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Hard to believe I could ever love this score, but I have to say scoring only +5 when I played with a golfer who scored 123. Really more of a mental effort, but I’m hoping to improve by a few. I will play with my former MSU teammate Joan Garety and a player I have not met, Lisa LaFollette. Tomorrow my sister Miff will arrive with friends Ken, Cindy and Travis McKee to join Mom for the 6 mile walk.

Best wishes to my sister Cath as she gets the word on her painful knees – we miss you here. And thinking of the Lee family this week.

Results for the Michigan Women’s Open at Crystal Mountain Resort.

Doug Foster and his wife Diane (our caddy for the weekend), Judy Leto, Val Brennan, Jim Leto and Sue Ertl at the Crystal Mountain Pro-Am cocktail party.

We had a great time at Crystal Mountain during our 2nd day of the pro-am scramble. Our 14 under par  included one eagle on #10 of the Betsie Valley course. Val and Doug drove the ball great, while Jim, Judy and I were needed for the short irons and scoring shots. Just a fun kickoff for the 3 day Michigan Women’s Open starting tomorrow.

Friends to watch are high schoolers Alexandra Lipa (a student of mine who won the MHSAA State Championship from Birmingham Seaholm) on her way this fall to Yale, Jacqueline DeBoer from Byron Center, and Melissa Beurmann from Jackson. You can also follow Legends Tour pros Cindy Figg-Currier, Cindy Rarick, and Crystal Mountain’s host pro Elaine Crosby. Michigan State’s Coach Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll is competing with several of her players, as well as former Spartans Joan Garety, Stacy Olson, and current LPGA Tour player Allison Fouch. The field of 109 is the largest ever for the Michigan Women’s Open. I look forward to having my fan club from Grand Rapids and Ionia come to watch!

Our 5-player scramble team of Jim & Judy Leto, Doug Foster, Val Brennan and myself shot 10-under-par int he first round of the Michigan Women’s Open pro-am on the Mountain Ridge course at Crystal Mountain Resort in northern Michigan.  The weather wasn’t perfect (pouring rain and cold with some wind), but we had a really fun team and enjoyed our day.  As our team has one of the lowest handicaps in the event, we’ll have to come from behind tomorrow if we hope to get into the top three.

Results from the Tennessee Women’s Open

Kind of an amazing coincidence in this Tennessee Women’s Open:

A year ago at Bear Trace, first round, #7, I hit an 8 iron into the hole for eagle (downhill – 142 yards). Woo Hoo!

And today, one year later, at Stonehenge, first round, #7, I hit a 9-wood into the hole for eagle (uphill – 165 yards). Woo Hoo again.

Check out the scores!

Sue, Don Alexander, Tommy Hale, and Tony Cox

Today I played with the nicest team at Fairfield Glade – Tony Cox, Tommy Hale, and Don Alexander. They sure could drive the ball well and they each contributed approach shots and putts toward their scramble score of 64! Our team won beautiful Callaway carry bags with the city of Crossville logo emblazoned on the side as well as the back side ball pocket! We all wish our teammate Tony Cox good luck in the Greater Knoxville City Amateur as he competes the next 4 days on 4 different courses.

Sue, Zibby Damm, and Val Brennan

I never know who we will meet at the course, and today we had the chance meeting of University Park CC Member Barb Inbody’s sister Zibby Damm. Small world as we had met her friend the day prior walking her dog at the golf course. So today, who walks up but Zibby! So hello to Barb Inbody from your sister VIA Sue E. What a nice sister you have! Amazing!

Here are the Tennessee Women’s Open Tee Times for Day 1.

We are at the Stonehenge Golf Club in Fairfield Glade, TN where we  played our first practice round. The course was quite wet due to the downpour the night before. The storm had been so severe, that all power was out where we had parked: the gas stations, the hotel marquis, and even the stop lights were out, but only for minutes – total blackout!

Stonehenge GC hole #14

This Stonehenge course is Tennessee’s #1 ranked resort course designed by Joe Lee. Its tough design includes many sidehill lies, rollling terrain, and one very extremely memorable hole #14. It is a par-3 hole, only 148 yards, but drops off from tee to green I would say 100 feet. Not only is the landing area treacherous (hazard left, bunker right, a river behind it), the winding drive down the hill is a test to all driving skills! I would say the only other times I have played a similar major dropoff were #15 at the Palms Golf Club in the Mesquite, NV area (114 foot drop) and Green Mountain National GC in Killington, VT holes#2 and #7.

Fairfield Glade is a large golf community in higher elevation, where homeowners are members of the 5 golf courses, paying a small annual fee as well as cart fee at any of the championship courses. We have rented a beautiful townhome on a lake here in the community for the week, and the commute is 3 minutes rather than the 20 down the hill to the hotels.