Another Countdown

My internet is behaving badly. Well, very, very slow, at least. So I'll keep today's blog short and sweet while I still have a connection.

Today was an exciting day for one of my favorite golf courses and for my work company (which owns and operates it). The USGA announced that they chose SentryWorld, in Stevens Point, as the host site for the 43rd U.S. Senior Open Championship. 

I'm beyond exited about this. After volunteering an the U.S. Junior Girls Championship in 2019, I couldn't wait to work another one and had high hopes it would be at SentryWorld. Yay!

And for it to be the senior tour is awesome for a golf geek like me. Hubby and I have been golfing and watching golf for decades. It will be amazing if we get a chance to see some of our favorite golfers in action. Freddie Couples, please be my birthday date in 2023!

Lots of planning will be set into motion now that it's official. Not sure my involvement but I'm excited nonetheless. It's also nice when we're setting here in below zero temperatures that we can have something warm and summery to look forward to.

Lord, please return the world to normalcy long before these next 868 days are up. (But who's counting?)

Hit Like a Girl

I'm not saying the scientific theory of osmosis is bunk, but it didn't work to transfer knowledge in high school or college. And it definitely didn't work to transfer skill this past week – despite countless hours of close observation.

In other words, I saw a lot of USGA US Girls' Junior competition last week and I couldn't play anything remotely resembling their game when we hit the SentryWorld course tonight.

All I could think was dang, I wish I could hit like a girl! Especially those girls!

Still, it was a treat to play on the course as it sits in its full glory – all flowers bloomed and fairways and greens groomed. It's usually like that, of course, but this time was different. Since all 4 of us had volunteered or spectated or both last week, we kept recalling how different players did on different holes and, basically, how incredibly awesome and talented they were!

I'll have to be content once again that I can't just pick up skills through osmosis – and I'll only shoot eagles or birdies with my camera.

Say "cheese"! Or "fore!"

Neither Rain nor Wind nor Bogeys

You probably don't believe me, but I was actually going to spend the day at work. In the office. Not gallivanting across the street to that golf tournament. Even if 8 players got down to 4 today for semifinal action this afternoon. Even if Fox Sports television crews were on the scene to broadcast this afternoon. And especially since it was raining periodically.

But someone convinced me to go – my boss actually – so we could build a crowd for the finals girls (and television cameras). Sounds good to me!

And we did create quite a crowd! I wasn't planning to follow these last two groups for 18 holes. Definitely not since I forgot my umbrella. But the leader all week – Yuka Saso of the Phillipines – was struggling and there was an upset looming. So despite looking like a drowned rat and walking in wet, squishy shoes, quite a few of us watch the drama between Saso and Jillian Bourdage unfold.

By the time they got to our signature hole, the clouds opened up again and we were huddled under the TV guy for some shelter. Doesn't help when wind and rain go sideways! But we just didn't want to miss out.

Hard to believe that we were hot at one point during the round and here, my friend Sharon and I are cold and wet. Just a tad.

Might be hard to see, but the last hole came down to putts from these very similar distances. Crazy how equally matched these girls were! Bourdage was 1 up at this point, parred the hole and pulled off the upset. Hurray for the girl with ties to Wisconsin (her mom is from here)!

Of course, hubby was watching on TV and texted me to get back to work. I said, "Oh, was I on TV?"

And here I am in the background at the conclusion. Probably not on screen longer than a milli-second, but just long enough to be reminded my hair looked like crap. Ha. Ah well. Still better than a day at the office, right?

Tonight I warmed up with fire and friendship. And colorful flames thanks to old Christmas lights our hosts Joe and Michelle had on hand. Always works like a charm.

Felt good to relax. The golf tournament does go one more day (catch it on FS1 from 1-3 pm Saturday), but our dance card is booked. And it may actually include dancing.

I guess I'll have to hold my autograph session another time. Stay tuned.

Swinging at the Crack of Dawn

Sick of hearing about girls golf? Not me! It's just been such a neat week. It's like I'm getting a mega dose of my "daughter fix."

This morning I got up early not because I had to, but because I wanted to. Got to work at 7 a.m. so I could pop over the SentryWorld for an 8:03 a.m. tee time for my girl Maisie (above). Followed her for 3 holes and then headed back to the office.

She had just putted for birdie to go up 1, so I felt good about leaving (well, not good, but I had "real" work to do). I planned on catching her when she was getting to the last few holes. I monitored on the USGA site a bit and it was a back-and-forth battle.

In the end, a missed putt on both 16 and 17 were her undoing and it was match over. Always tough to see someone you're cheering for have to hug the winner and go home. Maisie's mom thanked me for my support (very sweet) and I gave Maisie a hug and told her to "stay amazing!" I'm sure she will.

After that, I figured I'd stay in the office all day. But something about this tournament keeps drawing me back across the street. It's that way for quite a few of us who love the game, play it when we can, and actually watch it on TV occasionally – on purpose. So I went back over there after 3 p.m. and got my photograph of the day.

This is Lei Ye of the People's Republic of China. Despite being in the sand here, she's been doing well this week and will be in the Final 8 match play round in the morning. Then, they really will be swinging at the crack of dawn. Something like 6:30 a.m.

Nope. Not going. Sleeping in and going straight to the office. I can't speak for the afternoon semi-final round. I may have to get one more fix before it's all over. You still have time to see this – and it's really, really good right now!

Stop in. It's free. Or stream it on Fox Sports (FS1) in the afternoon.

And maybe tomorrow I'll finally get around to looking at and sharing Jimmy Buffett photos! My life. Busy. So fun. So blessed.

From Down Under to Under Dog

I gotta tell you. It's tough to sit in the office after two long days out on the course. The steady supply of caffeine was good, but I couldn't wear shorts or my new US Girls' Junior hat! Thankfully, I could take a few long breaks and walk across the street!

I was mistaken when I said none of "my girls" made the cut into the final 64. I neglected to look up the girls from my first round on Monday. Lo and behold, Miss Maisie Filler was in AND seeded 12th. Not bad!

So when I saw she was almost to the halfway point of her match play round today, I headed over to the course to catch her on the turn.

Got to see her putt on 9 and tee off on 10. She probably didn't recognize me without my pony tail, baby blue attire, and iPad hanging around my neck. But I said good luck, finish strong, and "I'd love to be scoring for you today!" Then the dawn of recognition, a smile, and a thank you.

Then back to the office for me. The match was tied up after 17 holes and I was trying to get back over there to see the finish but I had a meeting! The nerve of having actual meetings and work at work!

So I got over there too late and saw on the leaderboard she won! I ran into her caddy and he said, "Oh I bet I'll see you again." I thought maybe she left but I spotted her on her phone and shouted a "Good job, Maisie!" to her. She's probably convinced I'm stalking her, but hey, very few girls have any fans there!

Since my co-worker Lisa and I were already over there, she said, "Let's follow my girl on her last 2 holes before we go back." She had picked a golfer from Australia to cheer on. I figured why not, especially since I had my good camera with me in the afternoon. So we watched the last two holes and were reminded once again that anything can happen on the golf course.

The Aussie, Maddison Hinson-Tolchard, 17, had a bogey-free 65 earlier this week to earn the No. 2 seed for match play today. But after sand trouble on 18 (above), forcing a 19th  hole, I was there when she was defeated by the No. 63 seed (who earned her spot in that playoff last night). One of Maddison's key take-aways from her week in Stevens Point, though? She was thrilled to survive "a tornado in America" over the weekend!

It wasn't really a tornado. But I must say (because I love puns) that the underdogs were taking the match play round by storm today. No. 1 seed still No. 1 but there were several upsets. Tomorrow it goes down to 32 playing in the match play format in the morning, then 16 playing in the afternoon. Should be some exciting stuff.

Going to bed so I can go to work (real work) early enough to escape for Maisie's tee time at 8:02 a.m. Forgive me for begin a fan girl!

Don't forget – you can watch, too! Free and open to the public. Fox Sports (FS1) will televise and live stream on Friday and Saturday.

Girls Just Wanna Have ... Birdies

USGA spelled out in the flowers!

Some girls want to get flowers. But the girls I was hanging out with today want to get birdies and will settle for par.

Our company's golf course – SentryWorld – is hosting the 71st U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship now through Saturday. What is it and why is it a big deal? It features the best female amateur players under the age of 19 from around the globe. (Even some 12-year-olds competing!) The winner earns an exemption into the following year’s U.S. Women’s Open. The USGA chose SentryWorld as the first course in Wisconsin to host this prestigious event! So yeah, it's pretty cool.

There were practice rounds this weekend but the official rounds started today with stroke play. And Robyn's 4 rounds of volunteer shifts also started today!

Reported for duty at 6:45 a.m. for Volunteering Round 1. Yes, I was wearing the jacket that came with our "uniform" since the temp was in the 50s. It ended up being a mild, mid-70s kind of day.

For my Round 1, I was a "walking scorer." So I tagged along with a group of three girls and kept score, input it into a iPad type tablet so they could be posted on the electronic leaderboard. The girls still keep their official score but just like every other golf tournament of this level, people want to know who's leading as the rounds go on.

So I finished walking 18 holes with a group representing some southern U.S. states, and grabbed a quick bite to eat before Volunteering Round 2 – walking another 18 with a group that included girls from Colombia and China. They aren't kidding when they say this is global!

It would be cool if one of the girls from my morning and afternoon rounds would take home this trophy. Right now there a lot of others boasting better scores but that was just day one. And it should not diminish how we view their talent. They are crazy good! Can't believe the drives that come out of these pint-sized girls! Neat stuff to watch and be a part of.

Tomorrow I'll be forecaddying (spotting balls that land off the fairway, etc) in the morning, then walking 18 holes with a group in the afternoon. Then it's back to the office Wednesday through Friday, with occasional walks across the street to see what's happening in the tourney. I'll my good camera those days.

The cool thing is that you can come watch. For FREE! Stop in any time this week basically from 7 a.m. to about 6 p.m. or so. You could see a future star or two.

Past U.S. Girls’ champions include Hollis Stacy, winner of four major championships; Nancy Lopez, who won 48 LPGA Tour events over the course of her legendary career, including three major championships; and four-time U.S. Women's Open champion Mickey Wright. Current stars who won the championship include Inbee Park (2002), Lexi Thompson (2008), Ariya Jutanugarn (2011), and Minjee Lee (2012). So who knows?

You probably won't get the chance to see this level of talent among teenage girls at such a convenient location. (For most of you, anyway.) Stop by.

If nothing else, you get to see a gorgeous golf course that I now know how it's supposed to be played. Too late for me to be a talented teen, that's for sure!