Safeway Classic

[cougar]

I was told that traffic would be awful, but I got to the Pumpkin Ridge from the airport in about 40 minutes, with no problems. There were good signs to the golf course, and parking areas. I decided to try the 1,2,3 areas and was told to park in the second row of cars. It was a short walk in toward the clubhouse from there. I am not sure where the 4,5,6,7 areas were, but I probably will have to go there tomorrow.

The first people I saw were Brittany Lincicome and her father, so I went over to congratulate Brittany on her great play last week. I looked around to see if I could find others, and saw Morgan, Kristy, Cristie, Christina and congratulated them. I saw Michelle and Brittany Lang from a distance, and did not have a chance to speak to them. The next hour or so was spent catching up with some of the players and caddies that I had not seen for almost two months. Louise Friberg, Jimin Kang and Hee Young Park were their usual bubbly selves. There were a number of changes, so I needed to be brought up to speed about who was working for whom.

There was the annual caddie putting contest, so I became the walking scorer for several of the groups. Six holes were laid out on the practice green with slopes and artificial obstacles. After it was over, there was a four way tie for the lead - Tom Borwick, John Schiffer, Tom Franks, Sam Hinshaw. They decided to around all six holes again and Sam won it with the same score of 14 as before. She later won a side bet with another caddie. Prizes were not given out, but I heard that an expensive GPS unit was the top prize, and several iPods were also to be given out, along with some cash. A good Chinese dinner was served also, so it was worthwhile being there.

[greentee]

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Thanks Coug, have a great time, and hope you have time to make more reports.

I am guessing here, but thinking that the Solheim high will now carry over to the Salfeway event, as it is so close in the schedule. Hope I am right, that will hype the atmosphere and fans. Have a great time there, and remember... in our eyes, 'you' to are very special. :-)

[MarinePaul]

I'm looking forward to your reports, Cougar. Always appreciate your insight.

[Buzzer]

Sounds like a good time was had by all.....wish I was there with you, Cougar......

Viva Annika

[Ricearoni]

Great news - Good weather here, in fact quite warm. We hope to get an early start and catch some of the pro/am play on Thursday, then walk, walk, walk for the three days of the tournament. Can't wait to see Pumpkin Ridge! I'll post as I can.

[cougar]

I watched a few players start off on the first and tenth tees. While standing near the first tee, I was almost hit twice by errant shots from pro-am players hitting towards the ninth green. It was interesting that there were greens reporters only every three holes, so the electronic scoreboards showed updates three holes at a time. Song Hee Kim's team was the leader at 18 under par when I left the golf course.

The highlight of the day was when Junior Seau went to the caddie tent and interviewed the caddiemaster and several of the caddies for his new reality show on Versus. He is getting background information for his venture working for Natalie in Thursday's pro-am. Nat's caddie, Greg, was in an auto accident after the Solheim, and has to rest his aching body. He said that x-rays showed that nothing was broken. Depending on what happens tomorrow, Junior may or may not work the entire tournament for her. He also interviewed a couple of USC players, most notably Jill McGill.

Lunch came from Pizza Hut, with many dozens of pizzas being brought in for the caddies. I think there were two different deliveries, starting a little after 11am. Pro-am players were treated to complementary Oscar Meyer hot dogs next to the Wienermobile located behind the 9th green. There also were two giant hot dogs in buns for people to pose with.

I ventured out the back nine for a few holes to find good locations to watch the tournament. It was too hot to go very far, but I did find two areas where moving a short distance provided good vantage points for multiple shot-viewing. I also located a good spot on the front nine by looking at the map and asking a few caddies their opinions. The somewhat hilly terrain will make it difficult for me to walk too far at one time because of my bad ankles.

[NTB]

Hang in there Coug, you are our roving reporter.
Great Job your doing.

[Ricearoni]

Today was a real treat. We're just a 20 minute ride from the course, so we arrived by 8 or so. The usual group of eager-to-please teenagers managed the parking lot and shuttled fans to the course. Nothing appears to be scaled back here - all seems ready for tournament days - typical sponsor/vendor village, the huge Taste of Safeway Tent which houses 50 or so food reps that dole out free samples, and the 19th hole giving wine and beer samples. All good.

We dawdled at the practice area a bit, (I spoke briefly with Sonny Delasin - Dot was just practicing today, having no pro/am obligations. She's got a new Driver, so I'm hoping some of the kinks come out of her drives. ), then moved to the 1st hole to see 4 or 5 groups tee off and finally started our front 9 stroll with Lorena's group, plus 15 or so other fans. The front 9 is very walkable, just slightly hilly - a bit more so than Mission Hills. Lorena was paired with 4 men (average ability)who were sponored by Kraft and Safeway. We spoke with her briefly - getting assurances that she would be at the Long's/CVS in Sept - but she was battling a bad cold, and her play today showed it. Her driving distances in no way approached her usual output. Hope she gets some rest and feels better for the event.

At the turn, Spouse and I had lunch at the clubhouse. We sat outdoors with nice views of the practice putting areas and the 10th tee. Very fun. At one point, Cougar joined us, sitting next to me. Spouse got the camera out to take our picture, but was more likely focused on Judy Rankin who sat behind us!

After lunch, I found a spot at 18 to watch the groups come in. Spouse caught up with Lorena's group and I met up with him as she finished her round. I lingered a bit and saw Michelle finish with about 15 or so fans walking along with her and ever present Mom and Dad.

We look forward to day 1, but it may be wet - ah, the Pacific Northwest!

No bozos spotted but I hope someone tells the starter how to pronounce Stacy P's last name.

More, as I can.

[cougar]

It was kind of a lazy day for me. As I got to the course a little before 8am, I saw Dorothy Delasin and brother coming off the 9th hole. Must have been quite an early start for an E9. I looked back and saw Danielle Downey in the fairway, so I waited for her to finish. She and Rick said they saw nobody after waiting on the first three holes behind Dorothy, but I them that she had finished a little earlier. I just wandered around for a while, then went over to the caddie shack to catch up on some gossip. Rossi was sitting there so I chatted with her for a while. She did not have any new info, as Michelle had gone back to Australia for her father's funeral, and was not in contact for a number of days.

When Greg Sheridan showed up, I asked him how his shoulder felt, and he said it was much better, and he would work the back nine and also the tournament for Nat. His right shoulder was injured, and he only carries the bag on his left. Junior Seau arrived shortly afterward and was getting the scoop from Greg as to what he had to look out for. One was counting the number of clubs in the bag. He counted 15, and was told that it was one more than allowed. That is when Natalie showed up, and she said that the 4 iron had to go. Junior asked what he should do with it, and Greg said it would go back to the club storage area. Natalie then gave Junior a peanut butter and honey sandwich, which she made earlier. She said that she used to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, but Greg preferred honey. He ate the entire sandwich before the consultation was over. The final step was to mark the balls, which Greg explained why this was done.

I spent the next hour or so watching other players tee off on the first and tenth holes, and in the practice areas. When Brittany Lincicome finished the ninth hole, I went over to say hello to her and her father. I also joined in at the free hot dog stand by the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile. I think it was supposed to be only for the pro-am contestants, but they seemed to give them to anyone who walked up. Then I went to the first tee to watch Natalie's team start out. They were from Kraft and Pepsi. Junior had been instructed to line up Natalie's shot, so he got behind her after she teed up her ball, and indicated where she was aiming. As he watched intently and said good, she turned around and said "that is okay, Greg hasn't moved me in 6 years". That brought much laughter from the crowd around the tee box. She then hit a good shot, and they went down the first fairway along with a camera crew.

When one of my friends from SoCal showed up, I went with him to the tournament office so he could pick up his uniform and credentials. They apparently did not have any hats, so he will have to pick it up on Friday before going out to marshal the fifth hole in the morning and the 14th hole in the afternoon. We watched a number of groups play the 9th through 18th holes. Jee Young Lee hit an iron shot five feet from the hole on the par 5 9th, so they had an easy eagle. I asked her father what club she hit, and I think he said a 9 iron. Johanna Mundy had three very good women players, and they had a big advantage playing from the red tees. On the 13th hole, two of them carried the dogleg over the trees, and the team had a flip wedge into the green. They birdied the hole, even though the pin placement was tricky. Jee Young Lee also hit a short iron to the 18th green and the team made a birdie there, where many other teams completely missed the green. One of the players complained to the rules official that the hole played too long, but I don't think that any changes will be made in the tee markers.

I heard that there were five holes-in-one on Thursday, and four were by pros. Also heard that an amateur woman aced the par 4 17th hole.

When I left the course, Cristie Kerr's team had the lead at 18 under par.

[Putter]

Great reports Cougar and Rice! Keep it up, and have a great time! Either of you coming north for the Canuck?