Sunday, June 9, 2013

On the Road Again

I left home on Saturday heading to Illinois and made a pit stop in Brentwood TN. This is a town just south of Nashville. I met and stayed with a great family there. The Jones'. We had a great cookout and had a great time fellowshipping together. The next morning I was able to meet up with an old friend in Nashville and have breakfast. I then headed on my way to Springfield IL to pick up my caddy Mick from the airport. Mick is a friend I met while I was in Australia and who is going to be caddying for me over the next couple of months. He is a great caddy and doesn't have a bad accent either :). The first of the events start next weekend in Decatur, IL. I am looking forward to playing a few in a row. I played decent in the first couple of events of the season. I was hitting the ball great, I just need everything to come together at once. Which im confident will happen soon. I feel really good about the next couple of weeks and l looks forward to keeping y'all updated on how everything is going.

Thank you everyone for your support and prayers. They are much needed and defiantly felt. To God be the Glory.


Lacey Agnew

Saturday, March 2, 2013

Going out with a Bang!

After spending some quality time in Sydney I was ready to head down to 13 Beach, which is just south of Melbourne and play my last event. I was excited to spend time in Melbourne because all of the great things I have heard about it, and I also will be meeting up with Ginny and Dave. Before I left I met back up with my caddy, Mick, and went and played golf at this golf course. It was a newly designed Greg Norman course, which was super nice and we had a blast playing on it. When we got back to the house, I packed up my things and Mick drove me to the airport the next morning to catch my flight to Melbourne. When I arrived I met up with Ginny and Dave and we headed to Ocean Grove, about an hour and a half drive, to where we were staying. We were hosted by Janine and Brian and their son Lachlan. Janine had a lamb dinner cooked and ready for us, but we were so tired that we had to pass.

The next morning we played one of the two courses of the event, called Beach course. It was the tougher of the two courses, so we took our time and took really good notes. After the day of golfing, we headed back to the house to relax. Dave was going back toward Melbourne to play a qualifier for the tournament, and Janine and Brian decided to cook Ginny and I an Aussie BBQ. We spent the evening eating the delicious food and having great conversation. The next day, Ginny, Janine, and I biked into town to have lunch and then go to the beach. We had a great day boogie boarding and laying out by the beautiful ocean. The water was crystal clear and there was a chilly wind in the air. Finally it got to hot to handle and we decided to head back to hang out with the family. It was so fun to hang out with them because they were such golf enthusiasts! We went to bed with a full belly and a huge smile on our face.

The next day we played the second course, Creek. The weather did a 180 and went from 95 to 65 degrees in one day. It was cold, rainy, and very windy. Because of the weather we ended up just driving around and looking at the course, and got a little warm up in. We were hoping for better weather the next day so we could go see the Great Ocean Road, which is one of the top 5 things to do in Australia. It consists of hours of mind blowing views and crystal clear scenery. We didn't drive the whole thing, but we drove about an hour and a half up the road to Lorne. Janine told us to go there and have lunch because it was a great town with a good beach. Unfortunately, the weather was crummy so we just walked around and had lunch, and decided to head back. We stopped at Bells beach on the way back, since we wanted to see one of the best surfing beaches in Australia. We got into bed early later that night, as Ginny and I had early tee times. I was ready to finish my trip out with a bang!

For this tournament, I decided to caddy for myself. I got off to a great start and for the first day I shot two under. I missed a lot of opportunities and knew I could make them up the next day. I ended up shooting 5 under on the second day, my lowest round as a professional! I was pumped, but still a little nervous because on the third day we were going to be playing a tougher course, but it was going to be fun because we would be alternating tee times with the mens professionals playing in the Vic open. My goal for the tournament was to shoot under par everyday because I haven't ever achieved that before. I fought hard the next day, and was able to birdie the 18th to finish one under. I wasn't thrilled, but knew I gave it my best effort and was looking forward to the last round. I had never shot under par in 3 rounds for a pro event, so this was another first! I was a little nervous the next day, but was more excited. I stayed confident throughout the day and shot two under, which put me at ten under for the whole tournament. T14 finish and lowest I have ever shot in my life! It was a great cap to my trip.

After the tournament, I had to rush to the airport to catch a flight to fly back to Sydney, as I was playing New South Whales in the morning. NSW is the 4th best golf course in Australia, and I was dying to play on it before I left. The course is situated right on the east coast of Australia, and the views were breathtaking. I think I spent more time snapping photos than concentrating on golf! It was an amazing course and I felt to blessed to have the opportunity to play it!

I spent the next day preparing for the long journey home, and in the morning, I said my goodbyes, packed up the car, and headed to the airport. I was glad I left way early because it ended up being a two hour process to get back. I sadly returned the car that I had for two months, returned my bags, and checked in and headed to the gate. I was beginning to get a little sick which made the flight last longer than I would have liked. I was able to sleep a little, and also watched four movies. I finally made it back, after a short layover in LA. I was so happy to see my dad when I made it to the Atlanta airport.

I can't thank everyone enough who I met while in Australia, as well as the people who made it possible for me to have this amazing opportunity! It was a trip of a lifetime and I have learned so much about myself and my golf game! I am so ready to take my momentum from the last tournament into the season here in the states.

Thank you everyone and God Bless!

Lacey

Monday, February 18, 2013

HIGHs and lows

When I returned from New Zealand, Ginny and I drove to Canberra from Sydney, and were playing in the Australian Open qualifier the following day. After the three hour drive from the airport, we met up with my friend/caddy and headed out to play a practice round. When we stepped up to the first tee and began to get our balls out and take notes, Mick, my caddy, pointed out all of the kangaroos right in front of us! We rushed to grab our cameras and and started taking tons of photos and videos. We were taken aback by how many kangaroos we continued to spot as we played the first few holes. We ended up having a great practice round, especially with all of our "friends" on the course. After the practice round we dropped our things off at the hotel, and Mick took us out to dinner right around the corner. We had a great dinner and I was ready to play in the qualifier the next day. I had a great solid round of golf, but had one bad hole that caused me to miss it my two shots. I took it pretty hard because I was so close, but knew that things happen for a reason and need to get focused for my next and last tournament while I'm here in Australia.

After the round, Finny and I drove back to the suburb of Sydney to my housing, host family Judy and Chris's house, where we stayed for the night. They had prepared dinner for us and we were able to relax and hang out. I feel very blessed for having such outstanding host families during my stay here in Australia. The next morning we had breakfast and I got things packed up and headed off to take Ginny to the airport. After I dropped her off, I decided to hang around Sydney and walk around and have lunch. I went down to the Harbour where I had lunch and walked around the shops for a couple hours. When I got back to the house I took some time to get organized and clean out my car. That night, everyone was out so I ate leftovers and got some reading in.

The next morning I met my caddy, Mick, to go play with him and some friends. We had a great game and I really enjoyed playing the newly designed Greg Norman course. Afterwards I stayed with him and his sister, and she made all of us a great dinner. We sat around and chatted about the differences between Australia and the US. We had a big day planned the next day. One of my hosts, Chris's favorite hobby is canyoning, which I have been wanting to do so bad. Chris said if we had some time that he would take me, so on this day Mick and I drove back to their house to meet Chris and his friend to finally go canyoning! We really had no idea what to expect, but it was AMAZING!! We had a two hour drive up to the mountains, where we parked and walked to the trails. We then walked through the "bush" for about thirty minutes and then cam to the creek. We waded through the creek, while jumping and sliding over the trees and brush. We were having and absolute blast and asked Chris is this was canyoning..he said we weren't even there yet!

When we finally made it to the rushing water, we started to get a little nervous because we had to slide down rocks and jump in small, deep pools of water and slide down some of the waterfalls. Besides the obstacles we had to go through., the views were outstanding! We were at this canyon, and there was only a small opening at the top, where huge boulders were edged together. It is really hard to describe, but if you have seen the movie 127 Hours it is similar, but a different climate. This experience came in a close second to bungee jumping. After our two hour trek we headed back to the car which was parked next to a dam. At this dam you could also jump off a cliff into a deep pool of water. Since the day was already full of adventure, we thought we would continue with the theme and decided to do it! When I got to the top, I was a little scared so I went down one level and jumped from there. The top was about forty feet and the level that I jumped from was about thirty-five feet. We were all exhausted after and headed to a place called "Pie in the Sky" that Chris said would be the best meat pie we would ever have. I had a meat, cheese, and bacon version, and for dessert I had an apple pie. I don't know if it was because we were so hungry, but the pies were so delicious and hit the spot! After our stomachs were full we headed home and watched some tv and then passed out because now we were full AND tired.

Wish me luck!

Saturday, February 9, 2013

Learning Experiences

Here at the Gold Coast, I have played two rounds of golf. I played really solid for for 35 holes...unfortunately on my last hole of the second day, I had a few bad breaks and ended up triple bogeying and missed the cut by one! I was so frustrated and could not believe it! I just HAVE to remember that everything happens for a reason and to remember the bigger picture: to glorify HIM. After having such a great couple rounds, but such a bad ending, it took me a few days to mentally grasp what had happened. After I was able to get my thoughts gathered, I was able to focus on the fact that I was going to New Zealand! 

The Monday after the tournament, I flew back to Sydney for a five hour layover. I saw Laura Davies at the airport at the Gold Coast and struck up conversation with her and her caddy Gerald. When we arrived in Sydney, we managed to find the only restaurant in the airport that was airing the Super Bowl. Not only was I sitting with one of the worlds best golfers, but watching the game too! It was very cool to talk to her, and pretty funny to see her so into the game, yelling at the tv when there was a bad call. After the game we decided to head over to the gate, where we met up with more golfers. Once the plane took off, it was only a three hour trip. We arrived in New Zealand around 11pm. It took forever to get through customs because they have to check all of our golf equipment for dirt, and if they find some they will clean it for you.  It's not such a bad thing right?! 

Finally I was able to get out and meet my host for the week, Bruce, and then went straight to bed. The next morning Bruce, who was also going to be my caddy for the week, and I headed to the course. It was raining and cold out and the wind was blowing at about forty mph! I decided to go ahead and play all 18 for the extra practice. Afterwards we headed home and Bruce cooked me and his wife Sandy a diiivine steak dinner. The next day I went out and practiced a little, and then met up with Dori, Jenny, and Angela to go see some vineyards. I forgot to mention that this is Waitangi day here in NZ. It is there national Independence Day. So I have gotten to experience both Australia's and New Zealand's national day! We visited a few and ended up meeting a really nice lady who owned one of the vineyards. Her husband, the wine maker, loved golf so we left them some tickets for the tournament. On the way back we decided to go visit the ocean. We walked on the beach for a while and enjoyed the view, and then decided to go out and grab some Mexican food for dinner. Like everything else on this side of the world, it was pricey but good.

The next morning the weather was starting to warm and clear up. I went to the course to practice and to wait for Dori to finish her pro-am. I had been telling everyone that I really wanted to go bungee jumping during my time in New Zealand. Dori said she was not sure she could get herself to do it, but that she would accompany me. So that day I rented a car, which was probably built in the 1990s and had over 80k miles on it, but it got us from A to B. The drive was beautiful and we finally made it to Hamner Springs. When we went to check in, we saw the bridge. It was 35 meters high, aka 115 feet! We began to feel a little nervous, especially after signing the release form. Dori said she would do it too, under the condition that I went first. We surprisingly walked calmly to our doom..I mean the bridge. When we got there, we were greeted by the guys running the show who were able to calm our nerves and get our full body harnesses on. Once we were suited up and all the safety checks were into place, I walked to the edge.

It suddenly hit me what I was about to do. He started to count down and I stopped him and told him to give me a second. During that time I said a quiet prayer to myself and then he counted down....3....2....1...Bungee and I jumped!! I can't explain the feeling but I had no control and just prayed that the rope was going to keep me alive. I think I held my breath the entire way down because I didn't scream or anything until I bounced back up. It was the most intense adrenaline rush I have ever experienced in my entire life! Once I stopped swaying, a boat came over to pick me up and take me to shore. I then waited at the bottom for Dori. I was a little unsure that she was actually going to do it, but I was wrong! She even got a running start for her jump! Afterwards we collected our certificate and our shirt, and we headed home, still high on such a rush. We could not stop yelling out, "that was awesome!" for 45 minutes. When we got back home we were worn out from the day. That was one thing I could finally check off of my bucket list! Dori also captured the jump on video and I posted it on my facebook or you can email me to see it! I then had dinner with Bruce and his wife and I headed to bed. 

With all this adrenaline I am sure to tee off with a 500 yard drive tomorrow! 














Friday, February 1, 2013

Cyclones!

At the start of Monday morning I headed to my friends, the Strongs, house to drop off my car for two weeks while I would be at the Gold Coast and New  Zealand. I was constantly hearing reports about bad storms hitting all around the Gold Coast before my departure, but I checked my flight and everything was in the clear. When I arrived at the airport it was a madhouse! There were lines everywhere because apparently all of the flights had been cancelled for the day. I stood in line for two hours and was able to book another flight in the morning, and they provided me a hotel for the night. It was raining cats and dogs outside and was such a hassle to make it to the hotel shuttle. By the time I made it, I was soaked and ready to be somewhere dry. When I finally got checked in to my room, I went downstairs to grab lunch with some other golfers, as many like me were stranded as well. After lunch, I headed back to my room to enjoy the lazy rainy day. 

The next morning I made sure I was up bright and early to head to the airport and immediately started praying that my flight was still happening because Sydney was supposed to have the bad weather that morning. I was so happy to hear that my flight was still on and I would be in the Gold Coast before lunch.

After my quick flight, I arrived at the Gold Coast to an Aussie volunteer holding a sign with my name on it. We took a short ride along the coast to the hotel. All of the lights were out the entire way to the hotel, as well as scattered debris and ripped up trees lined the roadways as a result of the cyclones. I met Dori and Jennie at the hotel and then we headed to the course to scout it out. The course was closed because it was under water!

After we registered, I headed back to the hotel to rest. When the other Jenny arrived, we decided to stay in and cook; it was nice to see everyone and catch up. We woke up the next morning to play a practice round, but the courses were closed again because it was raining again. All that we were able to do was walk the course and use the range. After walking the course and getting pseudo "notes" (we weren't allowed to hit any shots...), we headed home. 

When we got home and were hanging out, we thought we saw a massive killer whale in the ocean!! We started freaking out and Dori grabbed her phone and started to film the whale. I then grabbed my range finder to check it out up close. To our dismay we found out it was simply a huge tree trunk. We all died laughing and could not believe we mistook a tree trunk for a whale. Afterwards we decided to go out to a Japanese restaurant for dinner. It was walking distance from our place, and Ginny and her mom, and Dave met us there. After dinner we all went to bed because we were exhausted. 

In the morning, Dori and Jennie were playing in the pro am and Jenny and I were going to practice. Once again we woke up to rain and decided to sleep in a bit. We made some breakfast and headed down to Starbucks to use the free WIFI. After we caught up on the net we headed down to the course to finally get in some practice. After our "practice sesh" we grabbed dinner and spent another easy night in the condo and rested before our early tee times in the morning. 

RAIN, RAIN, GO AWAY!









Sunday, January 27, 2013

Australia Day

My golf scores this week have been all over the chart, up and down. My game Friday was not much different. I started off strong but had a rough finish. I am not discouraged as there we many positives to take away from the day, and I knew I could score better the next day. We teed off early on Saturday and I was cruising throughout the day, but in the middle of the round I hit a rough patch, but persevered and just when I thought I was back on track, on hole number 16 I had a bad lie and took a big number. I was starting to think that it just was not my week, but I then birdied hole 18 and made the cut by one shot! I was disappointed with my day, but I knew I would have another shot on Sunday.

So Saturday just happened to be a huge day in Australia. January 26th is Australia Day, which is is similar to July 4th back in the states! I was really pumped to celebrate! A bunch of us girls scored tickets to a cricket game at the Sydney Olympic Grounds. I was not to thrilled about the cricket game itself, but more excited to see where the Olympics were in 2000. We stayed until the very end. Good thing we did because the most exciting part of the game was the last 10 minutes. Sydney was playing Sri Lanka, but ended up losing unfortunately.

It was pouring by the time I had to be at the course early Sunday, and it continued to rain the entire round. I got off to a bad start, but was able to fight my way back, but yet again the 17th hole would get the best of me. I didn't have a great finish, but I reminded myself of all of the positives from the week and I am very encouraged for the upcoming week of golf.

After returning home to dry off, Aaron(one of the caddies staying with us) and I went to The Hillsong church here in Sydney. This is a very popular church here, and they also have a worship group that travels and sings all around the world. We were pleasantly surprised by the service. The music was terrific and I thoroughly enjoyed the service. One of the friends that I am staying here with works there and was able to give us a tour, giving us some insight on the church and background. Later that night Judy made us an amazing dinner and we had the opportunity to sit and chat and laugh.
Although I am halfway around the world from home, I am so happy to be in the presence of fellow Christians, and more specifically Baptists! : )

Tomorrow morning I am making my way to the Gold Coast. There has been flooding there all week, so I am praying that the cyclones leave by the time I get there! Wish me luck! : )











Thursday, January 24, 2013

Getting The Hang of Things

For the almost two weeks that I have been here, just about every day has been action packed, as I have made an effort to experience as much as I possibly can- and let me tell you..there is ALOT to do! 

I woke up Sunday morning and got ready to head to the course, where I was greeted with overcast weather. My team for the day was three older Aussie women, Robin, Renee, and Claire, and we had a great time hanging out and playing together. The most exciting part of the golf day was my strong finish, birdieing three of the last four holes to shoot one under! This finish placed me in the top ten! After I finished, I hopped in the car and was on the move again...

This time I was headed back towards Sydney to a town called Oatlands for the New South Wales Open. I arrived at a lovely house where I met Judy and Chris, my host family for the week. I decided to take that Monday off and go touring with Ginney and Dave. Before we took off, we hit up the gym and did a crazy workout (I am so sore even three days later). After we got our beach bodies, we headed to Manly Beach which turned out to be one of the nicest and most beautiful beaches in the Sydney area.The coolest part was the route to get there. We took a forty minute ferry ride to Circular Quay, the Harbour area where the Sydney Bridge and Opera House are. The Manly Beach town reminded us of a beach in LA- it had a ton of surfer shops as well as boutiques. We even ate at a sushi place that had a rotating sushi bar. After refueling, we headed to the sand. Watching the "life savers" aka life guards practice wasn't a bad view. They were on paddle boards, and would paddle out a mile then turn and paddle back to the shore. They were in super fit shape, and Ginny and I were starting to believe we took up the wrong sport! After staring in awe for a bit, we decided we wanted to go snorkeling, however all of the shops were closed! We were still determined to see some wildlife so took a dip in the ocean. It was sixty degrees and very chilly but warmed up after a while. I have officially swam in the Pacific Ocean! The sun was beginning to set, so we decided to head home to get some rest for our early practice round in the morning.

The two highlights of the practice round day were me holing out from 80 yards and Ginny getting a picture of a Kookabura. After the round I relaxed at the house for the rest of the day. On Wednesday, I decided to do another sightseeing day. We headed to Featherdale, which is a wildlife zoo containing only animals found here in Australia. This was one of my coolest experiences thus far! We were able to feed kangaroos and wallabies as well as pet koala bears. We spent a few hours marveling the uniqueness of these creatures. We also became super excited when we saw a baby joey go in and out of his mama's pouch. I have over a hundred amazing pictures that I can't wait to show all of you when I return! 

After the zoo, we went to the Blue Mountains, which is the Australian version of the Grand Canyon. Rather than being an open canyon with water at the bottom, there were gorgeous trees and plants everywhere. At the mountains, we walked to a place to view the "three sisters," a famous view because the aboriginals believe that one of the masters of the town turned his daughters into stone so they would not be exiled! After we saw the view, we took a gondola down to the bottom and walked around the forest. The views were absolutely incredible! We had a fantastic time and of course took a million photos. I definitely underestimated our trip to "see the mountains"...

The next morning I had to be up early for a pro-am tournament. I ended up having a great group composed of my new friends, Mick, Raff, and Davy. After a great round with the guys, I headed home to "chill." Judy has been making some amazing meals every night that I look forward to, and we also have been watching the Australian Open tennis tournament. I tee off tomorrow afternoon and am ready for an exciting tournament ahead!