Pro-am galore!!!

I have three pro-ams to play in this week. Yikes, that is a lot. I better pace myself so I will have enough energy for the tournament. Flew to Chicago to pick up my car and then drove to Toledo for two pro-ams.  Pro-am appearances are a great way to make a fast buck.  Too bad they are few and far between when you are playing the Duramed Futures Tour.  This week I was lucky to be asked to play in two outings in Toledo, one on Monday and another on Tuesday at the infamous Inverness Golf Cub. That is a treat in itself.   On Wednesday I had an all day drive to Bloomfield, CT, where my tournament is this week starting on Friday.   As a narcoleptic, you would think this would be quite difficult and dangerous for me.  Well, I am doing great.  My medicine is really helping me sleep the right way at night, so my batteries are getting recharged.  I am alert and awake all day and my cataplexy is almost non-existent. Check out my web site for more info on narcolepsy/cataplexy,  www.nicolejeray.net 

Played another pro-am for the tournament on Thursday and we finished in 2nd place. Hopefully this will be the start of a good week of golf.  Check out the scores at www.duramedfuturestour.com to see the outcome in CT.

LPGA monday qualifier in Arkansas

This week I will spend in Arkansas, either playing in the LPGA tournament or not. We all know my status on the LPGA stinks so I probably wont get in any more events this year unless I try to Monday qualify.

I picked Arkansas to try for lots of reasons: 1. love the course 2. no Duramed Futures Tour event 3. have not seen Jody (my boyfriend) in 5 weeks

So after my wonderful showing in Hammond, I flew to Arkansas to Monday qualify. No practice round, small warm up, and off we go. Jody is caddying for me. In the first fairway I walk up to my ball and suddenly realize that I don't have to get the yardage and think about the course and what I have to do. My brain can actually relax. What a relief, all I have to do it hit the shot. Soo much easier to play golf this way. Jody says, 95 yards, aim right at it. I pick my club, whack, 5 feet. I read my putt, and it went it in. Love it. Next hole, Jody gives me a good target, I hit it there. Walk up to the ball, Jody does all the figuring, hit it 200 yards at that pine tree. Easy game. A good caddy makes all the difference in the world. It lets the player just hit shots. Any way, I shot even par, 72. 70, 71 qualified.

Ill spend the week here in Arkansas with Jody. While he caddies for Kim Hall Ill be practicing, playing another course, testing equipment, re grip clubs, check lies and lofts. We are so spoiled out here on the LPGA. Really makes me want to get my status back. There are still a bunch of Duramed Futures Tour events left. I will finish strong!!

Havoc in Hammond

This week started out great and ended in chaos. The good news is that I am still rolling that ball like I should. Tuesday was just play and pro-am party. During registration I found out about a Par 3 tournament with a purse of $5000. Since I would stay for this Par 3 qualifying, I helped with the Junior Clinic which is always rewarding, especially since they had only one other pro. The qualifier went well, great Par 3 course at Lost Marsh. I shot -1 to get into a field of 12 and ties. Very exciting. Wednesday was my pro-am time. My group did not show up but the Head Pro found some other people for me to play with for the day. They were delightful! Thursday is practice and the Par 3 tournament. 12 players for a purse of $5000. Thank you Hammond Port Authority and Horseshoe Casino for making this possible. Oops 16 players are playing, Head Pro forgot about ties. Good thing so my friend Jenny Gleason (my putting guru) was able to get in the field - Yeah!! First place shot -2 and then four of us Tied for second place with even par. That should be a decent pay out with only 8 people getting paid.

Friday, first round of the tournament, I shot 73. Pretty good round. Still putting good. I am now in 22nd. Second round was a bit different. WINDY and my ball striking was a bit suspect. "Lost Marsh" did not get its name because of wide fairways. I shot a whopping 82. Good thing I putted decent in that wind, who knows what I could have shot. Anyway, I missed the cut by one. Oh, and to top off my day, it turns out I came in 4th in the Par 3. Sure I tied for 2nd, but am listed and will be paid for 4th. Who knows!?!?!

Needless to say, I felt like I was having a good week and then WHAMO, disaster on Sat. That is golf. Live and learn... I still love it!!!!!!!

Friends

It is nice to have friends while we travel the world playing this crazy golf game. We all know what a "rutt" I have been in. My friend, Jenny Gleason, was shocked at my putting performance when we were paired together in the first round of the Duramed Futures Tour event in Cincinnati. She said "can I give you a putting lesson?" I immediately screamed "PLEASE!!" 10 minutes with Jenny and one drill (well I did the drill for over an hour), my ball started rolling and continued to roll on Saturday and Sunday. 28 putts and 27 putts respectively. Thank you Jenny Gleason. She says I only owe her a Starbucks coffee. Well if I continue to putt this way, Ill be buying more a lot more than one coffee, maybe the whole store.

I finished 16th in Cincinnati. After shooting 3 over the first round, I was happy with this performance. I am looking very forward to playing this week in Hammond, IN. It is near my home in Chicago. It is so wonderful to play close to home. These are usually my best tournaments.

Links to article & interview

Since I won the Decatur tournament two times, the media gave me a lot of attention last week. Also, If you were on the Duramed Futures Tour or LPGA Web site last week, you would have noticed a feature article on the Home page with my name on it. Very Cool!! I loved it. Most of it is about Narcolepsy (great for N awareness) Next time, I hope it is for winning a tournament!!! think birdies for me!!
Here are a few links if your interested.

This is a TV interview: click on "Quick View" box to view
http://media.vmsnews.com/MR.pl?id=061608-868404-X001439519

This is an article:
www.herald-review.com/articles/2008/06/18/life/features/1033421.txt

Thank you to all of you who follow me (especially my "stalkers"!!!!)

Decatur

Finished 49th in Decatur. Not too bad considering I hit only 6 fairways each day. The rough was super thick and I feel like I handled it pretty well. Oh yeah, my putting.....soooooooooooo much better. Had only 10 putts on one nine.
In Decatur, we must have a caddy. If you dont have one, they assign you a volunteer. Could be hit or miss, if you know mean. I was lucky enough to get a sharp college kid who knew nothing about golf. Really the perfect caddy for the week. Since he was smart and observant, I knew he would not get in the way - big plus. He just chatted with me, encouraged me, made me laugh, always had water for me (soooo important), and let me play like I know how to play. Loved it!!! Thanks Robbie!! Another player was telling me how her caddy counted how many times she swore. Yikes - a whopping 47. I have never laughed sooo hard.
In attempt to hit more fairways this week in Cincinnati, Ive changed drivers, back to the Tour Edge (last years model). So far it seems to be going straighter than my Taylor Made and maybe a bit longer. Time will tell.

Mushy Brain

Ive been on the road for two and a half months...no wonder I'm having a difficult time putting the ball in the hole. My brain and my hands are no longer connecting. After having 37 putts on Saturday and missing the cut at the Duramed Futures Tour event in Lake Geneva, WI, I came to the conclusion that my brain is mushy from traveling and playing every day for 10 weeks. You would think that after all these years of professional golf that I would have learned that more that 4 weeks in a row is a lot. When Im not playing great, I keep practicing more and more trying to figure it out. Every day I leave the course feeling good and prepared, but my scores sure are not showing it. Well, this week I am in Chicago recuperating.