U.S. Women's Open Championship at Lancaster Country Club

Yesterday, hubby and I drove out to Lancaster, PA, to check out Round 3 of the 2015 U.S. Women's Open Championship at Lancaster Country Club. This is the third time I've been a spectator at a major golf tournament, so I knew to wear plenty of sunscreen and comfortable golf shoes for walking the course.

I snapped plenty of pictures of the big names in women's golf, but I used my phone camera from far away, so the images are a little fuzzy after cropping. The first thing we did was go to the practice area, where Michelle Wie happened to be getting ready. Her left ankle was in a brace but it didn't seem to affect her stance.

Or her ability to make perfect contact.

She did a drill with a stretchy exercise band:

She also did practice swings with only one arm:

Here's her famous putting stance, with her caddie respectfully looking away and not staring at her butt:

Michelle Wie definitely had the largest number of people following her around. Not as many as Tiger Woods, but this is women's golf after all. I would imagine that a lot of the male golf fans are deterred from watching a women's golf event because they don't want their wives to catch them staring at women all day.

The current world Number One is Inbee Park. Very few people followed her around, but then again, she wasn't playing spectacularly well.

Here's Lexi Thompson, with the petite I.K. Kim, who is famous for missing a 14-inch putt at the Kraft Nabisco Championship in 2012 and losing the tournament as a result. As someone who could find a way to miss a 6-inch putt, I totally sympathize.

The current world Number Two player is teenage sensation Lydia Ko, shown here walking with what I think is too much forward head posture. If she keeps it up, it could be a problem in middle age. Take it from someone who knows.

At least Lydia Ko stays hydrated. Drinking plenty of water is a good habit at any age.

And she has a very balanced finish.

Here's Morgan Pressel, who we saw texting on the practice green:

Occasionally, she practiced her putting too.

Here's Paula Creamer and amateur Muni He. These are two golfers who know how to strike a pose. Muni was leading Paula by two strokes. That must have been embarrassing.

Off in the distance, we saw Stacy Lewis. That's about as close as we wanted to get to her. Let's just say we're not fans. 

The leader so far is Amy Yang, and here she is looking cool and confident with her caddie:

I hope she strides on to victory. I'll be tuning in later today to find out.

Mid-Season Update

So it's July, and in case you're wondering, I didn't join that ladies league. The first day I was scheduled to play, it rained and the league canceled, and then the following week, the league starter "forgot" to put me on the tee sheet. By then I'd heard from various rangers that the leagues are notoriously slow. Most of the ladies are actually high-handicappers (like 25, 30 and even 40) and take up to 5 or more hours to play. Plus I had a new work project and wasn't sure I could commit to a regular league.

Lately I've been playing mostly with hubby on trips and weekends. My handicap is trending toward an 18.7, due to traveling to unfamiliar courses, which always adds on strokes, and soggy weather. It's just more of a challenge to play on wet fairways that haven't gotten mowed and hail-pelted greens that haven't been rolled for a week.

My driver and woods are in a slump and my wedges still need work, though I finally started using this 58-degree wedge hubby bought me last year. It's perfect for high lob shots over bunkers and mounded rough. At least my irons have been somewhat consistent, so over the July 4th holiday weekend, hubby and I played the local course where most of the par 3s are 139 yards and in from the red tees.

While I got stymied by the overgrown fairways and matted rough, on one of the aforesaid par 3s, I got reacquainted with that feeling that every golfer lives for -- that moment when you realize you've got a sure-fire, tap-in for birdie:

Walking down to the green to mark your ball, you feel a combination of joy and relief. It's a short-lived moment that reminds you what golf is all about.

If you look closely at the photo above, you can see where my ball landed, a few inches left of the ball. Hubby said my ball landed at that mark and actually bounced toward the hole, and if the green hadn't been so wet, it might have rolled all the way into the hole. Ah well, I already had my first hole-in-one years ago. These days, the way I've been playing, getting that close is close enough.