Albany, NY

Last week I played in Albany, NY. This tournament feels like a home tournament as I have family and close friends here as well as an awesome sponsor for the week, Albany Advisor Group. I started my week with a cocktail party put on by Lori Murphy, who is a part of Albany Advisor Group. I enjoyed meeting a lot of people as well as being a part of a chipping contest. Albany Advisor Group has sponsored me here for the past 3 years and is my first corporate sponsor. I was also lucky enough to play with Lori, a client of hers, and Lori's friend in the Pro-Am. We had such a great time and held our own! On Wednesday night, I spent some time helping kids with disabilities at a clinic. It was with a group called SAFE. It was a wonderful time and definitely puts my life into perspective! It made me remember that golf is not a life or death matter and that I am lucky enough to be living a dream. It was a wonderful night with a great turnout! My Dad flew in to caddie and we had a great time out there. The first round was a rollercoaster where I shot 75. I was up and down all day and never really got anything going, except a 4 putt. After the round I worked on my putting and realized I was gripping the putter too tight. I told my Dad to remind me to have soft hands when I putt and that did the trick! On Saturday, I shot 68 to make the cut and moved up about 50 spots. The final round was brutally hot, around 95 with no breeze. I was really struggling with the heat and wasn't quite myself. I managed to shoot even par, 71 to finish in a tie for 37th. Overall, it was a solid week for me and I feel like I'm going to have another great tournament coming up! I just need to put everything together for 3 rounds and I know I can win! I want to thank all of my family and friends in Albany last week for coming out to support me. And of course, thanks again to Albany Advisor Group for being a wonderful support system to help me on my path to playing on the LPGA!

Indiana and US Open

A few weeks ago I played in our biggest purse on tour in South Bend, Indiana. I was coming off of a great week in Decatur and felt good going into the week. Unfortunately, my putter seemed to have gone cold and I never really made any birdie putts. I played solid all week and shot 71-73-73. I played so much better than what the scores say but it's always a good thing when 73 seems like a high score. After the tournament, I flew to Long Island, New York for the US Women's Open. I finally got to see Travis after 3 weeks of being on the road. It's definitely been hard being married and not at home but my husband wouldn't have it any other way to be able to chase my dream. I married a good one :) Anyways, the week at the Open was one we will never forget. We were greeted at the airport with a nice complimentary Lexus SUV for the week that only had 300 miles on it. Once I got to the course, I received golf balls and gloves from Titleist, a new staff bag from Ping, my own locker, family dining passes, and much more. Not to mention we got to bypass all of the police stops to drive up to the clubhouse and have a valet service everyday. It was quite the life I lived that week with getting to choose what golf balls to use on the range to having a stand bearer during a practice round. To my surprise I was never nervous. I felt like I deserved to be there and belonged there. It was more surreal than anything to be eating lunch in a cottage next to Juli Inkster and Paula Creamer. It was even more surreal putting next to my childhood idol, Karie Webb who I had written a letter for a school project in 7th grade. She had responded with a lengthy letter and picture and I was now playing next to her in the biggest tournament on the LPGA. This week was definitely a dream come true. As far as the course, Sebonack goes, it was by far the longest and toughest course I have ever played. TV did not do the greens justice as there were many times I had hit the green in regulation and then watch it run off into a low spot. I played incredibly solid the first two days to make the cut. I was ecstatic and that confirmed to me that if I can get my card to play on the LPGA, I can compete with the best and make cuts! It definitely gives me that much more motivation to get in the top 10 at the end of the Symetra Tour season. The weekend was a little rough for me as I hit it in spots that are impossible to make par from. They stretched the course out to 6800 yards and my biggest weakness is my length. So having a lot of 3 woods in my hand found it hard to have birdie putts let alone hold a green. It was an awesome learning experience and I can't wait for more in the future! I had quite a support system there and can't thank my family and friends enough for coming to cheer me on. Also, a special thank you to Send Out Cards who sponsored me to help pay the expenses for the week. Also, thank you to the many of you who donated to buy a hat. I was overwhelmed with how many people donated and I can't thank you enough!! It covered my costs for the week and helped me play with ease knowing I wasn't struggling financially to be there. I'll be sending your hats out this week while I'm in Albany for my next event. On another note, I had a week off so I flew back to Chicago to pick up my car and face reality with having to drive it up to NY. I faced a lot of construction, traffic, and buying two new tires. I finally reunited with my travel buddy, Alex and we took a train down to NYC for two days. We are on the train back to Albany as I write this. We had a great time shopping, people watching, and saw Matilda. It was nice to get away from golf and do something fun. We travel week to week out of our and it was nice to have a break. Although, now I'm ready to settle down in one location as I have slept in 6 different cities in the last 7 days. I'm excited to return to Albany, NY as my parents grew up here and with my adopted Grandparents as my housing, it is a home away from home. I also have an awesome sponsor this week, Albany Advisor Group. This is their 3rd year sponsoring me and they were my first corporate sponsor. I'm very grateful for their support and excited to kick the week off tomorrow at their cocktail party. Well hopefully you haven't fallen asleep now and made it through this blog. I could go on and on about the Open but I don't want to exhaust you. Thanks for all of your support!