Hey everyone,
I've written this email to Melitta and she has been able to put it onto my blog as there's limited internet connection in China.
This is my second week over here and safe to say I'm glad I don't live here permanently.
I left Melbourne for Hong Kong on the 19th June, had a quick 5 hour stop over then flew onto China.
I had emailed the CLPGA to organise a shuttle from the airport to the hotel but as I'm learning you should never expect things to go as planned!
We were delayed half an hour, and the last shuttle had left, I felt like a huge fish out of water trying to ask for help.
Not many people speak English so when I saw 3 other girls with golf bags I felt relieved, we caught a cab to the course which was about 45mins drive away.
I ordered some noodles for dinner and had an early night. The next day I had a practice round and met my caddy, the course looked challenging, with quite a few fairway bunkers, water and hazards.
I had a practice the next day then onto the tournament,
I had woken up with a sore throat and blocked nose which wasn't ideal as it was quite hot. I was paired with a young Chinese girl and a woman from Japan.
The young girl had her mum on the bag, and was pretty much riding every single shot the girl hit. She would jump up if the girl holed a putt and squeeze her cheeks.
This was ok, until she found the water on the 14th hole we played, and they proceeded yelling at each other for the next two holes.
A little awkward for myself and the fellow player, but it really became quite frustrating as it were if only her daughter was playing the tournament.
This was something I had to swallow and not allow it to put me off. I'm proud that I didn't let it.
After day 1and a score of 75, I went home for an early night knowing I needed a good score for a chance at making the cut.
I played well the next day and holed a couple of good putts to shoot 73 and make the cut.
I had an early tee time of 7.30 the next day and started off slow but made a few birdies and finished with a 71.
I was pretty pleased with how I'd not only played but handled certain situations.
The next day I was up at 4.30 to get a taxi to the airport for the next domestic flight, but the flight was delayed so ended up having lots of time up my sleeve.
The airports in China are very different to Australia, there is very little order and its pretty much each man for themselves.
So afew hours later I arrived in Shandong, and had an hour and a half shuttle to the course. Once again I had emailed my shuttle reservation through but there was also a sign up sheet on the board in Chinese. As my Chinese isn't as good as it used to be I missed the notice and there fore wasn't allowed on the bus, leaving myself and a few others who made the same mistake to find a cab.
On our way we saw people peeing in the street, spitting and young babies on the backs of motorbikes so it was quite an experience.
I'm currently playing the 2nd Comp and have made the cut despite a minor case of food poisoning with the last round played tomorrow.Then will head on to Hong Kong for the Open.
Thanks for the support and see you all upon my return
