Ma & Pa's Golden Wedding

The Vale Hotel, Golf and Spa Resort was the chosen venue for the Golden Wedding celebrations for Ma and Pa. They wanted things low key so we had a dinner, bed and full English breakfast at the hotel used by the Welsh rugby team as their base.

S4/C Wales Ladies Championship of Europe Friday August 7th

Set off for Harlech at 9.40am. The traffic on the M56 was fine but the A55 was a bit of a pain. Eventually got to the Conwy/Llandudno junction and set off down the Vale of Conwy A470 towards Betwys-y-Coed. That route is very pretty which means pootling grockles everywhere. The journey took ages. You bypass Betwys and head towards Blaenau Ffestiniog. In South Wales the slag heaps were coal. Up here it's slate.

The road to Harlech runs by the estuary. After 2 hours and 20 minutes Harlech Castle came into view. I parked up right next to Royal St David's Golf Club in the shadow of the castle. £3 to park but nothing to enter the golf.

Having had a par 3 to start last week, there is a par 3 to finish this week. It was playing downwind and the green was very quick. As Lydia Hall the Welsh player was telling her Mum and Dad by the side of the green, the only way to play the hole was to land the ball way in front of the green and roll it up to the flag. Anything landing on or really close to the green was going straight through the back.

Headed off to the 17th green. Karen Lunn hit her approach into the cross bunker that runs across the front of the green and didn't get out of the bunker very well. She made bogey and was absolutely livid. Next up was Gwladys Nocera, Melissa Reid and our own Becky Morgan. Quite a few people following that group. Gwladys was not playing any better than the previous 2 weeks. She missed a very short par put. Not good form going into the Solheim. Diana D'Alessio was in the next group and I'm pretty sure Tam, Sophie's new caddie, was on her bag.

Rebecca Hudson and Johanna Mundy were playing as a twosome. The cold that Marianne Skarpnord's Mum had told us she was suffering from in Lytham had obviously taken its toll. Lisa Hall (with Mardi Lunn on her bag), Louise Stahle and Iben Tinning were the next group through. Iben Tinning had one of her best friends on the bag. Luckily for her she was using a trolley as she was huge. Mardi saw me standing by the green and gave me a wave of recognition. Mardi was lining up Lisa's put whilst having a fag. Lisa made a two put for par but hit her tee shot on 18 into the greenside bunker. Bogey on the last and she finished at plus nine with no chance of making the cut.

Karen Stupples was hitting balls on the range and Bobby gave me a wave of recognition. Headed off to the 1st tee. Karine Icher, Julieta Granada and Lydia Hall had just teed off. LD showed up early for her tee time and was happy to stop and sign autographs for kids. She got a giggle from the large crowd by the wall at the 1st tee as she walked into one of the posts railing off the 1st tee.

Caught up with the Icher/Granada/Hall group hitting their second shots on the 1st and hung around in the landing area waiting for LD. She did not disappoint, her tee shot hit with a hook that ended up way left in the deep wispy, tangly stuff. Local opinion was they would all take a two club length unplayable penalty drop. LD was not at all pleased with the lie she found but she took a real good whack at it and advanced it 75 yards up the fairway into the semi rough. She made her par as it is a very reachable par 5.

Becky Brewerton was paired with a couple of Swedes, Anna Nordqvist and defending champion Lotta Wahlin. Becky's tee shot leaked a little left and it pulled up just short of a fairway bunker. She was able to go for it and came up a little short of the green but was able to make her birdie nonetheless. Karen Stupples tee shot also leaked a little bit left and ended up in the semi rough. She spotted me as she arrived and acknowledged my existence. I waved in recognition and she instigated a quick chat.

Watched the Yang/Stupples/Johnson group tee off from behind the 2nd tee and made my way over to the 3rd fairway to check on Becky's group. She had birdied the 2nd as well as the 1st but only got a par on the 3rd. The tee shot on 3rd involves a dog leg so the players can't see where their tee shot lands. Trish Johnson had actually hit her tee shot bang in the middle of the fairway but she first checked out Amy Yang's ball, then Karen Stupples' before realising hers was the shortest but the only one in the fairway. Bobby Inman saw her wandering around and told her that if she was looking for the nearest fish and chip shop it was over in that direction, pointing to the ice cream van. Trish told him she was not going to take that sort of rubbish from someone wearing shorts like his. They were a touch loud but I've seen much worse.

Went and sat towards the rear of the par 3 11th to watch the groups come through until the leading groups reappeared. First group included Anja Monke and Sophie Giquel. They had both landed in the front cross bunker. One of the caddies came up with a plan to ensure both got a decent shot with the bunker raked. Anja Monke was initially full of the giggles but her bunker shot stopped her laughing and she made bogey. Almost didn't recognise Elisabeth Esterl, the ex-Solheim Cup player, until I saw the trousers she was wearing. She seemed to have her Aunt Fanny on her bag. It turned out to be one of the local members who was pushing her bag to give her a break and someone to talk to.

The cross bunker at the front of the green was doing good business. It covers the entire narrow entrance to the narrow green. Julieta Granada didn't get up and down for par. LD was unlucky that her teeshot ran off the green to the left and was in the collar of rough. She hit a lovely little pitch shot but had to settle for par. Her body language told you what you needed to know about the day she was having. 2 over for the day.

Becky was next up and she was having a good day, 3 under. She hit a nice tee shot at the 11th and rolled in the birdie put to great cheers and a huge smile from Becky. Anna Nordqvist also made birdie and exchanged a fist bump with her caddie. Karen Stupples had also got it to 3 under for the day but she hit her tee shot way left. Big cry of fore from the tee had everyone on the tump taking cover.

She landed in a nasty spot up in the hay on the side of the tump. Bobby was obviously a bit agitated as he was waving his arms around as the marshall had not pointed out where the ball was quickly enough for him. After much contemplation and discussion, and with Amy Yang and Trish Johnson taking cover on the side of the green, Karen hit her chip shot and was disgusted with it as it flew over to the far side of the green in the semi rough. When she got to the ball and took her stance she told Trish Johnson she was standing in a rabbit hole. Motion motioned for the marshall to join them but Karen got no relief from her hole. She hit a good chip shot that left a very makeable bogey putt. Damage limitation to only lose one shot.

Headed across the 12th fairway to see Karen's group hit their approach shots. Karen hit a great approach shot and I saw later she had made the bridie putt. I didn't see it because I watched Becky Brew's group tee off on the neighbouring 13th tee. Becky got her second shot onto the front right portion of the green leaving a nasty swinging downhill putt. She raced the eagle putt passed the hole but made the 6 footer for a birdie. She had also got one on the 12th and at this point was 6 under on the day.

Went to the 18th green to see the main groups finish. Lydia Hall's Mum and Dad had walked the entire course with her. Her Dad looked a little knackered. She wasn't happy being three over for the day having just doubled the 17th. A victim of the OB where the bottom of the driving range pokes out into the fairway. She bogied the 18th as well, failing to get up and down from a greenside bunker.

LD had also made double on the 17th and was lagging behind the others in her trudge up to the 18th green. She had a birdie try but had to settle for par. Katherine Hull ended up with a 68 and no bogeys to move up the leaderboard. A local who had been following Becky round the loop arrived and told the scorer at the side of the green that Becky had bogeyed the 15th after having to take a drop for an unplayable lie, birdie the 16th but given it back again by bogeying 17. Her dad arrived having walked round with Becky and her Mum had come out from the clubhouse to see her home.

A par at the last meant she was at that point 6 shots off the lead but in with a shout over the weekend. The lead had dropped to 4 after Amy Yang double bogeyed the 17th. Karen Stupples had also double bogeyed 17, another victim of the driving range OB. She hit her tee shot on 18 into a greenside bunker and wasn't at all happy with her bunker shot. She made bogey and strode off the 18th green obviously angry with herself avoiding the scorer who was waiting at the usual exit from the green for confirmation of her score.

A great days golf watching. Decided there and then to come back on Sunday.

Women's British Open - Sunday August 2nd - Day 4

The Inn on the Prom's website needs to update its directions since the demise of Woolies. There was one parking spot left for me. The walk to the club was about as long as the walk from the clubhouse to the public carpark.

Had to go in the pedestrian entrance and then had to go out of my way to get a drawsheet but at least I could check out the giant scorebard straight away. Was on my way to see Lorena tee off the first when realised that Larry was coming down 18. He and Kris Tamulis were the first out at 6.50am (after she took a 12 at the 6th the previous day) and were finishing off in 3 hours flat. She made sure to give a signed golf ball to the walking scorers who had gone round the course with her.

Larry was accosted for his caddies bib which amused him. Whilst she was signing her card, Larry took off his waterproof coat and stuffed it into the nearest bin. He said he was also going to dump the waterproof trousers and trainers before he went home. He was off to stay the night in an airport hotel before flying home. As soon as Kris emerged from the scorers hut, Ron Sirak pounced to ask her exactly what conditions were like out there and how they were different from the previous day. Easier than going out and walking the course for himself.

Went over to the first green to see Lorena and JJ tee off. JJ went first, landed the ball short of the green, got a good bounce up onto the green and the ball then just rolled towards the hole and at the last minute dropped into the hole for a hole in one. She had a mega smile on her face when she arrived on the green and got a large round of applause. Got another good clap when she retrieved her ball. She then gave us a round of applause. Or maybe she was clapping herself! Lorena tried the same shot but didn't get the same bounce and came up short. She left herself a testy par putt which she took ages over but finally made.

Next up were Hur and Wie, together for the 2nd day running. Both tried to repeat JJ's shot but Wie was short and Hur pin high but wide right. Neither made birdie. Next up was Michelle Redman and Becky Morgan who were both on the green but not close. Redman is a fussy bugger. Her caddie, Coffee Joe, was asking for silence whilst she was prowling around the green not just when she was about to hit the shot.

Yuri Fudoh's tee shot landed close to where JJ's ball had landed but took off like a scalded cat.It would have run off the back of the green if it handn't hit the flagpole and almost dropped in. She was left with a tap in birdie. Yani was not so lucky. She ended up in a front greenside bunker and ended up making bogey.

Cristie Kerr was next up. She landed her ball too far onto the green and ran off the back into the first cut. Her chip back onto the green was a little clumsy and she didn't make her par putt. Not a happy bunny. Brittany Lincicombe was finishing her round on 18 behind us. She was 3 under par but in one of the horrid fairway bunkers. She made a great up and down.

I followed the Kerr/Eberl group down the 2nd and 3rd holes and then wandered around to my usual spot overlooking the 6th hole. Michelle Wie had hit a fabulous drive into position A on the sixth and her second shot ran up onto the back of the green to give her a very makeable eagle put. Mum was very exited about it and shouted "Great shot Michelle". God knows if Michelle could hear as she was way down the fairway. She didn't make the eagle put but had a simple tap in bridie.

Becky Morgan's second shot was a tad wayward and ended up on the upslope of the mound I was standing on practically in touching distance. She made her par from there. Michelle Redman was even fussier on the 6th green. Three spectators were standing at the back of the 6th green minding their own business standing still. Redman wasn't happy because they were in her putt line and shouted at them to move! Much comment in the crowd that it was just as well she wasn't a very successful and popular player who had to deal with a green totally surrounded with people all day long.

Yuri Fudoh and Yani were next up. Yani put her second shot in the deep front left greenside bunker. When she saw her lie she put her hands on her hips in frustration. She got out OK but didn't get her birdie. Martina Eberl hit her tee shot into somewhere nasty and had to just chip out onto the fairway. Cristie Kerr had hit hers onto the mound on the left side of the fairway. She went for it but pulled it short and left into a really deep fairway bunker. Eberl nearly followed her in but just stopped on the top of the bunker mound. All Kerr could do was come out of the bunker sideways which she did OK. She then gave her golf bag an almighty kick. She was steaming. She did make her par.

Wandered off to get a bacon roll and caught up with Lorena Ochoa and JJ making their way onto the 12th tee and then with Michelle Wie playing onto the 11th green. She was short of the green in 2, hit a lovely little chip shot onto the green but missed the birdie put. She had got it to 4 over so she was 3 under for the day. Made my way back to my spot on the sixth as Mimi's group played thru.

Karrie played a great second shot landing short of the green and running up onto the green. Se Ri put it in a RHS greenside bunker. Karrie only just missed her eagle putt. She had a tap in birdie. Se Ri got her par. Saw Creamer going through the 3rd green clad in her usual pink but not using her Sunday pink ball. Having had a sit in the sun for a bit to rest my weary legs and feet I checked out Yuri Fudoh and Yani Tseng teeing off on the 14th before getting a new perspective on the 6th by watching paly from the back of the green. Michelle Redman had already gone through so I reckoned I was safe.

Jane Park hit her third into a nasty spot to the left of the green but she at least avoided the sand. her pitch was a little clumsy and she ended up with a bogey. Shinobu Moromizato's caddie seems to be her coach as well. He barks orders at her constantly right up to the moment she hits. She was in one of the deep greenside bunkers on the left of the sixth but safely made her par. Creamer was just short in two, hit a nice shot onto the green and made the birdie put.

Song-Hee Kim and Shin missed out on their birdie chances on the 6th whilst both Miyazatos got their birdies. Xtina's second shot came up short of the green. Her third shot was a little clumsy and ran on a good distance past the hole. She didn't make the birdie putt and we had the classic Xtina knee bend reaction. Beany pulled her second shot way left into the crowd on a mound to the left of the 6th green. Her pitch out didn't go very far, landing on a very narrow strip of ground between 2 greenside bunkers. From there she hit a nice pitch and made the par putt.

Moved round to the back of the 13th green as Karrie and Se Ri appear. There was a bit of a moment with one of the marshalls. She had been running round the place handing out cups of coffee but then decided it was time to take her rainpants off. She was a large lady and was therefore blocking the view of a number of people who had been sat at that spot all day. The crowd asked her to move politely but she just looked at them. Someone did say she made a better door than a window. She still wasn't moving until someone pointed out all the spots around the green that marshalls had access to that we didn't. She chuntered a little but moved off and leant against a tree where she wasn't blocking anyones view.

Wandered off down the 14th to go to the loo over the 15th tee crossing point. No queue and nice and clean. Karrie and Se Ri were playing the hole when I got back to the 14th green. Karrie put her 2nd shot into the front left bunker but got up and down for her par. Se Ri was in the right front greenside bunker but she didn't get up and down. No sign of the aussie lasses. Once their walking crowd had left I found a place to sit down to watch the final groups coming through in front of a big scoreboard. Saw that Beany was still at -2 and that Hee-Won Han and Creamer had got it to +1 whilst Ai-chan was one shot back at -1. Next thing Beany has dropped a shot on 10 so is tied with Ai-chan for the lead.

Giulia Sergas looked to have hit a good shot onto 14 but it transpired she had been in a fairway bunker and what had seemed like a par put was actually for bogey. Same thing happened with Hee-Won Mom. Thought she'd made a nice par but the scoreboard moved her to +2 after her bogey. Next thing we knew there was a huge cheer from down at the 15th green. Turns out Karrie had made eagle at 15. Whilst Jane Park was finishing off 15 the scoreboard changed again. Karrie had made birdie on 16 to get it to level par only one shot back. Thought that might be a very good and maybe a winning score if she could get it to the clubhouse.

Creamer made her par on 14. Morimizato having already fallen out of contention made a lovely up and down from the front greenside bunker. Song-Hee Kim and Mika Miyazato were both out of contention. Kim got par, Mikan a bogey. Huge cheers from what sounded like the 13th green as Ai-chan hit a great put that grazed the hole. Two changes on the scoreboard as a result. Ai-chan had bogeyed and Beany had got a birdie on 13.

Beany's ball appeared on the very front of the 14th green. We all hoped like hell that it was thre in 2. Another cheer at 15 and another change on the scoreboard. Creamer had made birdie to also get to level par. 2 shot lead for Catriona over 4 players, one of whom was Xtina. She hit her approach shot, hated it and dropped her club immediately. The guy behind me remarked "Oh the Japanese lady just threw her club". Wrong in so many ways. Xtina just missed the front greenside bunker on 14. Catriona hit her 40 foot birdie attempt which rolled along beautifully and dropped straight into the hole. Enormous cheer from all and sundry and big smile on Catriona's face. 3 shot lead but with 4 difficult holes still to go. Xtina hit an OK pitch and run shot shouting at it, what are you doing. The par putt just failed to drop. Another deep knee bend reaction from her. Next thing the scoreboard changed again. Karrie was in the clubhouse on par, a good target but no longer looking like a winning score but Creamer had birdie 16 as well to get to -1. Catriona's lead down to 2 shots.

Didn't follow the great masses down the fifteenth with Beany. Headed back to the tented village and the big screen. By the time I got there there Catriona had played and birdied 15th. 3 shot lead with three holes to play. Was headed off towards the 18th green but the aussies were headed towards me. They said you couldn't see a thing so I grabbed the bench in front of the screen for the three of us.

Beany played the 16th very steadily and got her safe par. Then saw that Paula was in a horrid spot on the 18th. She was caught up in the grass that was fronting a fairway bunker. All she could do was chop it back out to the fairway. Having done that she hit a horrid third shot that shot through the back of the green and ended up by the clubhouse wall. She hardly had a swing and almost knocked the next off the front of the green. Two putts later, a double bogey on the card and her major championship chances were over once again amd Catriona's lead was back to 4 shots.

She used one of those shots on the 17th having hit into the Bobby Jones bunker with her tee shot. So 3 shot lead with 1 hole to play. Good tee shot into the fairway and approach shot onto the 18th green and it was hers. Xtina was walking alongside her giving her a big clap and egging on the crowd who needed no such encouragement. Beany could 4 putt from here and still win. She only needed two putts, leaving herself a two incher for the win.

Beany wins. Karrie in 2nd on her own. Queue one happy bench. The aussies went back to the hotel as they had some pre-packing shopping to do. I stayed for the presentation and areed to meet them at their hotel at 5.45pm. Whilst all the bigwigs were making long winded speeches Ai-chan, Xtina and Catriona were working the autographs line signing everything put in front of them. Xtina had a baby thrust at her. She had to sign his sunhat. He was not too chuffed at that and she was really upset that he was upset. Catriona was given a Winners Thank You crib sheet so she got all the sponsors names right. She started her speech by thanking the crowd for all the support she'd been given and then moved onto her crib sheet. She ended her speech by thanking Graham for helping keep her spirits up when she got anxious and bad tempered and then said Hi to Katie and Sophie who were watching on TV.She got her photo taken in the classic pose sitting on the edge of a pot bunker and after a bit Graham joined her.

Tramped off back to the Inn on the Prom and then onto the Tiggis restaurant. It reminded me very much of San Carlo in Bristol. We had a bottle of One Tree Hill, Cabernet Shiraz from Adelaide, SE Australia which is made literally just around from where Myranwy lives.

Whilst we were waiting for the bill, Mimi Hjorth and Tutta arrived. Seemed strange that Tutta wasn't with her Mum. Next minute the reason became clear. Alison Nicholas appeared along with Gwladys Nocera, Soph, Alfie, Anna Nordqvist and Becky Brew. The recently announced Euro Solheim Cup team was having a bonding meal out. I took one photo but no more as I didn't want to intrude. Walked back to the car, said good bye to Myranwy and Maurine and that was the British Open over for another year.

Women's British Open - Saturday August 1st -Day 3

The rain as I left meant my waterproof thermal socks were the order of the day. At the course saw Kris Tamulis and caddie Larry, the 6th group of the day, on the 12th tee. Had determined that I was going to see something of the 10th and 11th hole today so set off up the 11th fairway and got myself a great vantage point on top of the huge mound on the left hand side of the 10th hole. The wind was not as strong as on Thursday and it was a little warmer.

First group I watched was the Diaz/Ochoa group. Diaz was over on the left of the fairway in the hollow but Lorena was bang in the middle of the fairway. Bog standard par for Diaz but Lorena hit her approach pin high and five feet away and made a nice birdie. Diaz's drive on 11 was bang in the fairway whilst Lorena was in the semi rough on the right side. She went for the green and got on nicely to leave a lengthy eagle put. Diza put her approach in a right hand greenside bunker. She could only get a par but Lorena had a two put birdie for 2 in a row. The 12th was an easier hole today with the reduced wind but neither of them managed a birdie.

I made my way to the 13th green to wait for them to arrive. Lorena had a look at a birdie but although she hit a great put it just wouldn't drop. She looked a little anxious after hitting her drive on the 14th but it was OK.

Headed over to the 6th in time to see Momoko Ueda hoick her 2nd shot into a nasty looking spot short on the right hand side of the fairway. Terry didn't seem to think she could get a club on it sufficiently to go for the green but she was convinced she could. She ended up in the deep left greenside bunker. Next up were Vicky Hurst and Martina Eberl. Vicky Hurst put it somehwere I'd never seen anyone end up before. She was so far right of the fairway and so long she was miles back and deep in the hay. She gave it full welly and only made it to the shorter hay at the edge of the fairway. From there she could only advance it up the fairway a bit. She got it on the green with her next but two putted for bogey. Her playing partner was not doing much better. She laid up but ended up in the deep fairway bunker. She did better than the Japanese lass the day before and got out at the first attempt but a bogey went on her card too.

Morgan Pressel was also in one of the deep fairway bunkers on the 6th and was not a happy bunny. Michelle Wie hit a great tee shot on 6 but her 2nd shot came up shot and right. She hit a chip shot onto the green that was pin high but quite a lot left of the flag. She missed the birdie put and gave herself a really hard slap on the leg in anger and frustration. Paula Creamer and Karrie Webb had meanwhile made it to the 3rd green. Mimi was in animated conversation with her caddie as she made her way down the 6th fairway.

Spotted the aussie lasses on the far side of the 6th fairway as Karrie Webb and Se Ri Pak approached. Mutual waving ensued.. They continued on with Karrie. She made par on the 6th after hitting her approach into one of the right greenside bunkers. Soph came through to tee off on the 4th and she was already 3 over after 3 holes. Not a great start. Saw Se Ri Pak's group go through the 6th then wandered off for a cheeseburger. Caught up with Michelle Wie's group on the 11th green. She had been in a bit of trouble off the tee and had put her third shot in a greenside bunker. Her lie and position in the bunker meant she had no choice but to come out backwards. She hit a lovely chip from there and limited the damage by making the bogey put.

Caught up with the aussie lasses. Myranwy confirmed she wouldn't want to be a member at Royal Lytham. In fact she said if this were her local course she would take up lawn bowls. She couldnt believe how evil the bunkers were. They moved on to follow Karrie on the 12th whilst I waited for Christie Kerr to appear on 11 and then wandered over to the 6th green to see Beany play through. Then it was over to the 14th fairway to see Paula Creamer over on the right in a really nasty spot. I was actually trying to head for the crossover by the 15th tee to get back to the tented village.

As the Creamer group was on the adjacent 14th green we wern't allowed to cross over until they had teed off. Unfortunately nobody told the marshalls that Inbee Park in the group in front had hit her tee shot way right and had hit a provisional which was in a fairway bunker. They were still searching for her first ball so there was no chance of them teeing off but they still kept us standing there. Creamer went and sat on the bench they have thoughtfully provided on the 15th tee.

Once the 5 minutes were up Inbee played her provisional out into the fairway and eventually cleared the way for Creamer and Webb. There was nearly a mutiny when they announced that as Kerr's group were now on the 14th green we'd have to wait for them to tee off as well. Luckily they saw sense and let us cross once Kerr and Moromizato were on the 15th tee. Came across Jiyai Shin on the 17th tee. Her caddie handed her her driver and set off at a rate of knots back over towards the 16th. This was Shin putting in place her strange tactic of playing 17 by hitting onto the 16th fairway.

Mika Miyazato's caddie joked with Shin that normally when a caddie quits he leaves the bag behind. Her caddie cleared Inbee Park and Maria Hjorth off the 16th fairway so they were out of the landing zone. It didn't seem to be a great strategy. Double on Thursday and bogey on both Friday and today as I saw from the giant scoreboard later.

Stood by the 18th green to watch a few groups finish off. Karrie came up short on 18 on the shoulder of one of the greenside bunkers. She hit a lovely chip shot onto the green but didn't make the par putt. Watched Kerr finished off on 18 and then headed off to get myself a can of Strongbow. Saw M&M sitting watching the big screen with some red wine and went and joined them. They bought me another can as we watched Beany finish off the day with a 3 shot lead.

They weren't leaving until Monday morning so I told them I would love to have dinner with them on Sunday if they could arrange for me to park at their hotel. They said they would ask at let me know if that would be OK. Headed off back to the car park. With play being over for the day it was a much quicker trip as we could cut across the fairways wherever we liked and straight line the journey. Thought it was going to take ages to get out of the car park but they opened up the entrance as an exit and was away quite quickly.

Women's British Open - Friday July 31st -Day 2

Arrived at the course at about 9.30am. The wind was not blowing as hard and it was from a completely different direction from yesterday. I immediately caught up with Larry teeing off on the par3 12th. Well not him obviously! Then headed off up the fairway of the 11th hole, the par 5. Saw Tutta's group teeing off. She and Oyama hit lovely shots in the fairway with Tutta being the longest but Brittany Lang was off to the right in the longish wispy stuff. She talked about going for it but then decided to hit a little chippy seven iron as she herself described it. Karrie Webb was in the group behind putting on the 10th green. Gwladys Nocera's score wasn't getting any better. Watched them tee off on 11 from behind the tee. The marshalls presence did not stop me taking a few snaps.
Climbed onto a high mound which gave a view over the 8th green and the whole of the 10th hole. Saw the Brewerton/Moodie/Alfredsson group teeing off. Alfie was on the left hand side of the fairway down in the hollow. Janice was bang in the middle of the fairway but Becky hit her tee shot over to the rightside of the fairway and just off into the long and wispy stuff. The marshalls on that side of the fairway were up on the fairway bunker mound and had no idea where it ended up. We had to give them shouted instructions so they could find the ball. Becky said thanks to the marshalls and they waved their thanks to us. Becky got it out onto the green and just missed a fifteen footer for birdie.

The Wie group were next up. Wie hit iron off the tee and was off to the left and just off the fairway and the shortest of the three. She wasn't happy with her approach. It came up short on the green and spun back a little. Natalie was a bit strong with her approach and went off the back. Both got their par. Next up was Paula Creamer, Catriona Matthew and Anna Nordqvist. Catriona was over in Alfie territory but she hit a horrible iron shot and ended up in the front right greenside bunker. She hit a lovely bunker shot out and made a clutch par putt as did Creamer and Nordqvist.

Wandered off down the fairway and saw that Catriona had hit a lovely drive way down the fairway and bang in the middle. Decided to head over to the 13th green to pick up Brew's group again. Whilst waiting for them to get to the 13th tee there was a huge roar from the eleventh green behind me. Catriona had obviously done something good.

Brew hit it way left off the tee and had another visit to the longish wispy stuff but she hit a great 2nd onto the green and had a good look at a long birdie putt. Left herself a nasty little one for par but made it. At this point there was another huge roar, this time from the 12th. Catriona again? It turned out that she had just gone eagle, hole in one!!! Wie was in a nasty spot on the 13th. She got the driver out and measured two club lengths and had to take an unplayable penalty drop. Her next shot was lovely - pin high but 15 feet away. She had a good look at par but didn't make it.

Catriona's group all played the 13th well with Catriona having a 6 footer for birdie which she made. Cue more enthusiastic cheers from the crowd. 5 shots to the good in three holes and back to minus 1 for the tournament. Watched her group tee off and play their approach shots on 14 before wandering off to catch up group Wie on the 15th fairway.

Natalie laid up with her second but left it in the right rough from where she hit it off the back of the green. Wie had outdriven her playing partners significantly because her ball landed on a down slope and got a massive scoot forwards and she went for the green in two. She was too far to the left and dribbled off into the greenside bunker. She hit a good bunker shot but missed the birdie putt. Natalie got up and down for her par.

Checked out the leaderboard and get a bacon roll before heading off to the first hole for Soph's start. Got to the first hole in time to see Pressel's group. Shinobu Moromizato was sporting a unique look. Short black skort with shocking pink flashes on her black top and long knee length black socks. Hope it wont catch on!

Mr Gustafson wandered passed so I shook his hand and wished him a good afternoon. He asked about the weather and whether he could borrow my drawsheet. He wanted to know what number Soph would be hitting off the tee. Cristie Kerr hit a lovely shot to give herself a good birdie chance. Soph's tee shot went crashing into the earth face of a greenside bunker and ended up in a horrid spot. She thought about playing it with just one foot in the bunker but in the end had to crouch down and really gouge it out. She was left with a really long put for par which she didn't make and left herself a nasty one for bogey which didn't drop either. Double to start the day. Not good.

Lorena's group was up next. Karen Stupples hit it way short and right, chipped up onto the green clumsily and didn't make the longish par put. Lorena was in one of the greenside bunkers towards the back of the green. She was in three minds about how to play it as it had a really awkward lie. She tried kneeling down to hit it, then tried one leg in and one leg out of the bunker but couldn't get a balanced stance. In the end she had to spread her legs wide and reach down into the bunker. She did get it out OK but left a difficult par put which she didn't make. Bogey to start for her too.

Marta Prieto was wearing her trademark long support socks whilst playing in Xtina's group. Minea Blomqvist hit the ball way left into our crowd area. She checked she hadn't hit anybody and apologised for the inconvenience. We realised that all the marshalls on the first hole had buggered off and not been relieved. One poor man was left to cover all of the 1st hole and the 2nd tee. We therefore became DIY marshalls.

In the next group ShanShan Feng hit it way left and joined us in the undergrowth. I asked the caddy did they need the rope letting down as it was do it yourself but he said if they hit the rope they shouldn't be out there. She didn't get up and down.

Spotted Auzzie Mo heading past the 1st green to catch up with Katherine Hull who was in Feng's group. She said she had tried to do the laundry on the way to the course but there was noone around to do the service wash. It had been left in the safe keeping of the pro shop. Apparently a fellow aussie was in there doing laundry and offered to do theirs as well and deliver it to the golf course. They declined but found out that she was Rebecca Flood's mum, an amateur who was playing in the Open.

We watched them play the 2nd and 3rd and then I turned round and watched Minnie and Xtina play the 4th before mossieing back to the village for my bacon roll and a shuftie at the giant leaderboard. Mrs Wie was busy checking out the scores. Also lurking in front of the scoreboard was Alison Nicholas, Euro Solheim Cup Captain, Joanne Morley, one of her assistant captains, Liselotte Neumann, an unoffical assistant obviously and Alexandra Armas, the LET Commish.

The left side of the 15th fairway tends to get the most business in the rough was my next destination and a number of players dropped in to join me. Stacy P landed in some nasty stuff and only managed to advance it 50 yards up the fairway and still in the semi rough. Azahara Munoz, one of the young Spanish amateurs was next in the hay but got out and laid up nicely. Morgan Pressel was lying not too bad and got out OK so no F-bomb dropped.

Surprisingly Lorena was the next to join us in the rough. She had hit a guy a glancing blow in the chest. She arrived, checked out the lie of the ball and immediately apologised for hitting it towards us asking if she had hit anyone. The guy put his hand up and she apologised again and said she was glad he was OK. She's such a nice lass.

Laura Davies hit her tee shot way, way right. We saw it bounce and therefore knew approximately where it was. The marshall on that side had lost it in the air it was so wayward so we had to guide him to where the ball was. We were giving him instructions from the far side of the fairway so he couldn't give LD assurance the ball had been found. She thus played a provisional ball which was a lovely shot. The marshall couldn't believe how far right it was. It was not in the hay but not a great angle in. She gave it a right wallop and I think got it close to the green. She certainly got her par.