I had a good feeling about Paula's third round. There was a concert at Ripken Stadium on Saturday night, so our parking/shuttle area was moved to a corporate campus in Belcamp. On the way, I passed a Creamery Lane. An omen? I don't know. It sounded good at the time.
She started the day at even par, teeing off at 12:14pm (in the noonday sun, as they say) and it was a challenge for her to stay there, and it wasn't until the 16th that she got into negative numbers with an elusive birdie putt.
She managed to finish the day at one-under par, but it will be an uphill (if not impossible) battle to win with so many players ahead of her, and the leader at minus 10. So let's reflect on the week so far:
FRUSTRATING: The shitty directions to the Belcamp parking area provided by the LPGA. First, they said, "go west on Route 563" but 563 runs North/South (odd numbers, don't-cha-know). It went downhill from there. We're back to good-old Ripken Stadium on Sunday.
MOST INTERESTING MOMENT: Me and three other spectators helping Suzann Pettersen find her errant second shot in the out-of-bounds weeds on the fifth hole on Thursday.
OTHER MOST INTERESTING EVENT: Leaving my newly-bought umbrella at the 13th green on Friday and not realizing it until I was at 18. Deciding to walk back for a $23 umbrella was a ridiculous proposition, so I gave it up for lost. On Saturday, as Paula got to the 13th green, there I saw my umbrella, still lying where I left it 24 hours ago. I picked it up and brought it home. A souvenir with a story.
OTHER INTERESTING STUFF: Among others walking the course with Paula Creamer was a photographer who was working for Getty Images. He was also taking photos for a Ricoh ad that Paula is doing for their Japanese branch next week. He told me he sent 1,000 images on Friday and will be covering her the entire weekend. I guess, after roughly 2,000 photos they'll find something they like. What a job. We agreed that film blows.
NEAT THING FOR A GOLF GEEK: Walking the course for two days with Paula's coach, David Whelan. Today, her ball fell of the tee at 10 just before she hit, and the chunking sound and subsequent 50-foot shot left us speechless. Because of the elevated tee, all we saw was a dead tee shot accompanied by the chunk. I asked him if his heart stopped beating for a moment, and David said, "You should have been able to take a picture of my face when that happened."
DISTANCE WALKED SO FAR: Approximately 25,000 yards (15 miles) in three days. The three burgers and one breakfast sandwich may equal the caloric output, however.
SUNSCREEN USED: 1 metric ton.
SUNBURN: Rear of calves and partial face, in spite of SPF 45. I hate summer.
THE LOCAL COPS: Are using Cannondale mountain bikes to patrol the perimeter, which I am told "suck." They had a fleet of Trek's which were stolen (how funny is that?) from their trailer and taken to Baltimore. They were left with the sucky Cannondales which "don't feel right." I told them they should get the department to buy them Specialized bikes, since aluminum is yesterday's news.
NOT SURPRISING: I got caught in stalled traffic on I-95 coming home on Saturday. At least once during the week, I'm guaranteed to be stopped on the highway. This time, I enlisted my Garmin Nuvi and got off at the first exit, made my way through Kennett Square via Baltimore Pike and kept moving. Stalled traffic 12 miles from the Delaware Memorial Bridge is no way to spend a Saturday evening. It may have been out of my way, but at least I was moving.
So, other than having Paula fetch a game ball for me and getting my picture in the local newspaper, it was still quite a week. The custom-made CREAMER 1 shirts were a big hit on the course. Several people wondered where I got them and I'm guessing that I may be a trend setter of sorts.
It's a shame I can't sell them for a huge profit.
I said "goodbye" to a few people today, but I can't guarantee that I won't go back for the final round on Sunday. Stay tuned.
You will, right?
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