Monday, May 23, 2011

4th Season Girls Go Golfing is ON!


GIRLS GO GOLFING


4th season starts in September, 2011

Confirmed Venues
Stanton Ridge golf  & country club--newly added
Raritan Valley CC
Copper Hill CC
Beaver Brook CC
Heron Glen golf club
High Bridge Hills

ANCILLARY ACTIVITIES
Pynes Putting Course

Food drive to benefit local Flemington pantry at final GGG event





The Final Day of Sybase! -- Deanna Smith

As the tournament came to a close on it's last day, Sunday 5/22, I was lucky enough to be the standard bearer for the Championship match. The day started off with two matches; one between Christie Kerr and Angela Stanford and the other between Suzann Petterson and Na Yeon Choi (or as the commentators called her, NYC!) Kerr and Stanford had a close match. I thought Stanford was going to win but Kerr came back and was able to win #18. And for Petterson and Choi, Petterson won on hole #16. So from there I knew that for the Championship match I was working with Petterson and Kerr.

It was a fun, exciting and suspenseful match. Petterson stayed UP most of the match. Kerr evened it out at hole 8. One of the highlights (or I guess lowlights) is when Kerr missed her putt on 11. She had a chance to make it All Square but then missed her 2 or 3 foot putt. She had numerous chances to even out the score or go 1 UP throughout the back nine and each one she missed just on the rim of the hole. On hole 17 Kerr made a long putt to have the match continue onto hole 18. Petterson and Kerr both hit their drives on 18 about the same distance, Kerr a little further. They hit their shots over the first brook a goood distance. Petterson hit her approach shot onto the green, a good length from the hole. Kerr hit hers next and landed it closer. They got the green, Petterson lined up her long putt and hit it in the hole...FOR THE WIN!!!

It was such an exciting finish! Anna Nordqvist came running out onto the green with a bottle of champagne and squirted it on Petterson! Onc. e they finished their interviews and hugs, I asked both players for signed golfballs. At the end of the weekend, I ended up with four signed golfballs, Paula Creamer, Angela Stanford, Christie Kerr and Suzann Petterson. It was very exciting!

The whole weekend was so much fun and such a good experience. I did get a good amount of TV time on yesterday's coverage! That was so cool! I will definitely be back next year, holding that sign, in the ropes, with the pros! I hope to be back with the blogs as well! It was a pleasure being able to provide some insight to the job of a standard bearer volunteer at a professional golf event. I hope you enjoyed it as well! See you next year! :)                                 
~Deanna Smith

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Third day of Sybase -- Deanna Smith

I'm back! I was supposed to do this blog last night but we went out to dinner after yesterday and didn't get home till pretty late and I was exhausted. Yesterday was a long day! It included the third round in the morning and then the Quarterfinals in the afternoon. I got there around 8:30 AM with my dad because he had a morning match with Michelle Wie and Sophie Gustafson. I followed his group for the 18 holes in the morning, but a couple times I would peel away to go see my favorite golfer, Paula Creamer. Wie and Gustafson had a tough day. They were pretty much neck and neck the whole round from what I can remember, but Gustafson ended with the win. From the third round groups, Miyazato, Gustafson, Creamer, Kerr, Stanford, Choi, Tseng, and Petterson made it to the Quarterfinals.

There was a chance that I would have Paula, but I wasn't getting my hopes up. I knew i was the second Quarterfinal group and if the order of the times went the same way they had before, I would be with Paula. And it turned out....I WAS!!!!! I had Paula Creamer and Angela Stanford for my Quarterfinal group and I was so excited!!! Paula was 1 UP during 8 of the front 9. But her and Stanford were pretty even throughout the whole 18. We had a pretty large crowd following our group which was fun and I think I had some TV time also! 

Creamer and Stanford were very friendly to the group of volunteers they were with. It was a lot of fun volunteering for them. When you are in the ropes with the players, you feel famous too. My biggest fan was there watching me the whole 18, MY DAD! I watched him in the morning and he watched me in the afternoon. Some of the highlights of the round...Paula made a long putt from the front to the center back of the green on #9, Stanford saved par on #11 when her approach shot trickled off the front of the green and back down the hill, and Stanford made 3 birdies within the last 5 holes. It was a suspenseful and exciting match, but in the end,Stanford won by going 1 UP on hole #17.

Since Paula is my favorite LPGA pro, I was very bummed that she lost. I even wore a pink ribbon in my ponytail to show support. I guess it didn'e help though. L However, after their round, I was able to get a picture with Paula!

All in all, yesterday was a great day and so much fun, just very long. Later this afternoon,  will be Standard Bearing for the FINAL Championship match, and I am very excited for this match as well. I will hopefully have time to blog about i tonight, but I can't promise anything. I will probably be on TV though, 4:30 - 7:00 PM!!! Check me out!!
~Deanna Smith






Friday, May 20, 2011

Volunteering at the Sybase Match Play Championship -- Deanna Smith

Hello all! My name is Deanna Smith and I am a junior in high school who is here to tell you a little about what it is like volunteering for an LPGA golf tournament, specifically, the Sybase Match Play Championship. A little about my golf life: I have been playing golf for a couple of years now; I actually used to not be a big fan of the sport, but then my volunteering at professional events changed that view. I am on the Hunterdon Central High School Varsity Girls Golf Team, this is my second year, and it has been so much fun.
I have been volunteering as a Standard Bearer for Sybase LPGA events for about five years now, and each time it has gotten better. A standard bearer is the person who holds the sign that tells the names of the players and their score or status hole by hole. I get to walk in the ropes with the players and talk to them. It is a very comfortable environment; it doesn’t feel like you are talking to a professional golfer, it feels like you are talking to just another person, which is really what they are.
Before it became the Sybase Match Play Championship, I volunteered for the Sybase Classic at Upper Montclair Country Club. Some of the pros I bearered for were Katie Futcher, Christina Kim, Beth Bader, and Mollie Fankhauser. Two years ago, it changed to the Sybase Match Play Championship and moved to Hamilton Farms Golf Club. Some great memories I have are being able to talk to the players, really about anything, getting to learn from these players by being in the ropes with them and watching them play, and the best part, getting signed golf balls at the end of the round as a thank you. I now have a golf ball rack at home of all the golf balls my dad and I have collected over the years from volunteering.
I look forward to this event all year. Once I get to the course and am introduced to the players I will be scoring for, I get so excited and just have a great time. It is such a great experience and such an honor and privilege to be able to walk right next to professional golfers. Many of the women I have volunteered for have so much fun when they are out on the course. They crack jokes with each other and with the volunteers and it feels like it isn’t even a tournament, like you’re just out on a Saturday afternoon, and decided to play a round of golf. It’s amazing.
This year, I will be working on Saturday, May 21st and Sunday, May 22nd. On Saturday I have one of the four Quarterfinal matches in the afternoon, which is a really big honor. BUT, an even bigger honor is that on Sunday I have THE FINAL CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH in the afternoon!!!! When I opened the email with my assignments, and saw that I, a 16 year-old girl in high school, has the final match for an LPGA tournament, I honestly jumped out of my seat and, I might have screamed. My chairman of the Standard Bearer committee said that with my enthusiasm and passion for the sport and for volunteering at the events, I truly deserve that match.
So, there’s a “small” preview to what I will be doing this weekend at the Sybase Championship. I hope you found it informative, interesting and fun to read. I will be back with another blog tomorrow night, Saturday, after my match for the day. I will talk about the players I worked for, overall environment of the tournament, and some of the highlights of the day. The tournament coverage is on The Golf Channel at 4:30 PM – 7:00 PM on both Saturday and Sunday. Enjoy your weekend and bye for now! J                                                                                                     ~Deanna Smith

WORLD'S BEST AT Hamilton Farms for SYBASE

Johnny & I enjoyed our time on Thursday watching the LPGA's top 64 duke it out in match play!


 A dramatic hole-in-one by Brittany Lang on the par-3 8th hole in her match against Christina Kim. 


A special shout-out to Coach Brian Quirk of Ridgewood High School and his girls' golf team: they spent their day on a "field trip" at Hamilton Farms watching the professional female golfers.



  • Rumor has it that Michele Wie was very friendly and offered up the young Ridgewood golfers some autographs and encouragement! 



For more on today's action
http://www.lpgascoring.com/public/MatchLeaderboard.aspx



Finally, a very special hello to DEANNA SMITH! 


Deanna will be doing a guest blog for us at girls go golfing because she is in the unique position of being the standard bearer in the semi-finals & finals at the SYBASE MATCH PLAY!!! 


Deanna is a two-year member of the varsity girls golf team at Hunterdon Central Regional high school and a huge LPGA fan. I predict Dea will see some television time on Sunday.


Thinking YOUR 54,


Coach Lydia