Practice round ~ President's Cup (Sept 22)

The President's Cup is in town!  Well, it was in town. It ended last Sunday - USA vs International, with a huge comeback from the Americans!

I took Charlie out of school so we could head out to Medinah Country Club. Actually had to park out in Schaumburg and then take a bus, which probably took about 15 minutes or so. Thankfully it wasn't very busy as it was still just the practice round.

Made it! By the way, managed to get these 2 free tickets by being an LPGA member. Woo hoo!

This paintings within each letter are all Chicago-themed and amazing!

And OMG, the number of planes overhead.  We are right within the flight path for an airport that has 8 operational runways?!

Here are the 12 team members for USA:

And the 12 team members from the International team - players from Australia, South Korea, Colombia, Canada, Japan, and South Africa, 

Okay, always take a photo of the map - so we know where to get back on the bus!

Hey, I was there at Fancourt, South Africa!  Played in the Women's World Cup there - what a place! It was back in 2005, one of my very first team events as a professional golfer - representing Malaysia.

Every hole is equipped with Trackman technology and cameras.  Wow!

We're by the back-9 and looks like Team USA is practicing here:

A good amount of people even though it's just a practice round.  Well, time to hit the Fan Shop!

I should have taken a few photos or at least one video of the Fan Shop.  OMG, it was MASSIVE!  There was a lot of merchandise and of course, mostly quite expensive.  I did splurge on a sleeveless t-shirt and Charlie bought a cap for signatures.

Course is a tad hilly and lots of fall-offs from the sides of the greens too. Although Charlie is saying, this little hill is nothing compared to the one at Barton Hills where I played the US Senior Women's Open. Ha ha!

More airplanes overhead, it's constant!

We finally find the International Team!  They were playing the Front-9 and it took us a while to find them:

At least I got to see Adam Scott 😍

He's played in every single President's Cup (all 12 of them, from the very beginning)!

Too bad most of Team International stopped playing after the Front-9.  We did bump into Terry Gannon from the Golf Channel, so it was a nice quick photo op!

Found the Cup! But like the really big one.  Ha ha!

Since there's no one else to watch, we are back by the 18th green to get some autographs.  Fancy carts waiting for their players and caddies:

Charlie got some good ones - Jackson Koivun, previously the #1 ranked amateur, and now playing in his first President's Cup.  At 21 years old, he decided to turn pro in July after finishing up his Junior year of college and proceeded to win his first pro event 3 weeks after turning pro.  Sheesh!!

And who doesn't love JT - Justin Thomas!

So many people looking to just get autographs!

Happy Charlie!

The only autography from the International Team on that cap is Ryan Fox - or as his teammates refer to him as "Foxy".  He took the initiative to sign some autographs by the tee-box on #9. How nice is that!

O.M.G... what a clubhouse!

Some of the International players were practicing putting, but they were too far away to really see what they were doing:

Okay, time to head home. There's 3 golf courses here - maybe one day, we'll get to play??! It's been around for a while, that's for sure.  Established 1833!

Back on the bus and didn't take long for someone to fall asleep. Ha!

We actually had to leave in time so I could get to work for kids' league practice. And once that was done, just had a quick look-see on Charlie's swing:

Charlie was not hitting his drives well, but when he did this "drill", he was launching the ball straight down the middle!  And I told him that he can't actually fall over and lose his balance by standing on one foot on his backswing. So there, hope he figures out how to stay balanced when he's actually on 2 feet. LOL!

Golf outings

Recently, I volunteered in a charity event called Birdies and Besties.  I invited a friend to join me, and we were actually "auctioned" as caddies to raise money for the Special Leisure Services Foundation (SLSF) - benefiting the Northwest Special Recreation Association (NWSRA). So glad we were able to help! And we had fun doing it :-)

And yup, we dressed up with our Wonder Woman shirts, with matching socks! 

We basically had to "sell" ourselves to groups of golfers. We didn't have too much to offer other than some gift cards and our knowledge as golf instructors. It was amazing what the other caddies had to offer.  We were definitely not prepped for any of this.  Wow!  In any case, it was a fun experience :-)

Here's a video of the auction of another caddy crew:

As for actually playing some golf, I got our same scramble team from last year to play in another Virtual LPGA Scramble.  It had been rainy all day but thankfully when it was time to play, the rain was minimal and we actually got the 18-holes in!

We call ourselves the NoLayUpsAllowed Team.  Ha ha!  And we didn't lay up, for sure!  Funny enough, it was the same 11-under, same like last year!  

Sandakan memorial

Photo taken on Sept 2, 2005: My mom standing on the right side, with her two sisters. They were visiting this Australian memorial in Sandakan, where my grandfather's name is on this plaque.

I suppose at some point, I'd love to be able to bring the boys here too! Except I'll need to figure out exactly where this one is located. I did a quick search online and could not find one that looks like this one!

Random photos

Today's the last day of September! This year seems to be just blowing by.  Here are some random photos of the month.

The hummingbirds are still around!  I figured they would have migrated by now, but nope! Guess it was a good thing that I'm still filling up their sugar water:

Although, this year I only filled up one of them vs two last season.

And I've never seen a Monarch butterfly on this milkweed before.  This little fella is busy chomping away! Although he is out in the open, ready to be anyone's snack!

We went to see some fancy cars at a little Coffee get-together thing nearby.  We were actually hoping there would be coffee outside of the restaurant, and more people - but nope!  Just us, wondering around. Ha ha!

Another family did wander around and then this lovely Lamborghini showed up. Super!!

On the way home, ha! So glad this is a smart caterpillar!!

We've had some crazy weather lately.  This is me, arriving at work - just sitting in the truck waiting for the rain to dissipate.  Ha ha!

And then, there were some amazing lightning shows!  Graham managed to take this one with his phone. Amazing!!

And then, more fallen trees around the neighborhood.  Thankfully no more in our backyard (knock on wood!):

Rain also means indoor lessons.  Thankfully I'm able to bring the truck to the back of the range and pick up some gear from the shed:

Rain also means coming home earlier from work and that sometimes also means yard work!  Still so much to do in and around the house (including updating my blog too :-)

There's been so much rain, the mushrooms (white spots on the ground) are thriving!

Fall is upon us!  Trees are already starting to change their colors.  Love this time of the year:

Then, there's also fog:

So foggy last week going to work - here's sun up:

And then, it was a full moon on my way home that same day. This photo does not do that moon any justice. It was a really big one that night!

All this means is the days are shorter.  Nooooo...!!  And cooler - but I found my giraffe socks while cleaning up my closet. These are like "pre-boys" era.  LOL!!

Sometime I wonder if I'm 50 years old or more like 5 years old with these socks :-)

Back to School

Both boys are in high school now.  Charlie is in 9th Grade and Graham is in 10th Grade. Yikes! 

Here are their photos from their first day (after missing their first week as we were in MI for a golf tournament):

Charlie is actually taller than Graham, but yet he's still trying to make himself taller. Ha!

Oh how they have grown!! In comparison to our first year here in IL, 4 years ago now!

Can't believe this is going to be our 5th winter here!  Hopefully it will be another "kind" winter, fingers crossed! 

"I did a thing!"

So Bobby has been doing crossword puzzles for a while now, and I decided to finally start tackling some of it myself.  Well, I finally did a thing! (in reference to Jeremy Clarkson of Clarkson's Farm mini-series). I actually finished an entire crossword puzzle all by myself. How about that. Ha ha!

This will probably never happen again, so I had to post about it.  LOL!!

Post Senior Women's Open

Missed the cut but that means being able to spend a couple of relaxing days on-site at Barton Hills Country Club.  The free food is a plus!

Looks like weather is coming in!

Figured this was the day to get some work on the body.  Here is Charlie's first ever physical therapy with the therapist (below in photo) as well as an adjustment with a chiropractor:

Charlie said the chiropractor "body-slammed" him.  Ha ha!  Well, whatever it was, he definitely felt better after!  Especially after having to carry the golf bag for the last 4 days. And we didn't even get to bust out the big tour bag.  There's a few big hills on the back-9.  Ha!

Okay, definitely rain delay now!

Once the weather cleared out, we decided to go out on the golf course to watch some golf action.  Found where all the mowers "sleep"!

Charlie is still trying to figure out his golf swing:

It was nice being able to get close to the players:

It was funny because right after Annika hit her shot on this Par 3, her husband/caddy said, "Every time! After a birdie!!".  I found it very funny as that's exactly what I would say to myself!  Annika had just birdied her previous hole, and on this Par 3, she didn't hit a great shot and the ball went into the greenside bunker on the right.  Totally relatable!! LOL!!

Annika's swing:

Karrie Webb's swing:

Love it! They make it look so easy.  And we met Kay Cockerill on the course too - she was commentating for the Golf Channel.  It was so nice of her to make eye-contact and to say hello to me!

I wouldn't want to be that person up there on a stormy day. Yikes!

Back at the same spot at the end of the day. Ha ha!!

Fun day!!

Later that evening... fun tile mural!!

Duck... yum! Except Charlie did not share :-P

The Pad Thai was just so-so:

Look at the fancy watch that the organizers presented to each player.  Love it!

Charlie gets my Eagle golf ball :-)

On Sunday, it's time to send my sister to the airport and to return the courtesy car. I'm so sad on both accounts!

One more meal at the club:

Somehow, Bobby managed to get some gumbo from the chef:

Happy Daddy!!

Every day, we didn't miss one meal :-)

And we're off, back on the road:

Can't believe this kiddo still travels with his blanket and his puppy :-)

Greeted with some new flowers when we got home:

And look, it's a Monarch caterpillar!!

Almost feel like they should be butterflies by now. I hope this one survives!

Back to using my tour bag for a little while for lessons:  

But I do need to get the one pocket fixed (somehow the fabric is stuck to each other) and also need to add one more little thing on the embroidery.

Oh, I guess Bobby only told me later that he was making donuts in the muddy parking lot by the golf course?!  

On top of of a muddy mud-flap, the front left tire was also low on air by the time I had to drive my truck the next day.  Seriously?!

What a fun trip!  Boys have school the next day and I guess Daddy is getting them to shave?! Too cute!

They are definitely growing up too fast!