Apropos of Nothing.... LPGA Style.

Ok. Just because I’m the Homeless Golfer doesn’t mean I don’t have stuff going on. Or perhaps I’m just lazy. Maybe a combination of the two.

Since the LPGA is back in New Jersey (fist pump!!!), I though I’d get off my butt and finish up my notes from the Sybase Match play. So, without further ado….

1. Angela Stanford had a “tin cup” moment on the 18^th hole in her match against Amanda Blumenhurst. Hitting what looked like a 3-wood on her 2^nd shot (par 5), a gust of wind blew in once her ball was in flight. It hit the front of the green, by the pin, then rolled back off the green. If there was water there, well, splash. Don’t think she would have dropped from the spot and made a 14 though. Immortality or not.

2. It is interesting to see who planned on staying around for the weekend after they were eliminated. Either they can’t change their flight, or they thought they were going deeper in the tourney…

3. Anytime you see a women with a laminated badge turned around so you can’t see the name/picture… that usually means you are a PRO. Just like at the PGA Show, turning it around draws more attention to you than telling people who you are. Most of them wouldn’t know who you were anyway…

4. Stephanie Sparks = cougar. If cougars liked their own kind…so I hear. Not that there is anything wrong with that…

5. Middle aged men getting autographs = weird. Seriously. If I’m getting an autograph from a woman my age (or socially acceptably younger) that doesn’t include a phone number, what’s really the point? Really.

6. Many residents from the island of lesbos on hand to witness the action.

7. You could bring in anything here.  Cell Phones, food, water, beer, thermonuclear weapons, etc….

8. One woman on Saturday was seen walking around with a set of clubs… WTF? It’s not like bringing a glove to a baseball game lady.

9. Sandra Gal really likes really short shorts. If you got it, flaunt it eh?

10. I forgot how ridiculous “Jersey Sporty” is. Wow. Like a Soprano’s extra’s holding area..

11. Bo Wie sporting a CVS shopping bag. They a tour sponsor?

12. An established “golf media” member (I think I recognized him) pulled a “Don’t you KNOW who I am” routine with a volunteer displaying his credential in the poor volunteer’s face. Seriously. No one reads your crappy articles anyway. So, no. They don’t know who you are. Jackass.

13. It looked like Angela Stanford was carrying a dip can in her back pocket on Saturday. She is from Texas and likes baseball…but…

14. TONS of white on the course. Where the PGA prefers black slacks, the LPGA prefers white…everything. Pants, skirts, those “skort” things, etc.

15. Michelle Wie out drives her competitors by almost 50 yards every hole. Yet isn’t dominating… perhaps that’s why she is seeking out Dave Pelz’s help?

16. I saw a bunch of middle aged dudes giving “commentary” on every shot. I’m talking about golf commentary, not the other kind. After listening for about 20 seconds, no wonder they are still living at home.

17. Kudos to those who got the Derek Flint reference in #6.

18. Lots of stereotypical “Jersey” types here. (Other than “sporty”) Make sure you stay to windward of them.

19. This course (Hamilton Farms) isn’t  very spectator friendly. Not many good viewing points.

20. Speaking of, one of the best points is behind the 16^th green, which has a panorama of the 18^th.  They actually let people stand on the fringe up against the collar. Good thing the ladies aren’t missing the green…

21. Dude. Seriously. I saw a credentialed “media” member with more hair coming out of his nostrils and ears than I have on my head. No, I’m not bald.

22. One of the weirdest sights of the tournament for me (and there were a few) was some overweight white guy in is 50’s parading around with a Korean flag. He didn’t have a stick so he held it up to make it fly. WTF?

23. I would not like to come across a pissed off Catriona Matthew in a dark alley.

24. Nor Karrie Webb for that matter.

25. Christina Kim standing on her golf cart and acting as a marshal for Michelle Wie for her 2^nd shot on #10 during her match vs the aforementioned Ms. Matthew. Lucky I didn’t get run over by her. Besides, I was at the spot first.

26. Speaking of marshals, 90% of them didn’t really know their jobs. One lady was frantically waving some someone 30 yards away to stop and wait until a player putted. The marshal was standing on the fringe of the green right in front of the player.  Um yeah. Not distracting. Not one bit.

27. I though it was weird when I saw matching couples. You know when the bf and gf wear matching outfits.  When they are both gf’s… much weirder.

28. Sandra Gal is the Vijay Singh of the LPGA. She hit balls for HOURS on Saturday. I’m thinking at least 5 hours.  I’m struggling to get through a large bucket… damn.

29. Speaking of practicing, Azahara Munoz was on the putting green for at least two hours before hitting balls for another couple of hours. Good to see the work ethic.

30. Heard there was a potential stalker situation with Bea Recardi on Friday. Might explain the state trooper walking along with the group. Plenty of candidates to choose from…

A Single Man's Adventure with the LPGA...

OK. Let me just tell you this up front. I am still spinning from my experience at the Sybase Match Play Championships. I’ve been to PGA Tour events, and even a US Open playoff. But. This was something I really didn’t expect. Granted I was willing to wager that 99% of the Pro-Am participants were guys, and most of the fans out there were men, but still… Wow. It was weird. Perhaps it was my expectations (or lack thereof), but there was some interesting stuff I observed. There are probably going to be like half a dozen posts to rid my brain of everything, but we’ll see. Ok. Here it goes…

Overall Observations:

It definitely didn’t have the “feel” of a major league event. The tickets were distributed in a small folding tent in the parking lot. School buses took you to the course where the driver of the bus gave you the “banned items” speech. Except that instead of saying that cell phones and cameras were banned, he just asked you to put your phones on vibrate. Two small concession stands. The gave you the roll for your hotdog in one line, then you had to stand in another to actually get the hot dog…. If they were actually cooked.

The course didn’t look really difficult. Ok, the greens were undulating and pretty fast… not extremely but still fast, and you had to put your approach in the right part of the green. The fairways were so huge, I could have hit them. I saw only one missed fairway in two days- Catrona Matthew on #10 on Saturday (more on that in a later post). I know the women hit it straighter than the men, but jeez.

If you like 230-240 yard drives, the LPGA is for you. Definitely no WOW factor. Makes Michelle Wie look all the more impressive.

At a PGA Tour event, there is definitely some eye candy outside the ropes. At Sybase? Non existent. Don’t get me wrong, there is plenty inside the ropes… the Ricardi/Munoz match was something to behold, but…

…. It is weird watching post-middle aged men (and some middle aged men) ogling women easily more than a half to a third of their age. I mean really weird. To the point that I was uncomfortable being there…

… not to mention that most of these dudes still looked like they still live in their parents’ basement… or my late grandfather. Wow.

I was expecting some bigger crowds, but then again I remembered… women’s sports don’t draw outside of Knoxville, TN and Storrs, CT. And only for basketball.

My friend Matt (who is living in Beijing) has a theory that Asian women are vampires due to their aversion to the sun. I guess they use umbrellas on sunny days and not on rainy ones. Based upon what I saw… that theory is still valid.

Pretty much anyone can get a “Media” credential. I doubt half of the people carrying media credentials have ever had anything written, published, or posted. Hell, with this blog, I am more “media” then they….

….speaking of the other half of the credentialed media, the “stereotypical” sports writer: doughy, aging male, not athletically inclined, wearing wrinkled, rumpled clothes, was on full display. Needless to say, they fit right in.

The trend of wearing golf shoes while watching a tournament is still mystifying. What is the point? You don’t wear spikes to a baseball game. You don’t bring your skates to a hockey game. Why the hell do you wear golf shoes to a golf tournament? What was interesting here is that 90% of the violators at the Sybase were women. Seriously. No. Joke.

I have heard that LPGA golfer were more “accessible” to the fans (are they sure they want to be?) than their PGA brethren. While this is true, I can’t help to wonder, is this by design or by simple logistics? I smell a future blog exploring this… maybe.

I watched the players warm up on Saturday before their matches. Not many putts on the putting green dropped. I mean everything from 3 footers to lag putts. I bet the success rate was maybe 60%. Perhaps I’m missing something, but it was astounding none the less.

Well, I think this is enough for now, I’ll be back… much, much more to come.