Hilton Head - Reflections

So we may have arrived in Nashville 3 days ago, but Hilton Head's tournament was awesome. Here's why:

1. We stayed in a cottage on the golf course, by the first tee, where we also had our tournament headquarters. This means everything we needed was right there and I could wake up 15 minutes before I had to be on my cart for morning assignments.

2. I made some great friends, including a player who hurt herself in the qualifier on Sunday and was forced to watch her friends and competitors for the rest of the week because she was staying with another family for the tournament. I drove her for the whole second round, teaching her about all the things that a rules official does and even getting to do two rulings for her to see. We had great fun, proving that I really do get along with 15 year olds better than anyone.

3. Best tournament chairman ever. He's the father of one of the tournament assistants we've worked with quite a bit and basically knows everyone on Hilton Head and made sure we had tons of fun and were well taken care of. He's the reason for the next couple points...

4. When you know the right people on the island, you are told the right restaurants to get pancakes/waffles/french toast at (Stacks, in the middle of the island, and have Pavel be your server), can get a guest pass to get into Sea Pines resort, and know all the local favorites for fish and whatever else you could ever need. We parked in any parking lot we wanted for the beach, got through every security gatehouse, and almost got to go parasailing on our day off. Needless to say it's never what you know, but who you know that matters.

5. Hilton Head is kinda interesting, with things hidden and a much smaller feel than I ever expected, but it's a great place and I am glad I made it. I never got to go in high school when the tennis team went, so this was a nice opportunity.

6. Best ice cream sundae I've ever had. The reason? Best hot fudge I've ever had. That's all I really need for a good sundae.

Hilton Head was great. A great tournament for 12-15 year olds (younger than the average tournament, which is open to 12-18 year olds). This means more learning, better attitudes, and more fun, as far as I can tell.

I Love Minnesotans!?

I never thought I would say it after 4 years of school in the frozen tundra, but in our Qualifier on Sunday I followed a boy who just moved to Nashville from Minnesota and I was so excited to see this blonde boy with the goofy accent. I think I might have scared him a little bit, but do you know how GOOD it feels to have someone down here recognize what Carleton is?

Highlights from Augusta/Welcome to 'Bama (again)

Best things that happened in Augusta:

Dad came to visit. We played mini golf and watched Toy Story 3. I still worked tons. Oh, and he became best friends with Sean on my team and I'm about to be kicked out of the family. Dad asks me how Sean is every time we talk on the phone!


We saw fireworks in South Carolina, just across the river from Augusta, at a private golf course we were invited to by the head pro who wanted us to enjoy our 4th of JU-ly. It was the first time I've seen shapes in a show, other than at Disney. Hearts and planets.

West Lake Country Club is beautiful and well-taken-care-of. And could use some new cart paths... I had to wear what I would wear running. Ladies, I'm sure you know what I mean.

Saw "The National" and couldn't really see much more than this sign and down the trees that line the entrance. Maybe someday I'll be deemed worthy enough to go watch The Masters...



Davis Love III's son won our tournament! And I made so many friends in the players this week. Parents were great, too. I met a man from New Hampshire and was the first to hear when another man's daughter (who was playing) got a full ride to Baylor for golf! I feel like a proud mother.

I learned more about the full-time job here than I have in my whole summer, as an "Operations Assistant". I got to meet with the Superintendent of Golf, discuss how the course is marked and mowed, and determine drop zones and other course markings. And all with my favorite tournament director so far, who was very hard on all of us and never took anything less than great, but that also I had more fun with than anyone.

Augusta was great, but now we are in northern Alabama, in the beautiful city of Huntsville. It really is gorgeous, kind of pretty like New Hampshire... big hills (mountains?) and lakes and the course we are playing is full of money and is very secluded. The edge of the 15th and 16th holes runs right up to cliffs and the cart path on 3 is down the side of a cliff. I'll try to get a picture this week.

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT (I really said this. On radio.):

Attention all staff for your ginger public service announcement, brought to you by TanMan Mulligan Sunscreen Wipes. We are about to make the turn into the second wave of players which means it is time to reapply your sunscreen! Thank you and have a nice day.

We really are sponsored by sunscreen wipes, so it was really just a plug for sponsorship...

I Should Be Arrested. By the Cart Police.

At this point in the summer a blog about my job just couldn't be complete without something about carts and the fact that our lives revolve around driving a course, being a rules official from a cart, and making all the mistakes that young people can make with driving in the woods.

To start, I have to show you the rules.
Keep entire body inside cart should be a no-brainer, right? Well, I always have my leg hanging out the side and sometimes, yes most of the time, I try to drag my shoe down on the ground a little bit. Apparently this is not allowed.

These are the 14 other rules of which I have broken 12 and followed 2 (because it would be really stupid to drink alcohol on the job and I have never had any children around a cart - except that time in Augusta when one of our volunteers put his kid to work bringing water around the course... so maybe I've broken 13?). You can read them and figure it out, but they're kind of hard to follow... People have tried to throw me out, I've been standing up, I've gone up and down the steepest slopes on the course, I never use my brakes to reduce my speed, and I've had up to 5 people in my cart at one time. And then there are all those times when I drive the cart from the passenger seat because the driver seat is out in the sun.

And anyway, I've only been in a bad cart situation once, when I tried to drive over a curb and got my back right wheel stuck over a drain. Apparently these little guys are rear-wheel drive and I needed that wheel on the ground. Oops!

Golf Mecca

We're here! It may be Golf Mecca #2, but it still is something - I'd say Scotland might beat it. Yep, the hotel-ridden, chain-restaurant-saturated, strip-mall-heavy metropolis of Augusta, Georgia. We enjoyed some of their nightlife during their first friday of the month time when all the shops are open in the street, which was certainly an experience. That same evening we spent a few hours at the top of the Wachovia building in The Pinnacle Club, a dining club where the tournament chairman treated us to cocktails and appetizers even though he is on a fishing trip in Alaska the whole tournament. We drove our courtesy Lexus SUVs around downtown on Friday night and have been enjoying them ever since!

Dad came for the weekend to see this holyland of golf, but we could only barely see in the gates of "The National" as they call it (it'd be silly to call it Augusta National since we're in Augusta...) and I had to work all day Saturday and most of the day Sunday. Luckily we had the later afternoon off on Sunday and got invited as a group to a course across the river in South Carolina to watch the fireworks and Dad really hit it off with my teammate Sean... all day Monday Dad talked about how Sean is "the son he never had"! Well, good thing he couldn't even enjoy the fact that his beautiful daughter had the day off to spend with him!

We played some mini golf and he beat me pretty badly, but I did serve as a pretty great rules official... you can take the girl out of the golf course, but you can't take the golf course/rules official out of the girl. It's just in my blood now! Then we grabbed some burritos at a cute little place where the owner decided to bet me that Germany would beat Spain on Wednesday because I was wearing my Spain jersey. So when Spain wins tomorrow I get free lunch! The afternoon was finished out with a Toy Story 3 trip, which made me cry at the end, but it was a great movie and I recommend it to everyone. I also cried during the preview for Secretariat, about the Triple Crown horse, so that's going to be a good one. I can recommend it already...

I'll hopefully remember more funny stories soon and will be more inclined to write more if people write something to me! So tell me how things are!