Posted: May 19, 2015 7:04 pm
Paula Creamer played a chip shot from the front left to a middle-right hole location on the 18th green at Lancaster Country Club Tuesday.
It appeared to be near perfect, the ball nestling within three feet of the hole.
But it kept rolling. And rolling, as Creamer looked on with mild bemusement. And rolling. Soon it was completely off the green.
That was after the rain storms of Monday and Tuesday morning softened the greens, at least in theory. They surely aren’t as treacherous as they’ll be when Creamer returns in July for the U.S. Women’s Open.
“I keep hearing, do not get above this green, this green, this green,” Creamer said.
Creamer, the 2010 U.S. Women’s Open champion, was among a group of LPGA pros who played practice rounds at Lancaster Country Club Tuesday.
She came away impressed.
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“You’ve got to hit every club in your bag,” she said. “There’s a great stretch that starts around 8-9-10, and the front nine, no holes are the same. I like that kind of golf.”
Creamer played with Rick Gibson, the head professional at L.C.C.
“She hit it good, you can quote me on that,” Gibson said.
“She hit it a lot better than most of the people you caddie for,” said Aaron Fricke, a regular L.C.C. looper who worked for Creamer.
Creamer has won 10 tournaments and over $11 million in a decade on tour. Her USWO win came at Oakmont, near Pittsburgh, like L.C.C on older example of classical architecture.
“They’re similar in that they’re old-school, a little bit, with the uphills and downhills and the lies and everything,” she said. “Oakmont’s a little different , it doesn’t have the rough as much, and (it has) more run-off around the greens.”
The LPGA Tour played an event in Williamsburg, Va. that ended Monday due to weather delays. There is no event on tour this week, and the circuit resumes with the ShopRite LPGA Classic in Galloway, N.J. beginning May 29.
The schedule left many pros hanging around the mid-Atlantic region this week. Creamer said she was headed home to California Tuesday night, but Lydia Ko, the world’s No. 1 ranked female player, played Tuesday afternoon, and was expected to play again Wednesday.
World No. 4 Hyu Joo Kim played immediately behind Ko, a foursome of L.C.C. members on the first tee happy to let her play through.
At about the same time, third-year pro Marina Alex finished a quick round, flying around in less than four hours in a cart.
“This place is awesome,” Alex said. “It’s pretty much a par golf course. Fairways and greens.”
Creamer and the others did not post a scores; tour-player practice rounds are just that. They often hit multiple tee shots and chip and putt to more than one expected hole location.
“Its just to check it out, get some good lines for tee shots,” Creamer said. “It makes it easier for the practice rounds when we come here, especially for my caddie.”