A Day in the Life...: Galena the Beautiful

This summer is disappearing before my eyes. I can’t get a grip on how fast it’s going by…I feel as though I’m looking at my life and watching it go whizzing past. It’s crazy to me that a month ago I was turning 23, and now I’m pretty much a third of the way done with my summer. Where has the time gone?

I’ll tell you where it’s gone: to the golf course! Eagle Ridge Resort & Spa was a successful tournament, but it sure was a time-consuming one.

This week was a little different; instead of a regular qualifier, we had a PBE Qualifier, which means that it’s a tournament that is only for gaining status. I apologize in advance, but I’m not about to try to explain PBE status to anyone. Really, it’s because I don’t understand it myself. I don’t know how many times a parent has come to me with a question about status, stars, exemption, etc., and my immediate response is, “I really don’t want to give you any wrong information, so I am going to refer you to so-and-so, our tournament director. Or, if you would like an immediate response, Player Services will have much more instant information for you.” I’ve got that response memorized, and I use it often.

Anyway, the PBE Qualifier helps our junior golfers gain status, based on their finish, to help them enter bigger tournaments, such as opens or invitationals. So the PBE Qualifier we had this last week is two rounds, as opposed to the regular qualifier, which is one. We also had the largest field possible at 144. This means that each tournament round day, we have two waves of tee times. One from 7 to 9, and one from 12 to 2. It’s a loooooong day.

I’m not quite sure why, but this week was a little off for me. I have determined it is because I was unable to apply a fresh coat of nail polish. Sounds silly, but every week before has gone relatively smoothly, and I was able to polish my nails a new color each of those weeks. It sounds silly, but I think it’s a legitimate claim. My first priority when I arrive in Killington, Vermont: PAINT MY NAILS.

Eagle Ridge was a very nice course. We were in Galena, Illinois, about 45 minutes north of Iowa. It was a very quaint town, and home to Ulysses S. Grant’s post Civil War home. I couldn’t get a clear enough picture of the town to really illustrate its beauty, but it was gorgeous. The course was about 15 minutes from town and it was surrounded by big trees, trails, and villas.

We stayed in the villas all week, and man was it a treat! Each of us had our own room, and my villa even had a hot tub in the basement, complete with a television. We were living the high life for sure.

Not too shabby...watching the Finals with
an ice cold beer after a long, hard day at
work.

The tournament was pretty fun though, despite me being a little 'off'. Our medic, Tim, was awesome; he was there every single day, and he helped out with more than just medical things. He would deliver lunches, and ask some pretty entertaining questions over the radio. My favorite was, "Um, can deer be considered a hazard? Because we've got about three huge deer running across No. 7 fairway...Just wondering." This made me smile!

Not too much to report from this week, other than the long days. One day I was at the course from 6 am to 10:30 pm! That’s not a usual day though – we were having a ton of trouble with our software and we ended up having to create our final round pairings by hand. I was able to work with my former spring teammate, Ben Wolfe, which it was great to see him. I was also awarded an off day! Much needed and very relaxing. I’m really looking forward to this next tournament. First time in Vermont, and I get to work with some great people. Two more tournaments and I’ll be home for a week break!