Soe Zin

I have to say, it was a great experience. It was really nice to witness the play of world’s greatest female golfers. I went to the tournament, which took place in a course one and a half hours drive from my place, with two of my golfing buddies.

Here, in this post, I will be writing about my impression of the ladies, both on the course as well as at the autograph area where you can see more of their characters. Please let me remind you from the beginning that this is just my opinion.

Maria Verchenova: The truth is I haven’t heard of her until I read about this tournament.  It was her first LPGA event, a first for a Russian player. She was one gorgeous lady. She looked a bit intimidated by her player partner, Laura Davies.

Suzann Pettersen: Suzann, the defending champ, didn’t play great. Off the course, she looked friendly and serious at the same time. At the autograph area, which had less than 10 autograph seekers at that time, she seemed relaxed. She didn’t talk much. She just signed for everyone and thanked for the support.

Melissa Reid: Mel, one of the rising British players, didn’t have a great tournament that week. Off the course, she was all smiles and seemed to be just enjoying the experience.

Christina Kim: I didn’t watch her on course. I only saw her outside the driving range, at the putting green, and at the autograph area. I was expecting the fun, bubbly personality that I saw on TV when I watched the Solheim Cup. She facial expression is more than just ‘serious’. She wasn’t friendly to the fans that day.

Juli Inkster: The veteran of the LPGA, Juli looked very serious and focused on course. And at the range, before her tee time, she was hitting shot after shot, rarely talking to other players or caddies.  At the autograph signing area, she was quite different. She was friendly with the fans, even joking around a bit.

Stacy Prammanasudh: Stacy was just warming up at the range when we got to the viewing area behind the range. First thing I notice was that she didn’t look Asian. In her pictures, she looked Asian, but in real life,.. not so much. She had a great overall tournament. She played really well. At the autograph area, she gave the balls she had left in her golf bag to the kids there. She signed autographs for quite a while – until the next group of golfers came in.

Cristie Kerr: Cristie had an okay Saturday on the course, and she didn’t seem too happy about it. At least that’s how she looked while playing. Oh, she looked a little wider than usual. Sorry. When talking with fans and signing autographs, her face changed. She was all smiles. She signed quite a lot but not all, and it’s understandable. By the time she finished the game, and was at the autograph area, there were at least 50 people there.

Nicole Castrale: She was at the putting green about the time we were heading back to first tee from the 9th green. Nicole was in all-Adidas attire which had a lot of pink – that day, I think she had more pink than Paula. At the autographing area, she was business as usual – didn’t talk much; just signed autographs until the next group of golfers came in; thanked the fans and headed in.

Karen Stupples: I have to admit, I didn’t watch Karen play that day. With the fans, she was friendly. She joked around with some fans while signing autographs and thanked the fans, for coming to support and also for wishing her luck for the next day.

Natalie Gublis: Wow.. what can I say about Natalie? She looked great. She was.. um.. bigger than I expected. A lot of the ladies were wearing shorts, or skorts. But not Natalie. Natalie was one of those few rocking with a skirt; only difference is, hers was really short. Everytime she hits a full shot, she had to pull it back down just a little. By the way, I am not complaining. She was very friendly to her fans, which were quite a lot. She signed autographs while resting during her chipping practise. She signed autographs while walking from putting green to the driving range. She signed autographs at the autograph area for quite a long time. On the course, she was blasting her 2009 Burner driver really straight and long. On the first hole, we went and sat at the area where the ball usually land… the rough which was around 280  yards from the first tee. Natalie’s ball stopped right down the middle of the fairway, at around 270 yards. That was one of the longest drives we saw that day at the first hole. Oh, btw, she acknowledged and waved at the crowd everytime she made a putt, and smiled at the fans whenever she walked near them.

Yani Tseng: I have to admit, I’ve never seen Yani before that day. When we first saw her, we weren’t sure who she was; she looked like a boy, a teenage kid. Sorry about that, Yani. We should have known better; we should at least know how World No.2 looked like. One of my buddies noted that she had a very sweet smile.

Ai Miyazato: She was little. I mean, she was really small. But she hits really well and long. We didn’t get to really see the Japanese girls play that much since they were shielded by a bunch of gangster looking Japanese guards who walked along the sides all 18 holes while they were playing. One of them actually touched my camera lens to block me from taking a picture. It was really unneccessary since I was about 60 yards away from where Ms. Miyazato was playing. We didn’t travel for close to 2 hours and pay entrance fees to be harrassed by a bunch of wannabe-gangsters.

Minea Blomqvist: I’ve got to admit – before this trip, Minea Blomqvist was just another cute and talented youngster on LPGA (and LET), but it changed. Now, I am a fan.  We were hanging around at the putting green area when we noticed Minea. She was putting from all over the green, all to within a tap-in distance of the hole. She looked confident with her putts and also had a great kiddish smile.  Her drives weren’t finding a lot of fairways, but she was putting like the ball was a guided missile. What changed my view on her was when we were at the autograph signing area. She didn’t have her sharpie (marker pen) on her, so she asked a pen from one of the fans, signed a couple of autographs, returned the pen.. and asked a pen from another fan, etc.. She signed for everyone, and it had to be at least 10 minutes, if not more, that she was signing for the fans. The difference was – she was talking to each and every fan she was signing for. The fans wished her well, and she thanked them. She asked the fans how to say thanks in Thai, and she wished the fans in Thai. She asked how to say this and that in Thai, and was repeating, and learning, and was having a great time with the fans. She even talked about how her mom and brother were also with her in Thailand for the tournament, etc. All this time, she had a cute smile on her face. During all this, one of the fans, a little girl who looked to be around 7 years old, asked her if Minea had any balls left for her. Minea didn’t have any left in her bag, so after looking around, she took the ballmarker on her hat and the magnetic clip, signed it, and gave it to the little girl.

Lorena Ochoa: World Number 1. The best in women’s golf. She knows it. She acts it. After her round, she signed autographs for a few minutes. I mean, like, 3 minutes.

Angela Stanford: Nice lady. She played well. She signed autographs for quite a while. There were more fans following her round than any other that day. I mean, there were literally thousands of fans lining up both sides of the fairway. There was a big crowd following her group for the whole round. And there were hundreds of kids in the crowd, too – many with pink outfits, and pink hats… Oh, I almost forgot, her playing partner was Paula Creamer.

Paula Creamer: Wow. What can I say? She was the fans’ sweetheart. She was sweet to the fans. She smiled whenever she walked close to the sides of the fairway lined up by thousands of fans. She waved and acknowledged the fans after her shots, and after every holed putt. She loves the cameras, too. For example, we were at the 9th hole. She hit her approach shot to left part of the green; walked up the fairway a bit, and waited for Angela to hit. There were so many fans with cameras ready to take her picture. What did she do? She walked over the sign board of the golf course and the sponsors, and waited for Angela there, while striking a few poses, sitting, standing, turning left, right, hands on hip, etc.. Well, Paula, the cameras love you, too.

It was quite clear that her off season training was successful. She was hitting her shots really long and straight. Her drive off the first tee was over 300 yards with a little bit of a draw.

After her round, when Paula walked in from the 18th green to the scorer’s tent, the crowd at autograph area started chanting her name. The area also became so over crowded, with people fighting for a place closer to the fense. Paula signed autographs for quite a long time there. After about 10 minutes or so, she said “guys, I am really hungry. Let me go grab a snack, and I’ll come right back out. Don’t go away.” After about 10 minutes, she came right back out and signed autographs again until it was getting a bit dark. Then, she thanked the fans and headed to the driving range.

Morgan Pressel: Morgan was rocking a bright red polo with white shorts. She played well. Her drives were shorter than others, but they were right down the middle of the fairways. I felt bad for her when she finished her round and walked pass the autographs area into the scorer’s tent. People did not notice her walked by. Only a few of us clapped and said “nice round, Morgan.” The rest of the fans were too busy fighting for a chance to get Paula’s autograph. Morgan signed autographs afterwards for quite a while – until Paula came back out.

It was a tiring day under the blazing sun but a great experience for us.