Hi Everyone

Well I am home from the Open....and boy am I tired! There is no other tournament that we play that takes more out of me than the US Open. Doesn't matter if you play well or not so well, the course at a US Open will always take its toll. I think its because there is never any room for error. You can't have a mental let down at any point during the tournament without the course jumping up and biting you. Saucon Valley Country Club is no exception there. What a GREAT course! I think it is one of my favorite venues to have played a US Open on. So in saying that, I am a little disappointed with my finish this week. I really felt like the course suited my game but it really just wasn't my week. I felt like I played pretty well, but as I mentioned earlier, I switched off slightly on a couple of holes in my first round and paid the penalty. From there I was playing catch up all week and never really got any momentum going. With a break here or there, or a putt here or there go in, it might have been a different story....but going through things like that can kinda drive you crazy too. So I will just look at the positives. I wasn't feeling great about my swing going in but managed to feel good about it starting the tournament. I was happy with the way I committed to most shots, driving the ball the best I have in quite a few tournaments. My putting wasn't too bad either, although I didn't make a lot. The greens were actually trickier to putt than I thought they were going to be. So overall disappointed with my result but I feel like there are some really good positives to take overseas to the Evian Masters and the Ricoh Women's British Open.

The really fun highlight of my week was having the two KW Series winners, Julia Boland and Stacey Keating. I don't believe I ever had that much energy when I was 23! It was great to see though. The girls really took a lot in for the week. Not only did they watch practice rounds and the first two rounds, I arranged for them to play a  round with Beth Daniel (which I was very thankful to Beth for offering that) and also they got to tour the NBC production trailer when they were live on air during Friday's telecast. So they packed in quite a bit in 5 days but I am pretty sure they had a good time and they learnt a lot. I have to say that after doing this for two years now, my only regret is that I didn't start this program sooner. I have really had fun with it. I have loved getting to know a lot of the up and coming amateurs in Australia. I have enjoyed being able to give a couple of girls the opportunity to travel overseas and play some amateur events. I think it really gives them a taste of what it might be like if they decide to play professionally.  Most of all I have loved spending time with the girls at the US Open the last couple of years. They all have been really into learning as much as possible, which was my main goal for them and all I could ask.

For those of you who are interested in following the US Women's Amateur, August 3-9, in St Louis, both Julia and Stacey qualified to play in it yesterday! Very happy for them....and glad their long week with me didn't stop them from playing well.

So next for me is traveling to Evian, France on Sunday for the Evian Masters the following weekend.  In the meantime, I will be relaxing a bit and maybe doing some light practice before I head over there.

Until then.....

Karrie