Happy New Year to all!
It’s great to be back writing to you all again. To fill everyone in, as
you all may already know, I regained my LPGA status this past December,
finishing tied for 31st at the Qualifying school. I have better status
than the previous year, so that means I should get into a few more
tournaments than 2006.
I ended up spending Christmas at my
sister’s in Charlotte, NC where. My mom and dad ended up coming down
from Ohio. We had a great time with everyone. Thank you to the Marino
family for sharing the holiday with us as well. Marino’s, the restaurant
is doing very well, and Manhattan’s, the coffee and ice cream place my
sister manages just opened not to long ago…(there are some pictures of
both that I put in the picture page of my website.)
The winter
break was quite short. I soon got right into working on my golf game to
prepare for the Asian tour. I spent three weeks competing in three
different tournaments. I left on Jan. 14th and came back on Feb. 4th.
The first tournament, not a part of the Asian tour, was the Taiwan LPGA
Royal Open held at The Royal Kuan-His Golf Club, in Hsinchu just outside
of Taipei. There I finished tied for 32nd.
While in Taiwan, a
few of us went into Taipei and went to the top of the highest skyscraper
in the world, Taipei 101. Later on that day, before we (Natalie Tucker,
Nicole Jeray, Libby Smith and I) flew out we ventured over to the Jade
Market. The market consisted of several vendors who sold pieces of jade
(and some other jewelry as well). Some jade pieces were very affordable
while others were extremely pricey…. It all depended on the clarity and
quality of each piece. Some pieces were already set in a ring, bracelet,
or necklace for example…but many other pieces were by themselves, not
set in anything. With these pieces people (buyers) were able to choose
what they wanted in order to create their own jewelry. They bargained
with the vendors while they did this. The buyers would check the clarity
and color, for example, of what they wanted to purchase. It was quite
interesting to watch. Another interesting fact is that the Chinese are
getting ready to celebrate their New Year…this year is the year of the
pig…so there were many pieces of jade in the shape of a pig. Jade also
to the Chinese says to have properties of bring health and prosperity to
one.
The second week the Ladies Asian Tour officially began. The
first event was held in Macau, The Macau Ladies Open, at Macau Golf and
Country Club. In that tournament I finished tied for 34th. Fellow
American Natalie Tucker won the event sinking the winning putt on the
18th hole. Congratulations to Natalie!
Macau was an
interesting place. It is considered the Vegas of Asia. It was settled as
a Portuguese colony and then turned over to China in 1999. Much of the
architecture looks very European with a touch of Asian flair.
The final event was in Hong Kong, The Hong Kong Ladies Masters at
Discovery Bay Golf Club. I stepped it up a bit and finished in tied for
6th. My first top 10 of the year! My hard work began to pay off. In the
final round I holed out for an eagle from the fairway with a 9 iron.
Another American, Libby Smith ended up winning the event in a sudden
death playoff.
Hong Kong was much like New York City only a
lot more populated. I couldn’t believe the people.
I
thoroughly enjoyed my time over in Asia. It was a great experience with a
whole different culture. I loved it and would like to return there
again someday. The people who ran the tour were very helpful and worked
hard to make sure all was running well. Thank you to each and everyone
of you and to the volunteers at each event. Thank you also to the golf
clubs and sponsors who helped make the tournaments possible.
For the rest of the month that I am here in Florida I’ll spend training
and working with my golf coach. At the end of February I am scheduled
to play in the Florida Women’s Open where I finished 4th last year.
Hope
all is well.
Kelly