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Did you miss me? I know it’s been a few weeks, I’ve been slack, and I apologize. I just wasn’t inspired enough by my golf in Norway to write anything. You never heard about Norway’s event and for those who watched my scoring may have seen that I had a 12 in the second round on the 13th hole. Up to that point I was (-2) under par for the event, until I had a horror story in the bunker. It was one of those bunker shots . . . pin was cut in the back of a long green and I was short in the bunker. I was feeling pretty confident, visualized the shot, watched the ball and swung. Caught the ball first and it sailed over the pin and flew out of bounds behind the green. I had to wait on a ruling as to whether I was able to rake the bunker before I dropped the new ball. After one rules official came over, who didn’t speak English, and didn’t know the ruling, I had to wait for another Official. After 5 minutes of waiting and thinking about my last shot, I found out that I was able to rake the bunker before I hit my next shot. Anyway, a long story short, I managed to repeat that last shot, and hit it out of bounds. After 2 out of bounds, I changed clubs, and continued to do the same thing 1 more time. Got my 4th ball to 10 feet and missed the putt for 12. SHATTERED! What happened after that didn’t matter. I’d gone from 30th to missing the cut and no chance unless I birdied and eagled my way home. Good thing I had a week off after that and a holiday planned. I was going to need it to erase that memory from my mind.
Other than that Norway was absolutely beautiful. We were playing in a town called Larvik which is apparently where the rich and famous of Norway holiday. It was a little slice of heaven!
The next event was the Spanish Open, which is just south of Barcelona, but it was a week away so we spent a week holidaying in Barcelona. Tough life I know! It was beautiful, the architecture and culture was amazing. The quaint markets and expansive cathedrals had us mesmerized. We rented bikes and saw the whole city in 8 days. The beaches were nice but I’ve definitely been spoiled in Australia, which has to be the whitest of sand and bluest of water to even register as a fantastic beach. Gregg didn’t mind all the topless women though! J
Monday came around quickly and we were back at Barcelona airport waiting for our transfer bus to Panoramica. We made our way and moved into our new apartment on the 9th tee. Panoramica is one of my favorite venues. We get to stay on the course and immerse ourselves in practice and play. They had a huge putting green and a separate equally as big chipping green. The range is 100m wide and most important the wind predominantly comes of the right. Then there is a par 3 course which is great for wedge practice. It doesn’t get much better or easier to spend hours on end trying new shots!
I woke up Tuesday with the signs of an oncoming cold. Sore throat and blocked up, I wasn’t going to let it ruin my paradise. Although I did take on Siesta’s every day. Thursday was a beautiful morning, I was still ill, but kept my head down and mind clear for a (-4) under par 68. Gotta love the old saying, beware of the sick golfer. Friday, I was feeling much better but could only manage an even par 72. Another cut made, and a course that demands birdies I was ready to roll some putts in on the weekend. I had a 73, one over par, on Saturday. It was a little disappointing, and I lost 15 spots on the field. But no double bogeys and no 12’s. J Although I did practice many bunker shots that week, I still managed to catch too many of them thin. So Sunday I was ready to tear it up. Was playing well and relaxed, but couldn’t get a putt to drop. After 15 holes, I had 1 birdie and 1 bogey. Wasn’t going to get my 8 or 9 under but I was still chasing my 2 or 3. I managed to birdie 16 and 18 to finish (-2) under for the day, and (-5) under for the event. Tied 22nd. So I jumped 11 spots on the money list and I’m heading in the right direction.
I am now back in London and celebrated my birthday yesterday travelling, which was a bummer but I might just make it a week long celebration. This weekend we head of to Royal Lytham St Anne’s for the British Open Final Qualifier. It is a one day, 18 hole, qualifier, in which they have 20 spots available out of 95 eager girls. I hope to be one of those eager hopefuls, and feel that I can definitely achieve that goal. So hopefully next weekend you’ll see me fighting against the best golfer in the world in one of the most prestigious events on our golf schedule! The British Open!!
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We arrived in Holland full of hope, after my Top 10 finish last year in this event. I had fond memories of The Netherlands and I was looking for the tournament to turn my season back in the right direction. We arrived on Monday in Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport, and caught a train for an hour and half to Southern Holland a little town called Eindhoven. Gregg and I played a relaxing 18 holes of golf then headed to our Dutch parents for the week, Paul and Ellen Van Den Heuvel. A wonderful evening of food and conversation followed. Gregg especially liked the Specklab. A thick cut of streaky bacon marinated in barbeque sauce. Tuesday and Wednesday we were booked in for ProAm’s.
Thursday was a great day of practice. I was hitting it better on the range and did some great work on my short game and wedges. Gregg had some fun coming up with games and drills for me to play. I had been allocated the afternoon tee time on my first round, and a day that was much chillier than the rest caught us by surprise. The day was still and the golf course ready for low scores. I was focused and ready to play well. Committed to every shot and pre shot routine I only had high expectations. Maybe that was the problem! A few bogies and no birdies, I was getting slightly frustrated but knew the 18th a short par 5 was coming up. A birdie was 90% certain, I thought the other 10% was my eagle chance! A great drive gave me a hybrid to the green. I pulled the second shot left and it saw me 10 yards from the green under a tree and looking at the back of the leaderboard. Unfortunately I was a foot outside of the allowed club length that would have given me a free drop. So I had about a meter tunnel to hit through with tree on my right and leaderboard on my left. Alas another pull. I hit the leaderboard and went another 10 yards behind me barely missing Gregg. I was able to get a drop now from the leaderboard, but it would have put me in unplayable positions. I had nowhere to chip but back down the fairway. A double bogey followed and my spirit was flickering inside me.
Friday night Paul and Ellen had organized a dinner with two other families who were hosting players. We went to a little Italian restaurant and it was amusing with all different nationalities of our group: Dutch, Italian, French, Swedish, Australian and English flying around the room. We knew what we wanted to eat but didn’t know the translation of the menu. . .was it Dutch? Italian? It was lighthearted and we ate wonderful food partnered with great conversation. Of the 13 people at the table we represented 8 nationalities. How could that not be amusing!
Saturday had to be a good day, I needed a few under and was going for it. A one under was all I managed. Gregg sat in front of the computer all afternoon watching live scoring. When we thought we had some hope, the scoring refreshed and scores were wrong for several players. I was without a chance on the weekend. Another missed cut by one, but I am a soldier and I am full of hope. I know I have greatness coming soon.
Off to the warmer weather of Lisbon, Portugal. Time to heat up and take my place upon the leaderboard! This week we are planning to attack the course, and see ourselves in good spirits going into Sunday!
Dana and Gregg
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Well this was the one update I was planning not to write this year. If things went according to my plan I would have made every cut and been a happy little camper, but alas I am not invincible as much as I like to hope. And it seems that Germany is my Achilles heel. I had recovered from my horrible ball striking and was impressed with how everything was coming along in Germany. Gregg had given me a pep talk about being confident and showing it in my body language. I was feeling great, playing well but still having trouble getting the ball to drop. The story didn’t change much for Round 2. Although I didn’t even come close to having a three putt I wasn’t looking good for a birdie putt either. A first round of 73 and second of 74 saw me miss the cut by one. And one very bummed little Aussie just wanting to play some more.
So with not much to report on golf, I’ll tell you a little about what we got up to in Germany. Monday saw us with a huge bag of dirty clothes and the nearest Laundromat 4 train connections away. After our clothes were clean we headed into Munich for some dinner and the opening party, hosted by German player Martina Eberl.
Tuesday was a practice round day, and that evening we were hosted to a Bavarian feast of Roasted Suckling Pig, and some stuffing sponge balls.
Wednesday was an early start to get on the course before the ProAm started, and a last day of preparation before the 1st round. Around the blog you’ll see some of our photos from sightseeing. You’ll also notice the many photos with Beer. The funny thing about Beer in Germany is it costs the same as a soda and less than water, but it’s double the size. Gregg was happy that his argument to drink beer was so persuasive. I remained thirsty!
Next stop, Holland on May 1st! Ready to take charge!
Auf Wiederhesen! Dana and Gregg
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My first week back in tournament golf was a little nerve racking I must say. It has been three months since our Australian events. Thursday was a lovely day in Switzerland and the three birdies to finish one under was very helpful. What followed on Friday was one of those days which haves you question why we play golf in the rain. It rained non-stop all day long. I was paired with a French girl who I had liked up until this day. Everything was great until a par 3 came along, and she missed her tee shot short in the bunker. I was laying a few meters ahead of her on the fringe, in line with the pin. After playing her sand shot, she was less than impressed and decided to have a spat in the bunker to release some frustration. She took an extra few swings at the sand and threw sand and pebbles all over the green ahead, AND my ball was covered. You could say I was less than impressed when I had to putt through her temper tantrum mess! She continued to have a shocker finishing out. I guess Karma is a B*tch after all. My one over par for the day was well fought, and I was very happy to make the cut.
Saturday was a rather impressive ball striking day. I had the radar on for a good few holes, unfortunately the putter decided to go on vacation for a few hours, and not enough deserved birdies were made. So I was one over for the tournament going into the last round. I know the course and I knew a lot of birdies were possible and much needed. After three holes I was off to a misery but kept a positive attitude and fought for everything. The ball striking had abandoned me, and the putting was back. Unfortunately my clutch putts were for bogies not birdies. A double and a triple later, we were walking down 16 and Gregg turned to me and said, “We need to make one birdie in these next three holes.” I pondered this for a few seconds before I realized that he was saying if I didn’t make at least one birdie the snowman was going to be a feature on my score! (That’s an 80 for those none golfers). So a birdie on 17 made me the happiest I had been all day.
A horrible weekend left me close to the bottom of the payouts. The positive is it was only the first week and there is a long way to go. So back to the range and I’ll keep plugging away!
Dana and Gregg
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Hi Everyone, The Ladies European Tour Kicks off again this week after a two and a half month break. During the last set of tournaments in Australia I kept everyone updated with a weekly blog. I have now decided that I will do this “Lacey Weekly” Newsletter. I’ll have my usual and sometimes unusual stories about the week.
Our favorite pictures, tournament results and stats, upcoming events, quote of the week, a blog from Gregg, some local tongue I may have learned, and anything else I can think of that may seem interesting. We have arrived in Switzerland safely but a little tired. After a stopover in London to repack on Sunday, we left this morning at 7am and had a two hour bus ride from Milan, Italy to Losone, Switzerland. We have checked into a little apartment I found online, and it is perfect! Off to a great start already.
The tournament starts on Thursday, and runs through Sunday. Don’t forget you can check scores at www.ladieseuropeantour.com.
I’ll be back Monday next week to tell you all about it! Oh, and I hope all the Mother’s out there had a great Mother’s Day! Love you MUM!
Dana and Gregg
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There is no better way to spend the summer than in Australia. There was another reason I enjoyed it so much and that was beacuse my Boyfriend Gregg joioned me to caddy for the summer. We were able to come home to Perth for Christmas and New Years and spend some quality time with my parents and my only brother, who I rarely get to see while I'm flitting around the world playing golf.
We had a great christmas in the heat of Perth but before we could get settled in we were on the road again to take on the Australian Tour.
Our first stop saw us at a few Pro Am's in Kangaroo Valley, Royal Canberra and Branxton. I made money at all events and although I wasn't satisfied it was a great warm up for the events to come.
The NSW Open was the next event at Oatlands. I finished in a tie for 26th.
From NSW we moved onto the inaugural New Zealand Women's Open at Clearwater. What a treat this was. New Zealand was beautiful. I ended up Tied 16th and ready to move onto the start of the European Tour schedule.
The ANZ Masters was the first event which was co sanctioned with the Ladies European Tour. I got off to flyer being 4 under tied 12th, a shaky finish on a course that is always ready fow low scores was not the finish I was looking for. This was a weekend that I decided to forget about rather quickly.
Moving onto the last event of our Summer the Women's Australian Open. It was a solid performance for the week ending up tied 30th and with a hole in one on the 2nd hole of the last day. Unfortunately there was no prize to be won on that hole but I walked away with good memories!
For now I am in Perth getting some needed training and organisation time in. I will head back to the States in march to catch up with my coach Peter Murphy before heading back to Europe in the 2nd week of May. I'll be back soon with an update!
Take Care Dana
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