June 2010

My last two weeks on tour in Europe firstly saw me with a week off in Holland, and then our biggest tour stop this week at the Deutsch Bank Ladies Swiss Open.

Our week off is when all of the Europeans get to enjoy the simple pleasure of going home to their familes and their comfy beds. As for us foreigners we try our hardest to find a house that can take the place of home and Margarethe and Juan in Eindhoven, The Netherlands was a pretty close substitute. I normally always take the first few days off and find some local places to visit. This week were were lucky enough to be close to Amsterdam, you always hear the stories about the red light district and those infamous coffee shops so we decided to get a look for ourselves. Although we didn’t visit any coffee shops we did ride past a few on our bike tour we took, we also got to go to a cheese factory and clog factory. We spent and evening walking through the red light district which was a little disturbing, but a must see all the same. Our golf preparation continued through the end of the week and before long we were on a train and a plane and another long bus ride to the base on Monte Bre on Lake Maggiore in the little town of Losone.

It is always a pleasure to come to this region although very expensive, the breathtaking views were lost for the first few days as the rain had set in, the same rain which left France flooded this past week. As Thursday came around the course was in no shape to be played on, all the bunkers were washed away and fairways waterlogged. The decision was made to cancel round one and make it a 54 hole event, Friday arrived and we recieved high cloud cover and no rain. I shot a 72 even par and the whole field got finished. Round Two proved a little more difficult and with some thunderstorm delays my tee time at 1.50 pm had become 4.25pm and all hopes were on just finishing that evening, I did however shoot a 5 under 67 and walked off the course at 8.45pm. Some dinner and a few hours sleep I was up again and on the practice range a meer 11 hours later. A finishing round of even par 72 saw me finish in a tie for 14^th.

We hop on a bus and plane and a much shorter car ride to Campo Real tomorrow just north of Lisbon. Apparently we are going from playing in the mountains to on the mountains next week. And the weather we are hearing is just beautiful, sunny and 30 degrees. Surely it can only mean good times. I hope your week in golf has given you as much pleasure as mine and you have enjoyed watching the US Open.

Nick

8 June

My last two weeks have been spent on the road playing two event in two very different places.

Our first stop was Tale, Slovakia. Our first event ever in Slovakia, Tale is a skiing town in the winter and a quiet mountain trekking and golfing town in the summer. There was no easy way to get in and out of Tale, it required a flight to Vienna and a 4 hour coach ride to Tale. It was a beautiful town and the people of were delightful. The course was set into the side of a mountain which let way to some amazing views and also as we found out crazy electrical storms. I started on Thursday morning with an opening round 72 even par. The heavens opened in the afternoon and unfortunately for the afternoon players it was delayed until Friday morning. This meant my tee time became 4.50pm which left no chance of finishing Friday. After nearly being struck by lightening at 8pm on Friday evening after they failed to bring us off the course in time, I was to return on Saturday for a 6.30am restart. I ended up making the cut on the number and was set to tee off again at 11.40am. Play was delayed yet again for lightening and my tee time became 1.20, but here’s the kicker I was in a group of two at the end of the field behind groups of three. So finally at 7pm my day was over. The scoring wasn’t wonderful with rounds of 72, 78, 80, 73 but it was another small cheque made. Monday morning saw us up at 4 am on a 3 hour coach ride to Bratislava and dealing with excess baggage charges at 140 Euros. I was not a happy camper and ready to be rid of Eastern Europe!

Onto happier times thankfully, the beautiful land of bikes and lakes in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. I have had many great experiences in Holland and am always happy to return. So it fit that this week was a good week for me, one of my best golf weeks in about 6 months. Beautiful weather and a fabulously manicured course saw me shoot 72, 73, 71 even par total and 21st position for the week. It gives me some confidence for our next event which is in Switzerland one of our biggest events for the year. But first we have a week off and have decided to stay in Holland with a host family we have met on our travels. We will play some golf and make our way to Amsterdam for a bike tour and some sightseeing. That’s all for now, until next time.

Great golfing,

Dana

Dana - 31 May

This week I have been privileged to witness several days in a row in London with great weather. I am on a week off from our tour schedule and often come to spend some time with my aunt and recouperate. And I can tell you I definitely needed some R&R after our week in Germany last week.
 
We were just outside Munich in the smaller town of Dachau playing at Golf Park Gut Hausern. It is the most anticiapted event on our tour. The Germans don't leave anything to chance and prepare a week of fun and simplicity for us, from the Audi Courtesy Cars and Bavarian feasts we are entertained like royalty.
 
This is my third time to the Ladies German Open and every year it has shown us beautiful weather. Unfortunately the event was always held one week earlier than other years, Boy what a difference a week makes. Tuesday fooled us with sunshine and a temperature of 18 and this was the last time we saw the sun in Germany for the week. We also didn't see temperatures above 10 degrees. You can imagine for a Perth girl I don't see temperatures like this very often let alone want to play golf in them. But alas I kept my mind strong and body rugged up and came through the first two rounds 1 over par, in the top 30 and playing on the weekend. Finally! 2010 has been a year so far of missed cuts and 'oh so closes' missing by one. This event I had missed the cut by one the previous two years so I was happy to change this.
 
The weekend didn't brighten up for the weather or my golf and no birdies made in the last two rounds is very frustrating but baby steps have been taken and my confidence is moving in the right direction.
 
On Monday I head off to our next event which is our Inaugural Slovak Ladies Open. It is a Ski resort in the winter so I am sure we will be greeted with beautiful views and hopefully some warmer weather.
 
Good Golfing
Dana Lacey