Women's British Open - Thursday July 30th -Day 1

Arrived at the course at about 9.30am. Paid a pound for my drawsheet and had a look to see who was teeing off on the 12th. It was Brittany Lincicombe playing with Jiyai Shin in the fifth group of the day.

Had a chat with the crossing marshall. She said that none of the first 6 groups of the day had managed to hit the green. Weather was totally different today. No sign of rain but the wind was blowing hard and gusting a left to right crosswind.

Lorena, Karen Stupples and Ai Chan also had trouble finding the green. Lorena was way short and right of the green. Her chip was distinctly ordinary leaving herself at the front of the green with a very long par putt. She raced that past the flag and missed the one coming back. Double bogey on the card again for the world number 1.

Cut across to the 1st green just as Dinan Luna, Martina Eberl and Paula Marti approached. Only an Italian could get away with Luna's wacky headgear. The next group through was Tutta with Shiho Ohyama and Brittany Lang. Gwladys Nocera was up next playing with Karrie Webb. Her form and body language had not changed from Evian. Bogey on the first hole.

Becky Brew was playing with Alfie and Janice Moodie. She got a safe par to start the week. Then the crowd thickened a little as it was the Gulbis/Wie/Ueda group. As I had promised Terry Mac I would follow him if he had a bag this week I set off with the large gallery down the second fairway and stayed with them until they teed off on the 4th.

Cut across to see Brew tee off on the 14th and then after enjoying a bacon roll took up my station on the mound overlooking the 6th fairway/green and 3rd green. Watched Creamer, Nordqvist and Beany putt out on the 3rd.

Chie Arimura laid up with her 2nd shot on 6 but only succeeded in putting it into one of the really deep fairway bunkers. It took her three goes to get out and when she did she chunked her next shot into the really deep left greenside bunker. She got out of that one OK but two putted so that was a nine on her card. Saw later that that was nothing. Inky made an 11 on the same hole.

Beany's 2nd shot on 6 had the walking marshall say "that had better draw". It didn't and was headed straight for us. It hit some guy sat on the mound and ended up in the hay on the downslope. Catriona was very apologetic as was Graham. Her lie was horrid and all she could do was chunk it down into one of the greenside bunkers. She didn't get up and down so it was a bogey.

Moved over to the 11th green to see Tutta's group go through. Tutta was at level par but disappointed to not make a birdie on the par five 11th. Becky Brew had obviously had trouble off the tee and was quite some way back with her second. She seemed to be going for the green but scuff it and came up quite a bit short. She didn't seem very happy. Things improved significantly with her fourth shot as her pitch went straight into the hole, slam dunk. High fives and smiles all round. Great way to make birdie.

Women's British Open - Wednesday July 29th - Practice

The weather forecast was absolutely foul. I nearly stayed home but made a last minute decision to go. Arrived at the course at about 10.00am in my waterproof, thermal socks to find that I wasn't going to need them.

Found Becky Brewerton teeing off on 14 with an entirely LET practice group. She recognized me and said hello, asked how I was. Anna Nordqvist was up next still dressed all in black even without the waterproofs. Eun He Ji, our new US Womens Open Champion was practising on her own fully clad in bright blue waterproofs. Her caddie is not taller than she is but very personable.

Momoko Ueda was next up resplendent in her salmon pink waterproofs. Talked a bit with Terry Mac, asking how he was feeling. He said he was much better but that the bug had taken so much out of his body that a load of other parts were bothering him. His neck in particular was giving him gip but he was going to get through it.

At the 6th green/7th tee came across Life on Tour Larry with his bag Kris Tamulis. They had decided to miss the 7th to 13th stretch of holes but were dithering about cutting over. Larry said if they were guys they would just have barged over. As women, they didn't want to upset anyone but didn't want to become a foursome rather than a twosome. They ended up in a foursome with a couple of Euros.

Cristie Kerr was playing with Minnie Blomqvist. She had about three goes at her approach shot on the 6th but wasn't happy with any of them. Se Ri was playing with one of her Korean collegues and was jabbering to her in Korean. As soon as she joined her caddie she switched into English. It was better than I hear her speak on TV. It seemed to be a discussion about clothes and whether clothes of the right size had been waiting somewhere for someone and the caddie seemed to suggest she should carry her vital statistics around with her as a matter of course!

Karin Sjodin was practising with Tutta. Dave Brooker is no longer wearing his moon boot thingy. Tutta's mum watched her tee off at 17. As I approached the chipping green came across Team Wie. Patrick, her latest ex PGA caddie, was there with David Leadbetter, which is her legal maximum. However Mr and Mrs Wie were there as well in defiance of the rules. No suggestion of anyone doing anything about it.

A large Bentley pulled up outside the clubhouse with the registration number PUT 3. Turns out it was Peter Alliss arriving. He gave the keys to someone to park it properly for him whilst he sauntered into the clubhouse. Not long afterwards Beth Daniel and Meg Mallon arrived in a courtesy car and started chatting with all and sundry.

Over at the 1st tee Karen Stupples was teeing off with Kris Tschetter. They were discussing child care provision as they made their way up the fairway. Decided it was time to make my exit for the day.

Women's British Open - Tuesday July 28th - Pro Am

Journey to Lytham St Annes was great taking about an hour. As I drove towards the public parking the rain started and the weather looked very threatening. I put on both my fleeces and my cagoule and wandered onto the course to see who was playing in the ProAm. Anna Nordqvist was playing the 13th but they had another pro Marianne Skarpnord, the Norwegian in their group.

Wandered over to the area between the sixth green and seventh tee. Waterproof trousers had to be donned as the rain was getting heavier. Saw Brittany Lincicombe teeing off on the seventh. Next up on the 6th was Cristie Kerr's group. One of the amateur caddies was obviously a friend and not a regular. He was desperately trying to keep dry by wearing a towel on his head. Black rainwear seems to be the colour of choice. One of the guys in Kerr's group played a fantastic bunker shot and she was very congratulatory. Karrie was an exception to the all black rule having a cream section to her jacket. Natalie was next and it was back to all black. One of the guys in her group was a nightmare. I was standing alongside him on the 7th tee and when he finished his swing he was facing me!! The ball went about 50 yards into the right rough nowhere near the start of the fairway. A long day in store for Natalie.

Tutta was along next and was getting along great with her group. As they went past me over to the 7th tee one of her playing partners did a double take. I didn't think I looked that stupid. It became obvious that he, Tutta and one of the others in the group were talking about me on the tee. Eventually, one of them wandered over to me and said "My friend says he thinks he saw you at Evian last week". I confirmed that I was there and he wnated to know if I went ot all the tour events. I had to explain that it was just the two weeks in Europe. He wanted to know my favourite player. I told him I was really an Annika fan but quite liked Tutta as well.

After he hit an awful tee shot (and shouted something obviously rude in a foreign language) Tutta took him to one side and gave him a detailed technical swing lesson. He hit another tee shot and this time is was a thing of beauty. Laura Diaz had a wooly hat over her baseball cap and seemed to be enjoying herself with her proam partners. Morgan Pressel was having a ball with her lot. I think they were all Americans and they were talking US sport. I think they were talking about NHL ice hockey and the recent Stanley Cup finals. One of them told me that the course was winning and the only thing to do was have a cigar. He proceeded to light up a huge Cuban.

Karen Stupples broke the all black rule by wearing a red rain jacket. As she passed me on the way to the 7th tee she recognized me, said Hi and asked if we had had a good journey back from Evian. Bobby (caddie/hubby) also recognized me, looked surprised to see me out there in the rain and said "Are you crazy?" I confirmed that I was! Momoko Ueda completely broke the all black rule by wearing salmon pink top and bottom. Terry nodded in acknowledgment of my presence. Kent Nilsson was cheating. He was pushing the bag on a cart. He looked cold, wet and a little weary. Alfie got a lovely birdie which was just as well as the other ladies playing with her were really struggling. One of them narrowly missed me by hitting way right from 15 yards away.

As usual, LD seemed to be enduring rather than enjoying her Pro Am round. She was walking way ahead of her playing partners. She made a very casual birdie and wandered off to the 7th tee. She did her usual thing getting an iron out to dig up a lump of tee on which to put her tee ball. The group in front was holding her up so she started trying to tennis serve a golf ball using her driver. Thank God the train wasnt coming when she finally made contact and sent the ball sailing across the railway line.

Wander in towards the clubhouse. Caught up with Lorena waiting to tee off on the 18th. She was sporting blue rainwear. JiYai Shin was putting out on the 15th. Back at the practice round bought myself a bacon roll and sat in the grandstand at the driving range to eat it. Xtina Kim was practising next to Soph and chatting away as usual.

ShanShanFeng looked a tad silly as she was not only dressed head to toe in orange but was hitting on the range with her hood up. Wandered over to the grandstand by the 1st tee where there were a load of golfers waiting to tee off. Vicky Hurst was there along with her Mum who is supposed to be as bad as the Wie's. She was tossing grass into the air to test the wind and took the yardage book to point out something to the caddie who was feigning interest. She has in the past spent time pointing out where not to hit it which doesn't engender positive thoughts.

Wandered back over towards the chipping green. Found Xtina Kim in one of the pot bunkers. She seemed to be as she said herself "digging to make sandcastles". She was laughing all the time as she and her caddie were trying to come up with the most difficult spot in the bunker.

Wandered back over to the now crowded putting green and saw Portland John standing by the caddie master area. I welcomed him to the lovely weather at the British and he pointed out that coming from Portland he was used to weather. He said he'd told his bag, Soo Yun Kang, to get all her practicing in today because Wednesday was going to be dreadful. They had played with Ai Miyazato who played 9 holes being constantly followed and interviewd by a Japanese TV crew. Once they disappeared she apparently played really well. Whilst watching Xtina chatting with all and sundry rather than putting on the putting green the heavens absolutely opened. Decided it was time to make the trip back back out to the car.

Evian Masters - Monday July 27th - Travel Day

After a relaxing morning spent lounging by the lake in the sunshine and having a cup of coffee we got a taxi ride back to Geneva airport and our flight to Manchester airport. Good nights sleep in my own bed ensued. Needed the rest as the British Open starts tomorrow up at Royal Lytham and St. Annes.

Evian Masters - Sunday July 26th - Day 4

Up at Place Annika Sorenstam the leaders flags today were Y Ddraig Goch for Becky, Korean (for Inky) and Swedish (for Sophie). Becky was last in so she was first out in the last but one group with Cristie Kerr. Sophie and Inky were last out.

From my usual shady spot down the left side of the first hole I watched Morgan Pressel hit her tee shot into the left rough. Her second wasn't too bad but came up short and left. Her delightful response was a loud "F**k You". Charming.
Dave Brooker was not wearing his moonboot thing today. Tutta was playing with Jelly. Her Mum, whom she looks a lot like, was out and about in her Nike wear. Graham Matthew's feet were not well enough for him to caddie for Catriona. Karine Icher had ditched the dresses and gone back to shorts and top. Wie and Ochoa were in the same group. Brittany Lincicombe was sitting on a chair outside the ropes, headphones in, listening to her ipod before teeing off.

The two marshalls on the 1st reminded me of Tweedledum and Tweedledee. They couldn't be walking marshalls due to their size. They spent their time chatting to each other in the left rough, shaking hands with the walking marshalls as they came through. The golfers were an unwanted intrusion in their day. It was a real crimp in their day when someone hit it way right and they had to go look for it. More than once they had to be guided to the ball by the crowd.

Watched Wie and Lorena play through the 6th and then headed back to the 1st tee to see Brew tee off. I wished her good luck as she made her way to the tee. Previous days she said thanks and gave me a big smile. Today she mumbled her thanks and her smile was very strained, obviously very nervous.

Went for my usual liquid lunch in the skybox. Having consumed a suitable quantity of Veuve Cliquot Rose I caught up with Ai Miyazato and Karrie Webb, teeing off at the 6th. It's not easy to get to the 6th green so headed off down the 7th fairway to await their arrival. Didn't bother going all the way to the 7th green, going straight to the back of the par 3 8th green.

Paula Creamer attempted to make birdie there and failed. Karrie also blew a birdie chance. Becky and Kerr both hit lovely shots into the 8th green, both getting birdies. Brew needed hers as she was three over for the day having bogeyed three in a row from the second.

None of us wanted to trog up the hill to the upper section of the course so after Inky (bogey) and Sophie (par) had played the 8th we headed over towards the 14th green / 15th tee area to wait for the leaders to come back around. Na Yeon Choi and Yuko Mitsuka both made a real mess of the 14th. Mitsuka was in the right geenside bunker having shortsided herself whilst Choi was left of the green in the rough in a tough spot. Both got bogeys.

Alfie was next up playing with Paula Creamer. Both made par as did Karrie and Ai-chan who were next. Becky hit her tee shot into Na Yeon Choi territory but she seemed to hit a lovely chip shot onto the green to give herself a chance to save par. Unfortunately she missed the par put and even worse missed the short bogey put. Double on the card and chances of a win or even a top 10 looking distant. Watched Soph and Inky make their pars on 14 and then set off back to try and find a spot up in the Skybox or grandstand.

I was late making it into the Skybox. It was standing room only but was consoled by the fact that the Veuve Cliquot Rose was still flowing. Alfie hit a terrific second shot into the green and had an eagle put which she holed and immediately saluted the grandstand crowd with a huge fist pump. Paula Creamer almost holed out from the right hand side greenside bunker and ended up on her knees in the sand. She left herself a very short almost tapin birdie but she missed it.

Ai-chan laid up on 18 and had a non gimme birdie put which she nailed to get to 14 under. Advantage Sophie who had got her drive into the fairway. She hit a good second shot and ended up on the green with an eagle put of about 20 feet. She hit a great eagle put which would have won her the tournament but it stopped just a smidgin short. Playoff.

Both players were driven back to the 18th tee. Only slight downer was that the Veuve Cliquot Rose had run out. I had to switch to white. Ai hit first, took driver and absolutely creamed it down the fairway. Sophie took a wood but pushed it right into the new green bunker nicknamed "The Green Monster" by the players. She had no choice but to lay up. Ai-chan went for the green and ended up in Creamer territory in the right greenside bunker.

Sophie hit her 3rd shot onto the green but not really close enough. Ai-chan hit a good bunker shot leaving herself a very makeable birdie putt. Sophie had to make her putt to put pressure on Ai-chan but hit a lousy one which never threatened the hole. Ai-chan made her birdie put and won her first LPGA win and was very emotional about it. She was doused in Evian water by her fellow Japanese players.

At this point they started handing out I love Evian Masters flags in the grandstand. I snaffled a couple. Ai-chan had been bagged by the TV companies to do interviews so the presentation proper had to wait. The official artist arrived to complete his painting by adding the Japanese flag. A load of marshalls congregated behind the 18th green and the French crowd got all excited when a guy in white tshirt, jeans and a baseball cap appeared. It was Zinadine Zidane.

Once Ai-chan had been given the trophy which was almost as big as her, the parachutists appeared with the lead one dropping in on the 18th fairway to drape the Japanese flag around Ai-chan before the Japanese anthem was played. It is more of a dirge than God save the Queen.

Once the presentation was over I headed to get my courtesy bus back down to town. Passed Soph sat outside the clubhouse with a large glass of beer. Kent Nilsson seemed to be trying to cheer her up.

Back at centre ville found out that the Rue Nationale turns into an arts and crafts market on a Sunday. Most if not all of the caddies had already left to spend the night at Geneva airport before getting an early morning flight to the UK so the bar was quite quiet. Had a couple of vin rouge before heading back to get refreshed for dinner.

Met up with the aussie lasses for our usual vin rouge at L'Embuscade then headed back to last night's Italian, La Pizza. Still no seat outside. Final visit to L'Embuscade and we bought a round of Ricard, a first for all of us. The bar owner bought us another round of Ricard on the house. She wouldn't believe that I didn't have a French grandmother cos my French accent was so good!

Evian Masters - Saturday July 25th - Day 3

At the golf course stood in the players area watching the action on the putting green and driving range and struck up a conversation with Mickey Walker until she had to wander off and chat with Alison Nicholas. It was a gorgeous day, sunny and hot, so chose a shady spot on the 1st fairway to watch a few groups come through.

Lorena was playing with Erina Hara, Natalie was playing with Jelly and Tutta was playing with the new US Womens Open champion Eun-Hee Ji. Next up was Tania Elosegui and Michelle Wie. Headed back to Place Annika Sorenstam to check out the early scores. Y Ddraig Goch was flying with the Korean and Japanese flags.

Headed out onto the main section of the course looking out for LD. Found her and the Aussie lasses on the 7th hole. Saw LD and Sun Young Yoo play through the 8th and hung around there rather than trudge up the hill to the top section. Watched the same lot as I watched on the 1st play through the 8th starting with Lorena and finishing with Wie.

Wandered back to the 14th green in time to see Momoko and Terry arrive. Watched Momoko tee off on the 15th. Terry gave me a nod of acknowlegement. Watched Rachel Hetherington and Candie Kung play and then LD arrived. Followed LD up the 15th. Spotted Mickey Walker sitting in her tent studio at the side of the 15th fairway. She waved at me as I passed.

LD is amazing. The 15th is a 559 yard true 3 shot par five up to an elevated green. She pulled out an iron on the tee and whacked it down the fairway. She got to her ball, pulled out an iron again, no practice swing, hit her lay up shot. Same thing again on her third shot onto the green. Unfortunately she missed the birdie putt.

Following my Skybox liquid lunch the afternoon golf started with Cristie Kerr on the 6th tee. Karine Icher (who was having a bad day eventually shooting 77) had a big gallery and was playing with Stacy Lewis. Headed out to the 14th to watch the leaders come through. Alfie was playing with Wendy Ward and Karrie was paired with Se Ri. When Se Ri teed off on 15 I think her ball was going right from the moment she started her downswing but her very large caddie had a right go at the woman next to me who had taken a snap.

Waited for Sophie to tee off on 15 and followed her back to the 18th. She had a great look at birdie on 16 but didn't hit it. The classic never up never in. She hated her tee shot on the par 3 17th taking her hand off the club. However, the reaction changed to a sheepish grin and then relieved laughter. When we got to the green, having risk life and limb on the track down the steep slope and over a fence, she had a short birdie put which she converted. A fine round that left her as co-leader at the end of the day.

I dashed back to the Skybox to sat in the back row of the grandstand with my Veuve Cliquot rose until Brew in the final group appeared. Had to wait a bit for the courtesy ride to centre ville. The Hotel Royal lot seemed to be getting priority. Ended up sitting with a young good looking lass going to the railway station. The driver was chatting her up like crazy. All in French of course.

We had our usual couple of glasses at the L'Embuscade bar with the aussies before moving onto the Italian restaurant opposite our hotel. As usual, with no reservation, we had to sit inside but sat next to a big open window it was just like being outside. Mickey Walker came in and stopped to say Hi.

Had one more glass of vin rouge at L'Embuscade bar before turning in for the night. Next thing there were massive bangs and the fireworks had started. It was the player's gala night up at the Hotel Royale. The fireworks were apparently spectacular. Didn't see them as they were going off behind the hotel.

Evian Masters - Friday July 24th - Day 2

Up at the course, sat for a bit in the grandstand at the back of the 5th green. It was a bit cooler today and I was in the shade, so having checked out the scoreboard, picked up Juli Inkster's group teeing off on 6. Juli hit her tee shot and immediately shouted "Godammit". Hope her kids were not nearby. Wandered back to the 5th to see Ms Wie's group play through then went back to the first tee to see Sophie tee off.
Watched Tutta's group tee off and followed them down the sixth. JiYai hit her tee shot into the left rough. She misjudged or mishit her second shot and hit the tree branch in front of her and ended up in the middle of the fir tree. I took some great shots of her and her caddie trying to work out what shot to play. In the end she managed to get inside the tree without breaking any branches and bunt it back out into the fairway.

Caught up with Lorena playing the 15th. Took some good photos and managed to video her putting on 15 and teeing off on 16. Followed her on through 17 and partly through 18. Coming around the back of the 18th grandstand, I realised that the SB symbol on my pass stood for Skybox which was the area above the 18th grandstand seats. Went up to have a shuftie. Found out that not only were there comfy seats but free beer and free Veuve Cliquot!

Having had my liquid lunch headed back out to the course. Yani Tseng was signing autographs by the scorers hut. Saw Helen Alfredsson, Pat Hurst and Maria Hjorth tee off on the 6th before heading over to the first tee to see Becky Brewerton tee off. Told her to "Have a good one today". She had two Korean playing partners, Na Yeon Choi and Inky.

All three of the caddies in Becky's group had the yellow bibs on which Kent Nilsson, Alfies Hubby/caddy was wearing yesterday. The leader of the tournament gets the yellow bib. Realised looking at the giant scoreboard in Place Annika Sorenstam that the flags flying also take into account the leading players. Yesterday it had been the Swedish flag but today Y Ddraig Goch was proudly hanging next to the Korean and Evian Masters flags.

Headed back to the Skybox for another few beers and Veuve Cliquot rose drinks. Saw LD finishing off on the 18th green. She was on level par so safely making the cut but likely to be off earlier tomorrow than she would like. Decided it would be good to pick up Becky's group out by the 14th green. Walked past the 15th where Morgan Pressel was playing with Diana Luna and Candie Kung.

Got to the 14th green in time to see Karrie Webb, Momoko Ueda and Ai Miyazato. Moved over to the 15th tee to see them tee off. Got a quick nod of acknowledgement from Terry Mac. The crowd following the Karen Stupples group was enormous because her playing partner was the French girl Karine Icher.

Becky was having another great day, 6 under for the round and 11 under for the tournament. She hit a bad tee shot on the par 5 15th. It was way left and had a tree impeeding her progress. She advanced it as far as she could up the fairway but had a very long shot for her third. She came up just short of the green on the right hand side in the first cut of rough. She hit a lovely chip shot up onto the elevated green that left her one of those length puts for par. She made it and looked mightily relieved to scramble the par save.

At this point the weather started to move in. The sky was getting darker and darker and there was thunder and lightning happening on the Swiss side of Lac Leman. Decided to call it a day.It was absolutely p**sing down when I was dropped at the end of the Rue Nationale. The weather meant it was now impossible to see the other side of the lake. Luckily the storm cleared off before dinner time.

Went for a quick wander before starting the evenings' eating and drinking. Spotted a Korean player and Colin Cann, Paula Creamer's caddie in the laudromat. The two Aussie lasses met up with us at L'Embuscade bar. They were a little damp because they had had to queue up for the free shuttle bus down into town. Eat once again at the Brasserie Continental, having spotted Lisa Hall having dinner with her husband.

Evian Masters - Thursday July 23rd - Day 1

The Evian hot air balloon had arrived and was anchored somewhere off the course behind the 18th fairway. Watched Tutta, Seon Hwa Lee and Louise Friberg play the first. Dave Brooker was wearing his air boot thingy again.

Saw Terry caddying for Momoko Ueda. Larry had said that Terry was feeling really unwell this week. He only showed at L'Embuscade on Monday night. Her group was filled by both of the Miyazatos. Must have been a commentators nightmare. Wie was playing with Cristie Kerr and Gwladys Nocera so they had a big following.

Joined the Oz Lasses in watching LD, Karrie and Rachel Hetherington go off the first. They were a lot happier cos their luggage had finally arrived.

Spotted Amy Yang had gone into the water hazard on 18 and watched her get the ruling and drop her ball in the drop zone. She made bogey. Yani Tseng was playing with Candie Kung and Se Ri Pak who was kitted out in canary yellow.

As Sophie had gotten me my guest accreditation, it was only fair to follow her for a number of holes. She was playing with two French players and therefore had a big gallery. She hit her 1st tee shot in the rough, her approach hit a greenside tree and her chip was so so. Bogey ensued. Decided to give the trip to the bottom of the course a miss and catch up with her at the 6th.

Saw from the leaderboard that Becky Brewerton was at the top. Watched her play a bit on 15 before setting off with Sophie's group down the 6th. Discovered that holes 9 to 14 are up at the top of the course and the players, caddies and marshalls get a buggy ride up from the 8th green to the 9th tee whilst we poor spectators have to scramble up the mountainside!

At the 10th tee no-one made any attempt to tee off. This was because Yani was trudging her way back to the tee as she had hit her drive way right and OB. She apologised to Soph's group and played the hole by herself as her playing partners had played on by themselves.

Sophie ended up with a 1 under par round tied for 27th. Christina Kim came over to say Hi. She had shot 3 over and described herself on the golf course today as "a f**king 5 year old and a petulant one at that".

Sat with Karen Stupples and Bobby (her caddy/hubby) on the terrace outside the clubhouse. They told us about the fire at Pavillions du Golf the night before. As they did so (and I got a free bowl of proper chips not French fries) Graham Matthew, Catriona's hubby/caddy arrived and gave us all the gory details.

He was sitting on the balcony shoeless e-mailing on his laptop when Catriona asked him if it was raining because she could hear rain. He told her there was no rain but on entering the room heard the noise himself. On opening their door, they saw smoke and flames. As they ran out part of a porch collapsed and Graham burned his feet. The daft bugger then ran back into the rooms to get their passports!

He went to hospital to have his burnt feet treated whilst Catriona was ringing round trying to get them somewhere else to sleep. Thank goodness they didn't have the kids with them. Amy Yang and her Dad were in the room next door. Their route out was blocked so Dad threw the mattresses out of the window (they were one floor up) and they jumped after tossing the clubs over first.

As we were sat there the horn blew as there was a storm moving in. LD had managed to finish her round and was more concerned that the football match set for later that evening would be cancelled. Got the bus back down into town. Headed for the L'Embuscade bar where we listened to a bunch of Swiss horn players. We were joined by Karen Stupples and hubby Bobby and Tutta high fived a few of the caddies as she walked past with her mum on her way to dinner.

After a few glasses of vin rouge we went back to the Brasserie Continental for dinner. Sat next to Mardi Lunn, Audrey (who is now looping for Pat Hurst) and Alex Armas the LET Commissioner. Another Swiss horn player appeared with a singing hurdy-gurdy card organ grinder.

There was a British Youth band playing in the square at the end of this evening. All their announcements were made in French which went down well. Their piece de resistance and their encore was YMCA a la Village People complete with dancers doing the arm movements. Mickey Wright and I joined in with them. We seemed to be the only daft ones although it could be Village People were not big in France.

Evian Masters - Wednesday July 22nd - Rolex Pro-Am

Today my polo shirt was the exact same colour as the Evian Masters workers so there was no problem getting the lift on the caddie/press bus and no hassles about being delivered to the pass required area.

Sat at first in the small grandstand behind the fifth green and watched Leta Lindley's group pass through. The sky looking down to the lake was very black and threatening.

Over at the putting green and driving range a lot of the afternoon players were milling about. Tutta and her caddy and Catriona Matthew and her hubby were having a long chat. Everyone then scarpered quickly as the heavens opened and the thunder and lightning started. Was interested to see that the weather forecast for Thursday includes hail!

The weather settled into a glorious sunny period so settled into the grandstand by the fifth again. There was absolutely no interaction between Seon Hwa Lee and her partners and the atmosphere was decidedly chilly. Lotta Wahlin and Katherine Hull did seem to be making an effort as did Na Yeon Choi and Eunjung Yi. Morgan Pressel's group seemed to be having a very good time. Christie Kerr was scheduled to be the first off the 6th in the afternoon wave but Morgan shouted across the pond to her that there was another group to make the turn behind her.

At this point with Anna Nordqvist's group approaching, the weather again looked nasty and I only just made the safety of the tunnel under the grandstand at 18 before it absolutely chucked it down. It was packed at the tunnel exit with all the players from the afternoon wave who were 30 minutes late teeing off. I was standing with Karine Icher and Christie Kerr.

One of the guys in Kerr's group topped his tee shot and only made it 100 yards down the fairway. Yani Tseng also looked like she was going to have a long day. The first in her group only hit driver onto the very front ladies tee. One of LD's group was playing by himself. LD and the other 2 guys were on the green getting ready to putt out whilst he was still hacking his way up the fairway. He gave up before he reached the green after he duffed one into the water hazard short and right of the green.

As the next thunderstorm approached, got the bus to the Hotel Royal to get my pass. There had been a bit of a communication cock-up and after a long wait at the incredibly expensive hotel (which has its own helicopter), had to go back to the course to collect my guest accreditation.

Had dinner in one of the lakeside restaurants outside the casino. A bit more expensive but not too bad. Caddie Larry stopped for a chat. After dinner headed back up to L'Embuscade bar for a glass or two of wine. Larry said that the thunderstorm was not deemed close enough to call play in the ProAm. Cristie Kerr was not best pleased. Her group saw a bolt of lightning land and felt the static electricity. In the US they would have been off the course.

Evian Masters - Tuesday July 21st - Practice Day

A continental breakfast before starting the day on our ourdoor garden patio was just the ticket - cheese, ham and buttered croisants with orange juice and cafe au lait.

Successfully blagged way onto the caddie/press transport at the end of the Rue Nationale, 2 minutes walk from the hotel, and was at the course by about 9.00am. Mimmi Hjorth and Catriona Matthew were standing just outside the clubhouse exchanging new baby pictures.

The TV pictures do not do the course justice. It is a gorgeous golf course with the most marvelous views. The views over the lake get better as you climb the course and when I say climb I mean it.

Followed Natalie for the first 5 holes who was out practicing on her own and then picked up the Christina Kim / Becky Brewerton group who were just teeing off on the 6th. Wandered out to the far end of the course to get the lie of the land.

Came across Tutta and Dave Brooker on the 15th who was sporting a big black air cast thingy on his recently broken ankle. Laura Davies spotted them as well and having attracted Tuuta's attention started doing hop-a-long impressions. Tutta did the hop-a-long impression right back at her.

There was a mini proam in the afternoon, A Societe General affair with primarily LET players including LD and Alfie. Alfie's husband, Kent (Nilsson "The Magic Man" ex NHL Ice Hockey star) has had another op on his knee and after struggling to walk at the British last year is now back on her bag. He said to put some money on Alfie as she was playing better than last year when she won.

Still no sign of the aussie lasses luggage. They had gone down to the market that morning to buy some shorts. Back down in town and a local band were giving a concert in Place Charles de Gaulle. I sat on the steps to listen and ended up filling in a questionnaire for one of the band support staff. I explained I was a tourist with limited english but we plowed on anyway. I understood almost all of the questions so shouldn't have skewed the results too much. I took an instant like to the woman when I ticked the 45-60 age range box and she told me that I looked a lot younger!

Had dinner at the Brasserie Continental at the next table to Mardi Lunn (Lisa Hall's caddie) and Audrey (Sophie Gustafson's ex-caddie). They were joined by Sophie and Ty Votaw. My travelling companion knows Sophie and had got guest credentials from her. Ty was returning home the next day and generously offered to swap his credentials into my name. I typed my name into his Blackberry and arrangements were made to collect the pass from the Royal Hotel sometime after 1pm the next day.

Evian Masters - Monday July 20th - Travel Day

I flew out of Liverpool John Lennon Airport on the same Easyjet flight as Becky Brewerton who won the LET tournament in Spain to get the last spot in the Evian field. I was going to say Hi at the departure gate but she had paid for speedy boarding unlike miserly me so I had to wait until we got to baggage reclaim in Geneva and she got off the phone. She was going straight to the golf course to register and find out where she was going to be staying for the rest of the week!


Whilst Becky got her courtesy car drive to Evian, I went the scenic route. Train from the airport along the Lake Geneva shoreline to Lausanne, quick taxi ride to the Lake Geneva lakeside and then the ferry over Lake Geneva to Evian. Final mode of transport was shanks's pony to the Hotel de France, home for the week, bang in the centre of town in the Place Charles de Gaulle.


Had dinner at the same Italian restaurant as Karrie Webb and met a couple of aussies lasses who had just travelled 46 hours non stop from South Australia. They had made it safely to Evian but their luggage had had other plans and was somewhere en route.


Life on Tour Larry is also staying in the Hotel de France. Had a few drinks with him in the bar L'Embuscade which was Caddie Central for the week.