9-11-2011- Day 2 of Qualifying – My tee-time was later today, 1pm. I tried to sleep in, but how could you avoid the news and significance of this, the 10 year anniversary of 9-11. I had a late breakfast and watched a lot of CNN to pass the time. Finally, I headed to the course. Immediately, I noticed how the USGA signified the importance of 9-11, they adorned the first and tenth tees with small American flags. The rules officials carts were also bearing old glory, and both the 9^th and 11^th hole had the pin flags replaced with the USA flag. The caddies were instructed to not let these specific pins touch the ground.  I started out the day with a solid par. The next few holes were bogeys from the result of shots that hit the wrong sides of the greens.  Again today my shots from the unfamiliar rough or fringes hurt me, and the putts did not fall, although many came close.

I was able to make some amazing bogeys. A bogey 4 on a par 3 from the woods, a bogey 5 from a bad bounce into the ‘love grass’ around a greenside bunker and two other ‘water ball’ holes. Unfortunately my target score of 80 was not achieved, and I came in a few strokes higher from the day before for an 85. Slightly after I finished, the projected cut was 163, and I was sitting at 167. My hopes were raised at one brief point as the cut-line was set at 167, but it was not to last. The cut was 163 and included 9 ties.

I stayed at the course, to watch the 9 way playoff for 6 spots. The competitors from Massachusetts have been very friendly to me this week so I stayed to watch Mary Gale. There was some solace to know that this year’s winner of NEWGA also did not make it to match play. It was near darkness, and unfortunately Mary made a double on the par 5 17^th. After 9 finished this hole, the 5’s were in, the 7 was out, and the 3 bogeys continued on to 18^th. The course used some of the carts with headlights to illuminate the 18^th green. I did not stay until the very end because I was invited to a late dinner with my playing competitor, Dawn, and two other competitors from California and Alaska. I made a bad joke about not coming in last and they were both last and next to last. Foot promptly inserted into mouth. Dawn's caddie Tom joined us for dinner and regaled us in some interesting 'caddie' stories from the Honors course as well as the Nationwide and PGA tours.

I couldn’t get to sleep until well after 1am as the full day and anticipation really had me ‘wound up’. I commend the players who hang in for this grueling test of golf. The winner of this event will have played 10 rounds of golf in 8 days. I bet most golfers can’t imagine playing with such intensity in such a short period of time.

9-10-2011- Day 1 of Qualifying – I arrived at the club, only slightly early to work on chipping with my hybrid. After about 15 minutes in the dewy, foggy morning, I was expecting it to promptly clear up. Not so. It was a cool heavy fog. Unlike Connecticut, there are no coastal winds to move the air. At around 7:45 the first officials indicate there will be a delay due to the fog. Next there was a second delay and another. Eventually the delay turns out to be 2 hours and 10 minutes. This likely means that some of the afternoon players will not finish. It was interesting to see how the players passed the time, napping, card playing, checking phones, trivia games with clubhouse books. And eventually others started to get hungry. I made several trips to my cart early on for 2 rounds of warm ups. After the second, I felt I needed to get warmer in the club house and just relax a little. I ended up at a locker room table with Marlene Streit, a past champion and a Swedish woman who calls Paris home.

I noticed early that the caddie bibs for the week would be patriotic. The 3-somes would be red, white and blue for each of the caddies, if you chose or brought one. My caddie's bib was navy blue with my name in bold on the back, another benefit of earning your way here. The way things are around here, they could have easily been Tennessee Orange. Either way I know whose favorite colors they are. The course is an Audubon sanctuary and there are banks of bird feeders near the back porch and many bird houses throughout the course. The most interesting of all were the hummingbird feeders, at which many bright green and reddish humming birds visited both morning and night.

There was too much to think about before I even hit my first regulation shot. Finally I get to the 10^th tee and meet my partners. From Canada there was Kelly and from California, Dawn, but only via Oklahoma, donned with Sooners red.

I knew that this ‘southern grass' would be a challenge for me, and on holes 1 and 3, difficult chips lead me to early bogies. It was beneficial to have a caddie, as I never had to calculate a yardage to the green and Brian was helpful in reinforcing my club selections. I’m not so sure his putting lines were as good, but they were certainly better than mine in more than one instance. I was happy that both of my competitors were speedy golfers as we were ahead of our 4 timing station check points through the entire round. They were both pleasant and amenable to ‘what did you have there?’, as each of us was a little nervous.

Neither my putting nor chipping was my best on the front, and they started to ‘come around’ on the back.  But as the  lengthy day wore on, my iron and tee play suffered slightly. In a way it all averaged out, as I shot bookend 41’s for a total of 82. I felt it was a marginal score for me, but was expecting a number closer to 80. This target I felt would get someone to match play.

9-9-2011- Second Practice Round Day – I arrived at the club early mostly to work on my chipping from this unfamiliar grass. It didn’t exactly pay off on the course as there are many greens with severely sloping aprons in front of the greens. Today some of my partners tried to putt them, not so successfully. I may try practicing a hybrid for this shot before tomorrow's round.

Today I had a later T-time with new playing partners--today we were a foursome: Teresa Cleland, from Syracuse, Boodie McGurn from Richmond and Cheryl Grigg from Sea Island. These people don’t know how to have any fun on the golf course--Not! Teresa or T as she likes to be called, had her husband on the bag and Cheryl and Boodie were long time buddies sharing a club caddie. These ladies were telling favorite golf stories and even a joke or two. I was amazed at the ease at which everyone shared hole strategies. I guess they know that it always comes down to ‘hitting’ the right shot not ‘knowing’ the right shot.

Yesterday one of the members informed me that the wild grasses are called the ‘Love’ grass by the members. I guess it’s an antonym for really ‘hating’ to be there. It appears that you have to hit it really crooked to get to these spots, but being there would no doubt result in a big number. Another feature on the course was a huge, very deep bunker short and left of the par 5 17^th, called 'Bertha'. My playing partner from yesterday never did get out after 3 or 4 shots. Today, no one flirted with it, as I guess the plan is to avoid it. There were many yellow and monarch butterflies around the course today. They made me think of an old golf buddie who passed away many years ago, and of course then my thoughts drifted to Lance and others who have left my life. I know that all of them would be pleased with me being here today, representing my club, my state and my family.

You may ask, how do you get to play in a USGA event? I would ask if your handicap allows, that you consider challenging your game and attempt it. For Ladies there is the USGA Public Links, the Mid-Am, the Seniors, the Amateur and the Open. You may be surprised at the maximum handicap requirement for the first 3 venues I mentioned. Although our paths haven’t crossed yet, there are two other Connecticut ladies here with me, Debbie Jamgochian from Greenwich and Becky Montgelas from Darien. They qualified at the C.C. of Fairfield even though it conflicted with our state amateur. I elected to go to Worcester MA, and was the sole CT qualifier from this site. I was rooting for Joyce Curran and Jo Rasmussen to join me, but I commend them for ‘giving it a good try’. I was one of nine selected from the second strongest and largest field in the country. A member at my club found some interesting facts about Worcester. Worcester Country Club in MA, site of the 1925 US Open, and 1927 Ryder Cup. That Donald Ross course is the only golf course to host all three events: the Men's and Women's U.S. Open Championships and the Ryder Cup. In fact the day I qualified, I playing with a 65 year old lady, a real fire plug who pushed her own cart.  She told me that she always plays in these events because of the venues they are held at. I recall her being so excited when she parred the first hole.

9-8-2011- First Practice Round Day – I am once again humbled and fortunate to be playing in a USGA event. This year I am the same age as the tournament I am playing in. Shhh... let’s not talk about the details; I am still in denial. I have had a very traumatic year off the golf course and am certainly still grieving the loss of Lance, the most important person in my life. Somehow recently I have come to a place where golf is a respite from the painful side of my life. So as difficult as it is, I have elected to make this journey south to play some serious golf.

Today I arrived at the course, where I briefly checked in as the registration process will have to wait until after my practice round. I had a fortunate draw to receive a club caddie, Brian. He made me comfortable right away with his calming southern drawl. I also knew that he was knowledgeable of golf itself as my married name was familiar to him; maybe it helped me get a better caddie draw. I was teamed up with two other southerners, Kim Dickerson and Sue Raine, who both hail from Alabama.  Although Kim's home state is now Illinois, her speech still reflects her roots.

The course and its members are a testament to amateur golf and southern hospitality. I was hoping that I wouldn’t be too far south so as to avoid the Zoysia snarly grass, but not so. At least the greens are bent grass just like home. I knew part of my day would be spent getting accustomed to the new turf and trying to learn the course and the greens. My playing partners were seasoned competitors and knew how to play a practice round: spend most of your time putting on the greens to document the breaks and speeds. Nobody played for score and would occasionally hit a second shot to build confidence in your game. The course was very secluded, and as with other Pete Dye courses included railroad ties and water. In addition, there were very penal wild grasses around the course; they looked like dense wild flowers and some still had purple and yellow flowers upon them. I can imagine that spring time would be much more dramatic.

After golf, I went through registration with Kim and we received instructions and reference material. The USGA are keen guardians of the rules of golf and especially pace of play. The trophy for which we are contending was on display, and it closely resembles the logo of the Honors Course. Our gift from the host club is a sterling silver medallion necklace that has the Honors Course logo and tournament name on one side and the USGA logo on the other. As with any other USGA event, and that includes the Men’s and Women’s Opens, the player receives a bronze badge with the USGA logo, the tournament title, and the player's name engraved. I know that these are even prized processions of the professionals.

The men’s locker room will be home for us ladies this week, and each competitor received their own locker. Also to make the area softer, the men’s urinals were adorned with huge fern plants. My relatives did a good job of hiding the plumbing. :o) The club president’s sister gave us a tour of the course and informed us of the club’s connection to amateur golf. This link will tell you more http://www.usga.org/ChampEventArticle.aspx?id=21474842343.