October 15h, 2008

I often tell my fans that life on the road for golf pros isn’t as glamorous as they think. Well, I’d be lying if I did that right now… The LPGA is having an inaugural event at the Kapalua Bay course in Maui, Hawaii this week. I arrived on Monday afternoon from Fresno, CA where I played in a 36-hole charity event, organized by Peter Jacobsen Sports, in ear muffs and a turtleneck… After a long trip from the mainland, I was welcomed to Maui by my housing hosts Gunars and JoRene who happen to live on the Plantation course of Kapalua… Not a bad spot to stay for a week :):)

 As they gave me a tour of their gorgeous house with a magnificent view of the Pacific Ocean (next door to Jim Furyk’s house), I found out that they have a full-time personal chef who prepares lunch and dinner every day of the week!!! His name is Riko and he’s not just another chef… He is an amazing chef/artist from a 5-star restaurant in San Diego.  So as you can imagine,  I was thinking ‘Is this real?’, ‘do I get to enjoy all of it this week?’  I’m going to be so spoiled by the end of this trip. As I was describing this experience to my husband Brian over the phone, he just couldn’t help but ask me if I was ‘ever coming home’… :):) He sounded a bit worried!!!  And I didn’t just get lucky with the accommodations but also with my hosts, who are just wonderful human beings.

The next day, I had to qualify for the LPGA tournament as I was still on the alternate list. I literally played blind: first, because I had never played the course before, and second, because my right contact lens was coming out every other hole and didn’t have a backup in my bag… I shot 72 and got into a playoff against Amy Read. To make matters worse, my caddie was having trouble keeping up with me (it’s a hilly golf course) and then, it was my turn to struggle. After both of us parred and tied the first playoff hole, we moved on to the next tee and I literally collapsed on my butt after finishing my swing. My right calf cramped up on me…. It was so scary as it never happened to me before!!! After stretching my calf muscle and delaying play against Amy, I kept going. I tried to stay as composed as I could… We both hit the green in regulation and as I walked up to the green, my left calf and toes cramped up. At that point, Angus (one of our LPGA rules officials), Amy and the caddies were helping my stretch my leg. It was quite a funny scene. I felt so badly for Amy because I was probably very distracting to her game… But she handled it so gracefully. She was joking around by telling me that she was old enough to be my mother and that she should be the one collapsing now after walking 20 hilly holes!!!!

At that moment, I was so concerned about not cramping again that I quit thinking about this playoff. We both 2-putted and moved on to our 3rd playoff hole!!! I couldn’t wait to get off the course! I stepped up on the par 3 12th tee (where I had double bogeyed it in the qualifying that morning) and hit it to a foot and a half. Amy made a solid par and I sank my little putt to finally earn my spot in the Kapalua classic!!! I guess it’s true when people say to “beware of the injured/wounded”!!!

Getting a spot in the tournament this week is so special for 2 reasons: First, my sponsor Universal Insurance Holdings of North America is having an event in Kapalua to celebrate Hawaii as their new coverage territory! Second, my mother joined me on Tuesday afternoon from South Korea to visit me. She and the Universal team will get to watch me play in the tournament!!! I have a dinner function each of the 3 nights Universal is here so this is a very busy week! I’d better go and get ready now!!!

Thanks for reading! I’ll be back soon again!