Long Overdue!

I'm a little late, but fully prepared to update everyone on my last couple weeks!  Looks like the last time I posted was about Rolex Girls Junior Championship.  The week was amazing.  Concession golf course is beautiful and I got to spend all week on it, and I got to see some pretty good golf.  The girl that took home the trophy finished -19!!  Whoa.  That score would have kicked butt in any tournament and on any tour.  I am so excited to see her play again this week.  After we broke down we loaded up (in the rain - again) and headed to Weston.  


I'm not even sure what we did in Weston.  The week went by so fast that I hardly remember being there.  I do however, remember my day off.  Jake and I had the day off together so we went to Fort Lauderdale to the beach - can you say sunburn?!  After the sunburn came the rain.  The second round was rained out.  Team 3 did get some quality nap time in while hanging out in HQ.  Because weather was still a potential threat, the last day was made up of two stipulated 9 hole rounds.  We sent the boys out on the front, and the girl out on the back.  After they finished the 9 holes, they switched, girls on the front, boys on the back.  Thankfully, the rain held off and we finished 18 holes.  Unfortunately, the rain didn't hold off the entire time we had to pack the trailer.  Yep - we are 3 for 3 on packing the trailer in the rain.  Lets hope that we don't have any rain this week.   By far the best part about Weston was the food.  We ate very well and the last night we were there we went to Jaxson's.  You walk into this place and you walk into a wall of candy - my kind of place.  After we stuffed ourselves we even ate ice cream!  I had bubblegum, it was delicious. 

Grilled cheese at Jaxson's!

We love FroYo!

Team 3 was sleepy in HQ!

I named them Turduckens.  Ugliest animals ever. 

 We left Weston a little after 7am on Friday and arrived here in Alpharetta, GA around 9:30ish.  Along the way I had Zaxby's for the first time.  It was actually pretty yummy!  Also, along the way, we got turned around and were heading south for 30 minutes - go figure.  After being turned around, we lost an hour and didn't get here until dark.  Our tournament director, Andrew Greenfield, even had to stand on the side of the road so we could see the entrance to the golf course.  We finally arrived and split up to go to our host homes.  We have courtesy cars this week so we are all able to get to and from wherever we need to go.  Last week I was staying with a family from Venezuela.  Their house was beautiful and they were very gracious to let me stay with them for a few days.  This week, Camille, Megan, Colleen and I are all in a house together.  The host family is from New York and are amazing! On Monday they grilled for our whole team - it was so nice to have two home cooked meals in a row.  Kyle's family had us over for dinner on Sunday night!


The Rolex Tournament of Champions is taking place at the Capital City Club - Crabapple Course.  I really wish I got to play this one.  There are lots of bunkers, 


but it also seems pretty open.  I've heard the greens will be the rough part of the rounds.  My team has been so lucky to be working both Rolex Invitationals this summer.  We have been fed exceptionally well.  Instead of a box lunch everyday, we have buffet breakfast and lunch - so spectacular.  Saturday we put up all the Rolex signage, a few tents, and did some other random tasks.  Sunday we stake and roped a toooon - ugh, but the course was set and ready for the practice round on Monday.  Today is the first round, but luckily, is also my day off!! Woot woot!!  I have done a whole lot of nothing.  I did leave the house for lunch and Target and will probably go for dinner, but it has been a super nice, much needed, relaxing day. 

One of the Backstreet Boys' house!

This is Akon's house!!!

2904 miles sinces Hays,

Kiley

We made it!

Hello from Alpharetta, Ga!  We made the 12ish hour drive (with 1 hour of being lost) today and we will start setting up for the Rolex Tournament of Champions tomorrow!   We should have tons of Rolex signage to put up and who knows what else.. 


I'll have a longer post with pictures and updates from the last week or so hopefully tomorrow.


Nighty Night!
Kiley

Bomb Diggity Dog.

My day off was amazing.  I spent a little while at the beach, window shopped in a really pretty area near the beach, got a pedicure, went to TJ Maxx and caught up on most of my TV shows!  And YES - I have incredibly white feet.  Turns out, that's what happens when you work 10-15 hour days in the sun, with tennis shoes on.  Although I didn't sleep in super late, it was still nice to not have to be up at 5 and have an entire day to myself.  It was also superb to be able to call my mom and dad and talk for a while! 
Yesterday, we had our formal dinner at the golf course.  We finally got to feel "pretty."  Even though we had very limited time to get ready, it was still nice to wear a dress.  Paula Creamer was the guest of honor.  She had the most beautiful Louis Vuitton heels on.  She did a great job speaking to the girls and wanted to answer any questions they had.  One of the girls even asked how she dealt with boyfriends - it was pretty amusing.  

Today was the 3rd round of the Rolex Girls Junior Championship.  I got to start on the 10 tee today!  I really enjoy starting, but some of the names are a little tough - I KNOW that I totally butcher some of the names and town.  Oops.  I did have the most peaceful morning after my morning assignment.  I sat and ate my amazing breakfast and watched the sun come up :) Concession has had the best food for us.  For breakfast we had turkey bacon (delic - my favorite ever), an egg white and cheese muffin, and greek yogurt with granola.  It was so yummy!  After I finished starting I had three groups to follow.  The day went fairly smoothy, but pace of play was over five hours.  It was slightly ridiculous.  I saw this funny looking squirrel today too.  For dinner, four of us went to a sushi restaurant.  It was delicious, to say the least.  

Tomorrow is the final round.  We have lots to tear down and pack in the trailer.  This means lots of work for Inventory Captain, Kiley.  Saturday we will leave for Weston, Fl.  It's only about three and a half hours away so we will leave here at 7 and head straight to the golf course to get to work.  The qualifier is on Sunday so we have lots of work to do.  I'm super excited to be in a new place again.  The ops girls get to stay in private housing - I even get to stay with a family by myself.  I'm a little nervous about it, but I have no doubt that it will be a great week!  

I'll leave you first with a picture from my morning...

And also quality pictures of Team 3 from the formal dinner photo booth! Bomb diggity. 

 Goodnight from Bradenton!
-Kiley

Happy Tuesday!

Good Morning!  Yes, I am blogging at 8 in the morning.  Why?  Today is my day OFF!! Boy, did I need it.  After 23 days without a day off and working about 100 hours a week I was ready.  The last two days have been long hard days getting ready for the Rolex Junior Girls Championship.  The golf course is marked, Rolex signage is up, and the course is ready to go.  Yesterday we had the practice round in two waves and the players meeting and registration.  We have in attendance - 22ish college coaches, 6 US Women's Open qualifiers in the field, AJGA Executives and Executive Director, at least 1 maybe 2 LPGA golfers, Rolex staff, PGA Rules Official Larry Startzel, and 72 AJGA juniors. We also have the privilege of being at The Concession Golf Club - amazing golf course. The bathroom at this place is even amazing!


The last two days have been lots of hard work.  I even staple gunned myself.  Way to go Kiley.  However, today the stake and rope is set, signs are up, scoreboard is ready, and girls are playing!  Kiley on the other hand, is off to the beach!  Happy Tuesday!  
Here's some pictures from the week!

I'm Cashin Out!

Team 3 made it through our first tournament! Whew!  We worked hard for nine straight days.  For this tournament we used two courses.  The Taylor-Made Adidas Qualifier was at TimberCreek Golf Course and the AJGA Junior at Steelwood presented by AT&T was at Steelwood Country Club.  Basically, this meant double the work for us.  We spent time at both courses marking the golf course and setting up banners.  We set up tents and stake and rope at Steelwood.  Kyle and I had quite the time marking out of bounds at this place.  We made our way through bushes and "gunch" to hammer in stakes, just to go back and redo it.  Twice.  Luckily for me, Kyle got the pleasure of fixing it the second time all on his own.  Drew and I set up tents and moved them.  Although frustrating at first, the tournament turned out great and we did have fun setting it up and running it. 

Throughout the week we all took turns doing different tasks including starting, POP Copping (Pace of Play cop), setting tees/checking holos, loading coolers with product, setting up tent tops, and banner/stake and rope maintenance.  After finishing our morning tasks we each had three to four groups to follow and rules officiate for.  We would be available for any ruling a player might need, watch for code of conduct violations, issue red cards if the group didn't go through the timing station in the appropriate time.  After the rounds we score three groups and follow other groups until it's time to tear down for the night.  We arrived at the golf course before sunrise, and left after sunset - about 15 or so hours a day!  On Monday, aka Big Monday, we had the practice round and the Junior-Am.  This was probably the longest day of the week.  I was planning to write something about it, but I can't even remember what stood out about it other than it was long - oops.

After loading the trailer in the rain!

  Wednesday was round two and in our first week we had our first rain delay/storm delay/hail delay!!  After a two hour delay we got the groups back on the course to finish anywhere from putting on the 18th green to their last three holes.  Yesterday it rained too.  Except that was when we were packing the trailer - of course! We all were soaked by the time it was finished, but it got done, and I got my inventory done for the week.  
The AJGA uses lots of volunteers for their tournaments and during the qualifier I met a volunteer that was by far my favorite.  First, he didn't look at me like an idiot when I told him I was PE major!  Turns out, he was a PE/Health teacher and football coach for 28 years.  I talked with him until all of my groups came through his timing station.
I've been riding in Hutch all week and we've been "cashing out" HA.  It's been so much fun to jam out in the morning on our way to the golf course - you should see our truck, it's a little bit crazy sometimes!
Today we are traveling to our next destination - Bradenton, Fl for the Rolex Girls Championship at Concessions.  I'm excited to see the golf course and see how crazy marking it will be.  We will be staying at the IMG Academy dorms for the week - we'll see how that is as well! 


1927 miles since Hays,
Kiley


Oh! P.S.  I was informed that in my last post I made Kurtis (with a K - oops) sound like an ass.  After a quality trip to the grocery store and a full week of working with him, I decided he's not so bad!  Hope you're reading this Kurtis! 

What day is it?

Looks like my new bedtime is about 9pm!  I'm pooped!  We spent today and yesterday marking both golf courses, setting up tents, setting hole locations, stake and roping, cleaning coolers, and all sorts of random tasks that an AJGA Tournament requires.  I now have an appreciation for those who have put out-of-bounds markers in places that most wouldn't even look for their ball.  Kyle and I trekked through gunch and plants with amazing defensive mechanisms to hammer in white stakes.  Today, we even had to fix a couple from yesterday.  However, my duck shoes came in yesterday!   It was nice to not have to worry about my shoes getting wet or dirty.  


Tomorrow is the qualifier round.  We will leave the hotel at 5:45 to head to the course to set up registration, tee markers, fix banners, put up tent tops and lots of other small tasks that have to be done in the morning.  Camille and I will be in charge of registration!  After we are finished with registration and all the little things before the shotgun, I'll be in charge of four groups.  I will be their rules official if needed, keep up with any red cards if necessary and do anything that may come up in my groups.  At 5pm I will leave to pick up another AJGA staff member from the airport.  After the qualifier is over we will load up all our equipment and set it up again at Steelwood.  Hopefully I'll have something more interesting to post tomorrow!


Time for some shut eye! Night!
-Kiley