chicago I drove to Springfield, IL to prepare for the Monday qualifier.  I played pretty solid except for 1 bad hole and missed qualifying by a shot.  So I was back off to Iowa.  I played really solid for the first 2 days and was in great position before having a rough Sunday.   I didn’t have much time to think about it as I was off to Chicago to pick up my parents who came into town for 3 weeks. 

Decatur was our only major of the year and it was an up and down 4 days for me.  I didn’t have much time to think about that either because the 36 holes for the US Women’s Open were on Monday.  I played pretty good for the 36 holes, but came up 2 shots too many.  Maybe it’s time I take a break :)  At least that’s what I keep telling myself.  After the 36 holes, we drove to Mason, OH for our next event.  It was another great first 2 days and I was feeling good going into Sunday.  Things just didn’t go my way again as I closed with a 77 and moved WAY down the list.  We need to figure it out that’s for sure!!!!

Onto Hammond, IN next.  On Tuesday morning my dad threw his back out and was not able to caddy for the week.  We ended up changing their flights and they went home on Thursday morning so he could get better.  It was a good week. I played the most solid golf for 3 days that I have so far this season.  My 66 in the second round moved me right up into the mix of things and it was nice to be in the 2nd to last group on Sunday.  My score on Sunday was not great, but I played much better than then number, so it’s very encouraging for me. 

I am at home in South Carolina for a few days relaxing and getting in some good practice at Thornblade Club.  It’s great to be there and feel the support from the membership.  And hey, when the US Open Champion Lucas Glover is a memeber there, you really can’t go wrong!!! :)  Hoping to continue the good play and maybe even get a W here before the year is over!!!!

Well can you believe it, May is almost over already. This year is flying by already!!! I made it to Corning in order to play in the Monday qualifier. I played solid, just didn’t shoot low enough to make it into the event. It was still a great week. I practiced and got some work done, as well as hung out with a couple close friends. It was a sad ending to a great week knowing that we have been in Corning for as long as I have been alive and this was the 31st and final year. We will definately miss the city and all the people in Corning and the amazing memories that the LPGA has from there…..maybe a miracle will happen and we can go back, I know that’s what all the players are wanting. I’m off to take a trip west heading to Iowa, Chicago and Springfield…I’ll keep updating from the road!!!!