Kraft Nabisco Championship-Rancho Mirage CA

Teed off not too long after dawn and was done before 11:00. A visit to Paul for a grip change (they were pathetic) and a stint on the range finished our day at the club. It was now time to get Kim connected to the Internet for the first time on her new Dell XPS.

Kim is staying at a friend’s place and the Wi-Fi was locked down. No chance of getting in so we bypassed it and connected directly with the Ethernet cable. Once again, it was necessary to unplug the cable modem so it can reset. First up was lifeontour.com (she’d never seen it) and we watched the B-Ball game from Mexico City.

Asleep at the wheel: Not the singing group but Kim! On her way down form Las Vegas yesterday, taking the back roads to save some time, she stopped at a red light in one of the bergs along the way. A slight tilt backwards had her noggin touching the headrest and off to dreamland she went. The honking horns of awaiting drivers got her back in the game. We had an afternoon practice round scheduled but after that episode, it was obvious her lack of energy would have made it a futile attempt.

Safeway International

A bogey on the last hole yesterday ended our week early. Dina isn’t in Nabisco but I picked up Kim Saiki-Maloney for our first Major.

Another piece of the puzzle falls into place: It’s concerning the social and other skills of many Korean players. According to one player who has experienced this phenomenon , if you can play golf in Korea, scholarships to private school are readily available but attendance to class is optional. All you do is play golf and will graduate without one iota of study. Not all take advantage of this most unrealistic perk as some parents realize what a good education is worth.

More clarification: Caddies are allowed on the practice green during the forbidden time period to retrieve chip shots only, not putts. The fine is a cool $500 and assessed to the player if the rule is broken.

Another rumor: During the pro-am, one of the “higher ups” in the Safeway organization inferred that a takeover of the Danville event (after this year) may be in the works.

Play hard ladies: Another poignant announcement at this week’s meeting concerned the exempt players for next year. One criteria was the top 90 off this year’s money list but that will be reduced by 10 to 80. The remainder will be reshuffled periodically with the formula to be determined at a later date.

New toy update: The Archos Media Player Dina purchased arrived earlier this week and is already a big hit with my boss. She connected it to her home network using the Wi-Fi and downloaded two movies without a hitch. Quite a feat for the self-admitted, technologically challenged Dina.

MORONS! Still getting shut-out from Aeromexico.

Safeway International

Even was the best we could muster. The putts just wouldn’t fall.

Kudos: Marisa Baena shot a very respectab;le -2 and was at -5 at one time. Not bad after coming off a hip operation.

Injury update: Paul Martinez plans on returning to action in Orlando but will be sporting a cast on a broken wrist.

Still waiting: The half-wits at Aeromexico still haven’t sent my confirmation.

Quite a sight: It was fun to see all the puppy-dog caderos, sitting it out by the practice green, as if they were abandoned by their masters.

Safeway International

Dina is a good hour drive away so she’ll practice at home and I have the day off. Now I get to work on my taxes.

It’s official: No caddies on the practice putting green from 8AM to 4PM. Howls of approval echoed throughout the room when the announcement was made at yesterday’s meeting. Teachers are still allowed which may lead players to request teaching credentials for their caddie in order to circumvent the new regulation.

Caddie down: Paul Martinez (Katherine Hull’s looper) was in an auto accident and will be out of action for awhile. No word on where he is.

The run-around: Still haven’t received my Aeromexico confirmation so I gave them a buzz and was promised it would be emailed by a supervisor. How do they get anything done down there?

Safeway International

Since Dina played here last week, nine holes yesterday was enough. Time at the practice area was of more importance. We’ll be teeing it up this afternoon in the pro-am.

Maybe next week: The “no caddies on the practice green” edict is not in effect as of yet. A mandatory player meeting will be held today and I’m sure it’ll be covered. Something has to be done with all the loopers getting in the way. When we finished yesterday, it looked like a 50-50 mix between players and caddies.

As you wish your majesty: A group of players are staying at the member’s home which hosted Michelle Wie and her entourage when they stayed in the past and tales of their demands are starting to circulate. Everything from what foods to be stocked to restrictions on visits from the owner’s friends were compiled on Wie’s, or should we say B. J.’s, list.

Needs a final touch: Our humble abode has all the finest accoutrements from running water to electricity and even indoor plumbing but Wi-Fi seems to have been overlooked. Updates may be delayed as a result. Are we in the Dark Ages or what? The local coffee shop will have to do I guess.

Another tool in the arsenal: With the price of gas raching all time highs, a credit card that offers 5% back on gas and all related auto purchases is hard to pass up. It’s the Discover Open Road Card and I received mine last week.

Safeway International-Phoenix AZ

The off week is about done and we get down to business tomorrow. We’ll carbo-load with a  patsa diner and a margarita or two in preparation.

Perseverance pays off: Early failure to secure a rental house close to the course (reasonably priced motels are 20-25 miles away) had us scrambling at the last minute but we snagged what could be the best bargain of the year.

It comes with a pool or a pond. Heard the pond is good for me.

Here’s your sign: Are you familiar with Bill Engvall bit by that name? It refers to what some pudding-head does or says that defies all logic and deserves to hold up a sign stating “I’m Stupid.” A perfect example was yesterday when Rick stopped at a Super Wal-Mart to pick up a few staples while on his way to our abode. In the spirit of “greening America,” he purchased a cloth tote bag at check-out, in lieu of the ubiquitous plastic ones, to use as a carry-all but what does the clerk do? Puts it in a plastic bag, that’s what!

See ya! Michelle Wie accepted an invite to the Safeway but has withdrawn. Problems with her ailing wrist was the explanation but my “ten cent psychoanalysis” indicates something much deeper. This is the perfect excuse to fight the incessant push by her parents to be the next golf phenom.

Over-doing it: Stayed in a Motel 6 last evening and noticed the guy in room 111 took it a little deep in an effort to protect his ride. He parked his motorcycle in the room.

Off Week

The self-proclaimed “luckiest man in Mexico” (Rick “The Nerd”) is currently in Guadalajara creating the yardage book for our new event to be held there in November. He’s just signing for his needs at the club (compliments of a member) and along with a hug and kiss from Lorena, his declaration just may prove to be right on the money.

There’s trouble in River City: Something happened when installing my new backup drive and screwed things up. My case has been elevated to a level three tech (relative to the DEFCON levels in defense rediness I assume) and awaiting a resolution.

Off Week

Just chilling in the desert at Dina’s while filling another gap in the schedule.

It was my turn to purchase a backup hard drive as my current 20GB is full. Those Mexico videos put it over the top but the shopping didn’t stop there. A few goodies for Dina had to be procured including an Archos 605 80Gb Wi-Fi Media Player.

About time: A major bugaboo, growing worse with every passing season, has been the proliferation of bothersome caddies hogging space on the practice putting green, especially with the Korean players. A suggested rule (clearing the green during “busy” periods) was too subjective and was of little use. A more stringent solution may be in place starting next week that will draw some criticism but is sorely needed. Heard a “no caddies on the putting green restriction from 8AM to 4PM” will be instituted. HURRAY!

Averting disaster: Both Dina and I were on the same flight from Morelia to Orlando connecting through Mexico City but we booked through different travel agencies. I used Orbitz while ATI was Dina’s choice. Today, Dina received an email indicating a flight change to another airline on the initial leg but I did not. A quick check on my reservation showed that I was also switched to another flight but the morons at Aeromexico pulled a real beauty this time. The original flight departed Morelia at 9:15 AM on Monday then connected to an 11:45 AM flight in Mexico City. The change put me on an 11:45 flight out of Morelia with no change on the second flight. That means they both left at the same time, 11:45 AM! Ya think I would have been a little hot if I didn’t find out about this snafu?

It took awhile (everything concerning Aeromexico seems to) but Orbitz straightened it out and I’m supposed to be on the same Mexicana flight as Dina. I’m awaiting confirmation to be sure.

Off Week

Never got out of Mexico as planned. I booked the flight back in January but seat assignments were unavailable at the time and I didn’t secure one in the interim. Being the beginning of Holy Week, everyone is on the move and the flight was overbooked by at least seven bodies. Things worked out OK though as another looper (boooked his only a couple weeks ago but had a seat assignment) volunteered to stay behind and we both were compensated with a nice room, free eats and a voucher for a future flight. I’ll know better next time. We’re on the same flight today and should be in Phoenix tonight.

Picky, picky, picky: I was taken to task by one of the LPGA fan message boards on the discription of my visit to the market especially the cow heads on the grill. No way, they would be too big was the inference. Well, maybe they were calf heads. Who knows? They still were heads of some animal, teeth and all. Should have brought my camera along. By the way, I responded directly on the message board (big mistake) and recevied an email with this this opening line “Hi, I’m new here, how’s it going?” with a link for a private message. Can someone say SPAM?

MasterCard Classic

Winner , winner, taco diner! Congratulations to Louise Friberg and Rick “The Nerd” on the bag. Can this girl play on the final day or what?

Rumor mill: Hope this one is true. We’ll be in Acapulco next year for this event.

El cheapo: Apparently the players have been a bit stingy to the locker-room help and dining staff in the past. A sign has been posted instructing them to tip $25 US each this week.

Off I go: With all day and nothing to do, a walk-about seemed in order. A neighborhood market was just a few blocks away and I figured it would be the perfect spot to take in some local flavor and I was right. One building held durable goods such as shoes and clothes but what I was looking for was the right next door. The food market.

If it was edible and in this country, I’m sure you’d find it here. Every fruit and vegetable you can imagine and a few you couldn’t but what I wished to see didn’t grow on some bush or underground. Meat and plenty of it was my target and I got more than bargained for. A six-pack of cow heads adorning spikes hanging above one vendor-dangling chicken carcasses with plates of the heads and feet below-pigs feet the size of small tree trunks-two foot squares of pork rinds-slabs of beef stacked from end-to-end awaiting proportioning-multiple rings of chirrizo sausage suspended from above and every organ conceivable filled row after row to the consumer’s delight. But when I though I’d seen it all, stumbling upon a most unique eatery really blew me away. Two of those cows heads sat on a griddle sizzling away as the proprietor surgically excavated meat from around the bones. His patrons, occupying every stool, eagerly awaited what morsels deemed fit to eat. I’m sure they savored each and every bite. Yum!

Who’s buying? Thee most popular spot is the lounge at our hotel. It’s 2 for 1 cervezas from five to seven and the place is packed with loopers and even a few players. As a course shuttle unloaded yesterday at ten minutes to last call, the rush to get an order under the wire was quite impressive. With fingers raised, calls of “Señor, dos cerveza por favor” were the loudest in the room.

Good move: Switching rooms to across the hall payed off in spades as the policia, with sirens blaring, swarmed the Nuevo Paris in the wee hours of the morning. Don’t think any caderos were involved.

Caddies down: Montezuma has taken his revenge on a few this week but none more dire than Wendy Ward’s caddie, Mike Louden. Heard he left the golf cart only twice yesterday. Another looper arrived down here with a respiratory problem and it only got worse. He went down and it was discovered his blood sugar was super low. An infusion of sweets, along with some medication, set him on the right path.

No genie in this lamp: A cool $60 US is what ‘Motorcycle Fred’ had to pony up after accidentally knocking over a lamp in his room at the Holiday Inn. At least we have free Internet.