Week of Moreno Valley, CA
March 12, 2001

       The journey began on Sunday, March 4th as we were quite packed with clothes, clubs, and equipment for 4 weeks. Shirley Wallahan and Alynna Fricke kindly arrived to take us to the Sarasota airport. That was one of the few rainy days Sarasota had seen in months. Upon arrival to the airport, all flights were still scheduled to leave on time, so we bid our friends goodbye and they wished us luck. About ½ hour later, our Sarasota-Miami American Eagle flight was delayed for a couple of hours due to the storm. About that time, we ran into Eileen Fagan who had come to the airport to see us off! So we got to spend an hour with her during the delay. How nice. Finally we took off to Miami and the pilot chose to go through the storm. As it turns out, I was the queasy passenger and was uncomfortable for the entire bumpy and choppy hour. Val was fine. We flew the Miami-Los Angeles leg on a large 757, but this time, the pilot chose to fly around the big storm, starting on a NE bearing before turning back west. A great idea.

       We arrived at 10:30 p.m. PST, picked up a car, and drove the 80 miles east to Moreno Valley. In essence, our 1 a.m. arrival equated to 4 a.m. EST. It was quite a long trip, but not so bad compared to the FUTURES staffers who began driving the van, trailer, and Ryder truck containing the mobile office and tournament set-up a week earlier. We caught up on sleep, and played 9 holes at Quail Ranch on Monday.

       The course was quite wet and we were quickly reminded of the steep hills and severe slopes and rills in every green. We played 18 holes on Tuesday, then made a short trek to Riverside to pick up some computer equipment for Val at Best Buy and to visit the historic Mission Inn. Our friend Deb Hutton has recently moved from S. California to the Sarasota area and recommended that we see this landmark. It is a famous hotel designed in the Spanish Mission architecture, and many US presidents have stayed there for special occasions. In fact, it is where Richard and Pat Nixon were married, right off the lobby in the Presidential Lounge. Really beautiful, and worth the stop.

       Wednesday we played 9 more holes following another downpour, and that evening was the annual player and FUTURES staff meeting. We were addressed by the tour's dynamic owner Zayra Calderon, and were introduced to the new tournament director, Sally Raque. Then every player took a rules test that we must pass in order to play the tour. You may use your rules book, and those who do not pass must retake the test on another day. I passed as expected, and it is nice to have that taken care of.

       54 players were chosen to play in this week's pro-am, and Thursday I teed off at 7:30 in the early shotgun start. Our 4 players were named Jill, Clarence, Larry, and Wade, and it turned out to be a combination of great golf talent, great humor, and they had tremendous highlights off of the tee! We wish Jill good luck as she will compete in the pro-am portion of the Nabisco Championship next month in Palm Springs! We had a delicious lunch following and my team had a special hat made for me in remembrance of our day.

       Day 1 of the tournament I was paired with Beth Bauer. She is a young talented player who has recently left Duke University to turn pro. She is steady and has a great wedge game. She is very nice to play with, and is fortunate to have her mom accompany her to events. We started at 12:10 and the weather was cool, under 50 degrees, and windy all afternoon. I made 5 bogeys but birdied the last hole to finish 76.

       Day 2 I teed off with Liz Bowman and Amy Bond, two of the longest hitters on tour. It was cool again but no wind. I had a poor start bogeying the first 2 holes, then another on 7, but birdied 8 and parred in for 74. I had many good holes and a few great saves on these greens, and it surprisingly moved us up to around 29th position.

       Day 3 I was paired with last year's champion, Melinda Daniels-Price and Cheryl Fox. Our 7:30 tee time started cool again and yet another turtleneck. As you can see by my score of 80, you probably do not need details. Better start but doubles on 3 and 4 followed by a birdie on 5. But two more doubles on 13 and 16 finished the day. Really 14 great holes. In fact two summers ago, it was about 12 tournaments until I had my first double, so today was especially painful. And a surprise to see we had made any money after all, a small consolation to the day.

       Val as usual, did a great job over hill and dale. It is probably as hilly at Killington, VT and it is a real treat to have a caddy. The other players had to leave their clubs on the volunteer cart, which accompanies each group, but they had to keep the carts on the path the first 2 days, making it a lot of walking for them. Val's website design, and updates have gotten some great e-mail commentary, and thanks for all of you who are so interested in our travels and events.

       We will proceed to the Santee, CA area, near last week's tragic school shooting. We play in Lakeside, where Barona Creek is a new course on an Indian reservation complete with a gambling casino. Will keep you posted.

       It is with great sadness that on Friday our friend Susie Touchett Moody lost her valiant battle with cancer. We send her husband Trent and their 3 young children and the entire family our prayers and strength in the coming days. My mom and some of my family will leave Grand Rapids and drive to Sussex, WI where on Wednesday the memorial service will be held. I can never forget her inspiration, her smile, and her laugh!

Sue E.

Back to Weekly Letters home