Week of Grand Rapids, Michigan
June 26, 2001

Yes, the week in Michigan was very pleasant - being back in Grand Rapids and seeing all of my family and friends who live in the area. I have already received many e-mails commenting on my 70-70-70, tie for 11th finish. It shows how many players are playing great - I had 10 birdies and 4 bogeys over three rounds; just steady play with a couple of highlights of 66 and 45 foot birdie putts. The roar from our crowd for each of those was so loud that the group in front of us was sure that I had made another hole-in-one! Sounded just like that Wisconsin roar.

We arrived in Grand Rapids from Decatur, IL to stay with my mom, Carol, at her condo on the east side of town. So convenient - 15 minutes to the Boulder Creek course on the north side and just hard to believe that in 20 cities the FUTURES Tour selects - one happens to be within 30 minutes of where my three sisters, my brother and their families all live! Thanks Mom for the great private housing!

Tuesday night my brother Jay, his wife Barb and their kids Claire and Ben hosted our entire family at their home on the Kettle Lake in Alto. It was a beautiful night for a barbecue, the kids enjoyed the swing set and the neighbors' trampoline. Barb beautifully arranged the food and drinks and presented the colorful summer plates and drink glasses. (Martha Stewart would be proud.) Mom still had some energy left after coming out for my practice round (with cart) and cleaning my clubs and retrieving my golf balls. We gave Val the day off to work on her American Accounting Association journals that she puts on the web for the Sarasota based organization. Normally she takes the pro-am day off, but like Lima, we had special friends who requested to play with me in the pro-am - my brother Jay and his 3 friends, so Val planned to join us on Thursday.

Thursday's pro-am had the threat of rain - 60%- but it soon turned into 100% for the afternoon. It rained from lunch to dinner, and our tee-time was 1:30. Since there was no lightning, we played on. What fun - Don Ziemke and Bert Crandell have known Jay for a long time, and Jay Barnes and his parents have been family friends from Ionia for many years. Young Jay B., at only age 13, flew to Denver to caddy for me in an LPGA event in about 1984. Bert had his first hole-in-one only two days earlier at Kent CC and we were all hoping we could witness Jay Ertl's first one on this day! No one complained about the irritating weather, and it even stopped for two holes before coming down in fuller force. Even with the conditions, we managed to score -12 for the scramble; we combined well and everyone had a few star moments. Jay Barnes even had the 'longest putt' on #18, a 39 footer with wild breaks. Jay Ertl's son Ben, my mom, and Jay Barnes' mom Diane accompanied Val and our team for the whole round - thanks to this devoted gallery, a special group who got very wet from head to toe. It is really nice that the tournament will pair certain participants with certain pros - I really would not have liked to see any of my fellow pros with this fun group!!!

As Thursday was the worst kind of weather day, Friday, Saturday and Sunday were the best weather days we could imagine. Mild wind and near 80 degrees, perfect to play and for the gallery to get a tan!

Many thanks for all of you who came to watch for one or all days. It was definitely noticeable by the sheer size of the group, but like I said, the SOUND was quite obvious!

Thanks to Carol Ertl; Cath Meriwether and Rob DuBault; Jay, Barb, Claire and Ben Ertl; Miff, Tom and Justine Griffin: Karen and Allie Wing; Diane and John Barnes; Hal and Mary Lou Bliss; Jack Buck; Ben D'Orazio; Shelley DeBree and her uncle Dick; Pam Ciganik and Laurie; Bob, Pat, Maureen and Katie O'Mara; Beth Topp and Denise Zoeterman; David Ziemke; Barb Ertl's mom Alma Benson and Barb's aunt Mary Ann; Bruce Roetman; special thanks too to University Park's Jerry and Beth Mumaw who drove up from Niles, MI to watch on Saturday. I hope I haven't forgotten anyone - there were so many - thank you all.

Thanks also to the sponsor Innerform, to Greg Johnson from the Grand Rapids Press and to Terri DeBoer from NBC's WOTV, all who promoted this event and its players for the entire week we were there. Great job.

It was a treat to see my entire family, and to get to see my nephew Sean who now is just 2. He has grown so much since I saw him at Christmas, and he sure has personality. Seeing nieces Justine, Claire and Allie grow up and become such nice people, is really a bonus that travelling to Grand Rapids brings. And then too, my nephew Ben has great energy and great questions, thanks for being there every day Ben!

Bye for now, we are in Vermont, and took the time to visit Niagara Falls and ride the 'Maid of the Mist' on our 13 hour drive to beautiful Killington.

Thanks for the e-mails, and have a great week.

Sue E.

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