Women's Invite--Groovin' 70's

Every year my country club has the women's invitational and every year there is a theme. Last year it was "A Weekend in Paris" and this year it was "The Groovin' 70's". I was asked to participate last year and out team came in first place in our division, third place overall in the tournament. We put together the same group of ladies for this year's tournament. We are so incredibly cool that we go "all out" for the tournament as far as decorations go! We have team shirts, decorate carts and this year we even did our nails in fun colors with peace symbols! We didn't play nearly as well this year as we did last year, but we finished in second place in our division!

Sarah, our team captain, came up with the idea of turning us into "Charlie's Angels"! We had the theme music blaring from our golf cart and were decorated perfectly. We even had a Bosley!

The back's of our shirts even had a photo of the character we were playing with our face superimposed on the body! This brought on a number of great laughs from everyone who looked at our shirts! We signed our photos to give it that added decoration!

For day 2, Sarah and her sister Katy made us tie-dye shirts!

Arcadia Bluffs

Every year the company my Dad represents (and I work for in the summer) has their summer business meetings. This means drive up north on Sunday morning, play golf Sunday afternoon--meetings Sunday night, all day Monday and Tuesday, then drive home! The great thing about going up to Crystal Mountain in northern Michigan is it's just down the road from a beautiful golf course called Arcadia Bluffs. Ever heard of it? They call it the Michigan match to Kohler, Wisconsin's Whistling Straits. I can't honestly say if one course is better than the other since I've only played Arcadia, but I can say after seeing Whistling Straits on tv this past summer, I think Arcadia Bluffs is that much more wonderful! Take a look at the photos and judge for yourself!

Oakland Hills CC

I was told when I finally submitted my application for WDGA that we would be playing Oakland Hills CC in July! Yup, that golf course! Host of the US Open, Ryder Cup, and 2008 PGA Championship that I met a super cool guy named Clunesy at! The downside is we weren't playing the South Course where those tournaments took place, but the North Course. But I would still get to be at Oakland Hills. The North course is not nearly as difficult, but it still incredibly beautiful. The format for this tournament was match play. I have never played a match play event before unless you count "The Old Pal" tournament at my club. And that was a partner match play event!

I made it through day one winning 2&1. I cannot tell you how excited I was to be back for the 2nd day.

The 2nd day I ran into some trouble off the tee. I couldn't keep the ball in the fairway and was struggling to get up and down for par. In the end, I lost 2&1 to the eventual champion! I had such a wonderful time playing Oakland Hills. I am hoping to play the South Course in the next couple years! Here are a few more shots...

About Me & Golf

Well, where do we start? My parents have photos and videos of me playing golf as a three year old. We still have my Dad's old clubs that he had cut down for me so I could swing at the ball as a three year old! I have pretty amazing parents!

I don't remember taking the game seriously or even enjoying it much until we moved to a golf course the summer I turned 11. My favorite thing about golf at the time was driving the cart! Once we moved to the course, we had a cart in our garage! I remember my Dad telling me, "The only people who can drive the golf cart are golfers." And I became a golfer...

I played in high school and was recruited by some colleges on the west side of the state. At the time I only wanted to go to school and be a college student. After my freshman year I realzied how much I missed the game and how much I missed being on a team. I walked onto the team at EMU. I spent four years practicing, working out, and developing my mental game! Sounds kind of hokey, right? It's not. So much of golf is being able to turn the game on and off at different times throughout your round. Not many people, if anyone, can concentrate for more than 4 hours without a single lapse in concentration! The trials, struggles, highs and lows of those four years helped me become the person I am today!

I played in 2 tournaments in those 4 years. One my first year on the team at Western Michigan and one my second year on the team in Rio Verde, Arizona. We were on a team trip for spring break out there and the girls ahead of me in the lineup were injured or sick. I got my one shot and I soaked up the entire opportunity. I got to play a few rounds at Karsten, Arizona State's home course. Describing it as beautiful only says so much.

I finished up my time with EMU golf 3 years ago. Since then I played in a few local tournaments, mostly at my country club and this past summer have joined the Women's Golf Association of Detroit. That has taken me to some amazing golf courses this summer which was what led me to this idea...

The first post...

I played golf at Warwick Hills Country Club today and while I was playing realized how many wonderful courses I have had the opportunity to play this year! That being said, how on earth would I remember all of the wonderful courses I've played? Posting my scores only does so much. It seemed like a great idea to start keeping a log. So this first post and probably many others will be filled with golf stories--I hope--of places I've played, people I've met, and lessons I've learned.

Welcome to Playing with Melissa!