Five!

Day two of the LPGA Safeway Classic in Portland, Oregon.

Today was very exciting, what with four golfers tied for the lead at the start of play and then the tournament in contention right up until Jeong Jang's birdie putt on #18. We had a great time in the gallery and managed to follow three different pairings, on and off, all the way through the front nine. We started out with Christina Kim's group, but were able to hang back to watch Pat Hurst and Juli Inkster play several holes and still have time to catch back up to Christina.

We were exhausted by the time our players turned the corner (yes, it is lame), so we watched the rest of the field at #9 and teeing off at #10, then headed back to the (you guessed it) free beer & wine tent for some refreshment. We ended up scoring some free cookies and beverages when it came time for volunteers to dismantle the #10 hospitality tent. :)

I didn't have any problem taking pictures yesterday, even though we confirmed that cameras are expressly forbidden on the course. Today was a slightly different story. It's my own fault for being pretty blatant about it in front of a marshal. He came over and chewed me out and ordered me to put it away right now, which I did with a meek "yes, sir". I'm not an idiot... I'm sure there's fine print somewhere in my spectator guide where he's authorized, in theory, to confiscate it. And I have to say this about cameras at golf tournaments. It would be way too easy for dumb people to disrupt play with noisy shutter clicks and beeps, and generally by being in the way. It may very well be that just aiming a lens at a golfer could be distracting. It's definitely a good thing the cameras are banned. Having said that, I think if I can take pictures unobtrusively enough that no one is actually bothered by it, then I don't think I'm causing any harm and I'll continue to try.

The funny part is this. After the players had cleared the green, that same marshal sidled over to me and said, "Now, I did let you get one good picture before I made you put it away"! LOL. I thanked him and he reminded me not to get it out again. No problem... we were leaving his green anyway. I think I was being so darned obvious that I left him with no choice but to reprimand me in front of that big crowd.

Marshals didn't really mind at all on Saturday, and with the smaller crowds it's much easier to get excellent shots without disrupting anything, so probably really the way to go is to get all the pictures taken on the early days of the tournament and then leave the camera in the car and let everyone enjoy the final round in peace.

After our refreshment and hydration break, we headed over to the #18 bleachers and Greg and Laura decided to mount a campaign to meet golfers and get their autographs as they exited the green. I got to sit and watch a lot of great approaches and putts while they worked on that. Christina Kim finished with an awesome birdie! Laura ended up with six or seven more autographs on her Mizuno visor, and two more signed golf balls. The second-best story of the day was when Pat Hurst (eventual winner of the tournament!) turned over the ball she had just finished signing and said, "hey, this isn't my ball. It's Christina's!"

The best story of the day didn't even happen on the course. After watching Pat Hurst accept her trophy, we were headed out through the parking lot when we realized Morgan Pressel was walking a few feet in front of us! I scrambled to dig Laura's Sharpie out of my bag and shoved her in Morgan's direction which, in retrospect, might have been kinda gauche of me. Luckily, Morgan is a supremely classy golfer, and she agreed to sign an autograph if we would walk with her to her car first. I asked nicely if I could take a photo while she signed, but she said, "no, let's make it a good one instead"! Thanks, Morgan!!

We just won't talk about the tragic fool's errand involving a search for Long John Silver's fish & chips in Tigard and Beaverton. A great day of golf kept us mostly in good spirits in spite of the hush-puppy-related adversity.

This tournament was a fantastic experience. Can't wait to go back next year!

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