'Gimme Shelter' - Karen Pultz At The Sr. Ladies British Open
Last Updated on Monday, 20 September 2010 03:17 Monday, 20 September 2010 02:09
| Article Index |
|---|
| 'Gimme Shelter' - Karen Pultz At The Sr. Ladies British Open |
| Page 2 |
| All Pages |
Page 1 of 2
Karen Pultz Attempts To Find Her Way To The Senior Ladies British Open Championship - Apparently She Is Still Searching - Photo Credit Karen Pultz
On the final leg or her Senior Ladies National Championship tour, B.C.'s Karen Pultz played in the Senior Women's British Open in some very trying conditions. Much like the song from the Rolling Stones, with all of Mother Nature wreaking havoc around her she just wanted someone to 'Gimme Shelter'. - ed
UMBRELLA 101
by Karen Pultz
(Innovative ways to manage your umbrella in all weather conditions)
Lesson 1
Technique for wind between 25 and 50 mph!
Point yourself into the wind. Brace yourself as if you were poised to fire a devilish weapon, yes, this means the point of your umbrella.
Open it, well....try to open it.... and keep trying until you do. Please - don’t move YET - lest you and your brolly do the 100 meter dash faster than Usain Bolt. (World Record 9.58 seconds)
So, now you want to walk do you? This requires placing one foot in front of the other still managing to shield yourself from the wind. Oh, did I forget the rain too,? Sorry.
No matter what, keep the point of your umbrella into the wind. This means it is likely 90 degrees to the ground. Now, put your shoulder and upper back into it, my friend.
Lean in, stay steady. The shaft is also now parallel to the ground and you will be holding the shaft over the inside of your elbow and holding on for dear life.
Oh, one more thing, don’t forget your clubs.
It was 40 – 50 mph winds when we entered the first day of the British Senior Amateur. West Kilbride Golf Club is on the west coast of Scotland just 18 miles north of Troon. It is links and is as old as the British Women’s governing body - The LGU - Ladies Golf Union (1913).
The Isle of Arran, visible off the coast, is the back-drop for this coastal weather. If you can see it, it’s not raining, if you can’t it is.
A seasoned links player or a caddy like Susan can give you almost the exact time to get your raingear on. Okay gang, you’ve got about 5 minutes and then we are in for it. They were always right.
Karen And The "Shelter" - There Must Be At Least 12 Of These Scattered Around The Course. They Are Divided Into 4 Parts So You Can Hide From The Wind Coming In Any Direction...And Hide They Did...Crazy
The 2-day cut was very high and I missed it by a clear 3 shots. You know how they say you can’t win a tournament on the first day but you can lose it, well, I was not able to make up the ground required to advance to the top 40 and ties and play on the last day.
The cut was 173. Fellow Canadians Alison Murdoch, Victoria and Diane Williams made the cut. Lynda Palahniuk and Melanie Grant of Kelowna, B.C. missed the cut as well.
It was Lynda's first Links experience and she says it is her last. I am not sure I believe her...LOL. I expect she may be back for some Parkland style golf for the Irish and British one day. I also have a feeling Melanie wants to do it again!
I played good golf and bad-good golf. I hit good shots and bad shots. I got good breaks and bad breaks. Links golf gave me a serious lesson in humility.
Damn. I hate that.
A Scottish friend found me in the parking lot stripping off my layers of wet gear and asked me how many rounds I have played in these conditions.
I did the, “Hmm, let me think,” thing and said 10, yes, 10 rounds, including my practice round and these 2 rounds over the last 2 years. She said you will learn more about playing in conditions like these, you just need more experience. You will learn how to “get it around”. That is the difference my friend, getting it around.
Since I am staying on in Scotland I will have a chance to play and practice and I will learn how to get it around. My first chance will be – Kingsbarns on Friday. I will be so up for that!
Were my desires and expectations too high for the British? I let the wind, course conditions and links style golf distract me to the point that it affected my ability to just see the target and hit the shot. I got so worried about what the wind was doing that my execution was not instinctive and confident.
See ball – see hole – hit ball to hole! Simple, really.
CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE
