Asia

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

China and Hong Kong

Hey Everyone!
Just a quick update with what's happening for me in the next few weeks. I am off to China on Monday the 18th  to play 3 events on the China Ladies Tour. First is the Srixon XXIO Challenge held from the 22nd to the 24th May at the Suzhou Taihu International Golf Club. The next is the Bank of Qingdao Jinshan Challenge which starts the 28th May and finishes the 30th. This is held at the Golden Mountain International Golf Club.
Finally I have the Hong Kong Ladies Open from the 5th to the 7th June which is held at the Hong Kong Golf Club. The best way to follow my progress will be through the CLPGA website.
Recently I have been practicing at the club as well as taking up afew hours at Riverside Golf and Tennis centre just to try and save up alittle bit of money for when I am away.
Once I return from China I will map out the second half of my year with a goal of trying to pre qualify for the British Open.
For the meantime lots of work to happen before now and then.
I will keep you up to date upon my travels,
Good golfing,
Gracie

Australian Classic

Hey Everyone!
I have just returned home after driving back from Sydney. I have been up at Twin Creeks Golf Club playing in the Australian Classic which is a new tournament with a limited field comprising of players from the China Ladies Tour and the Australian.
I drove up last Sunday the 12th , and spent the week staying with my billet L.J, Stacey Keating and her boyfriend Darren.
I went out early Monday morning to have a practice round and met with Gregg, a member at the club whom I had organised to come out for a walk and show me the in's and outs of the golf course.
The course looked really nice, with some tough holes especially if the wind was to get up.
I spent the next two days getting familiar with the course, and doing a lot of short game practice.
After practice on Thursday night there was a Gala dinner at the Star Casino in the city.
It was pretty extravagant, we even had lobster for dinner!
It was a relatively early night as we had a big few days ahead. My billet L.J was on the bag and I had a 10.am tee off.
The first round was a wet day, with constant rain all morning. I was a bit nervous on the first tee, as it was my first comp in over a month. My nerves settled pretty quickly though as I pretty much slipped on the first tee and sent my ball straight into the water hazard on the left of the fairway.
Nerves quickly turned to anger, but I settled and limited the damage to a bogey followed by a birdie on the 2nd, a par 3 of 135m.
5 birdies for the day, alongside 4 bogeys and I settled for an opening round 71.
I had mixed emotions after the first round, I missed a couple of putts that I wanted to make but overall was happy with how I played.
Day 2 -
Conditions were a lot nicer in round 2, no rain was present.
I struggled a little bit mid round and shot 75. That put me at tied for 18th out of 55 players and was looking forward to a good final day.
Day 3- the last round I played fairly steady, I missed a couple of fairways which resulted in bogeys but I hung in there to shoot 74, helped by a chip in on the last and a birdie at 17.
That put me in outright 24th position and helped me go up the rankings a little.
The week gave me a lot of confidence knowing I'm better positioned to compete even when things aren't perfect.
I'm looking forward to the next month of training and hopefully save up enough money to play in the Hong Kong Open in early June.
Thanks to everyone for the support!

-Gracie

April 2015

Hey Everyone!
Just a quick update with what I have been up to and what's coming up. I have been back in Melbourne for roughly the last month. I have practicing and playing at Kingston Heath as well as training in the gym. Tomorrow I am driving to Sydney to play in The Australian Classic, a new addition to the ALPG Tour and it is co sanctioned with the China Ladies Tour.
Its a three day event starting Friday and ending Sunday and the tournament is being held at the Twin Creeks Golf Club.
I am looking forward to getting back into tournament conditions and feel that the things I have been working on will hold me in good stead for the events to come.
I will keep you all updated with my progress throughout the week.
Good Golfing,
Gracie

A quick thankyou

Hey everyone,

Upon reflecting on my first 4 months as a professional golfer, there have been lots of invaluable experiences that I believe will hold me in good stead for the future. However it's an extremely tough road without a great team around you. Without the critical financial and professional support of the following individuals and groups, none of this would have been possible.  A special thank you to the following :-

Martin Hirons – Managing Director Sport Business Partners

Sandy Jamison – Golf Coach Commonwealth Golf Club

Jeff Lennon – Managing Director Freight Solutions

Brett Lennon

Ian Jones

Barbara and Robert McClure 

Members of Kingston Heath Golf Club

Strathallen Golf Club

Mike & Sheryl Pilkington

Judy McKiernan

Titleist

Lacd Apparel
Paul McLean Bushnell/ Bollè Australia

I look forward to continuing my golfing journey and am excited for what the future has in store. I hope you will continue to support me as I strive to follow my dream of becoming a world class touring professional. 

NZ and NSW

Hey everyone!
I have arrived back in Melbourne after being away for the past two weeks. Firstly I was in New Zealand for the ISPS New Zealand Women's Open which was held at Clearwater Golf Club in Christchurch. It was my first open at this venue, the only previous NZ Open I played in was at Pegasus Golf Club but they swapped about 3 years ago.
I arrived in Christchurch on the Tuesday and was greeted by my billet for the week, Llyoyd.
We had about a half hour drive to their home and stopped in at the golf club on the way home so that I could register and have a bit of a look around.
The next day I had a practice round with my friend Bre Elliot.
The course appeared to have some pretty challenging holes with a fair bit of water in play.
I was hoping I'd be playing in the pro am the following day but with a bigger field I wasn't required and therefore only had one proper look at the course.
In hindsight that wasn't enough. I played the first two rounds and managed to find most of the water on the course. As it had been fairly still on the day I played a practice round a lot of the notes I had made needed adjusting due to the wind and I was caught guessing how to play the course.
I missed the cut but learnt a valuable lesson, that if I have never played at a venue I need a minimum two rounds there before the competition starts in order to feel confident with my gameplay.

Although I was disappointed I had to pick myself up( with the help of a few others) and look onto the next event.

I was then off to Sydney to play in the NSW Ladies Open which was held at Oatlands Golf Club.
I had played here lots but gave myself 3 practice rounds to really determine the best way to play the course and feel confident with that. By Friday, the first round I was ready to go and I had Melitta come up and caddy for me which was great. We played really steady the first day, 4 birdies and 4 bogeys gave me an even par round of 72 and had restored a bit of belief in myself.
The next two days were similar and I shot 71, 72 to finish T27 out of 107 players.
Although I didn't win or wasn't really in contention come Sunday I was proud that I was able to bounce back from the week before, and in doing so beat a lot of really good professional players.

I am looking forward to the next couple of weeks of training hard  both at the club and the gym and possibly looking for a casual job to keep me on track to play as many events as possible throughout the year.
Thanks to everyone for the support
Gracie

Hey everyone!
Sorry it's taken me a little while to post since last time, I've had a few more tournaments since Moss Vale. I played at the Castle Hill and Pennant Hills Pro Ams, with both courses being in Sydney.
I played steady at Pennant Hills and shot one under  72, whereas the day before I struggled on the greens and the best I could do was a 79. With those being th last of the ALPG pro ams I drove back early the next morning all the way down to Melbourne. I had a day off so I was able to get  a bit of rest and washing done before venturing off down to Thirteenth Beach for the Victorian Open.

For the first round I was paired with Sally Watson of Scotland and amateur Liz Elmasian from NSW. The conditions for the first day were pretty good, there was a  little bit of wind and it was quite warm.
I finished 4 over for the day on the Creek Course. I made a couple of mistakes with my club selection and cost myself as a result of those choices.
Although I played knowhere near my full ability I felt I hung in there all day and tried to save as many shots as I could.
The following day I was off early on the Beach Course and I reminded myself of the great memories I had made there in 2012 before I teed off.
I was playing fairly steady until a double at the 1st (my 10th hole) put me to 3 over for the day. I had hit what I thought was an ok tee shot, only to realise I had run out of room and my ball had run through the fairway under the teetree.
I finished the round 5 over, and missed the cut by 3 shots. I was very disappointed but needed to take the positives out of the tournament. Something I'm learning fast is that you cannot dwindle upon your disappointments in golf, because there are so many.

With this in mind I looked forward to my next event the Ladies Masters at Royal Pines on the Gold Coast. I flew up on the Monday morning and did some practice that afternoon.
I was staying at my caddy Cindys house with my good friend Bre Elliot. We played a practice round Tuesday and had the Sponsors pro am Wednesday afternoon.
After the first two rounds (in which I shot 75 each day)  I had made the cut. I was really pleased, and was looking forward to the experience of playing four rounds in an event that is co sanctioned with the Ladies European Tour.
I wasn't able to play my best on the weekend but took some real positives out of the week.
I'm starting to feel more comfortable on the course and that's something I know I will continue to get better at over time.
My next event is the NZ Open next week, followed by the NSW Open.
Thanks to everyone for the support and I may see you all soon before I head off again :)
-Gracie