LPGA This Week July 3-9

[Terry Cornelius]

The LPGA tees it up at my home course this week in the Thornberry Creek LPGA Classic. First time they will be teeing it up at a tribally-owned golf course. Yes, bringing the LPGA to Oneida, WI was my idea – – – been suggesting it since 2009, and our golf course management team finally agreed to investigate possibility in 2015. Televised on The Golf Channel in their standard LPGA time slots July 6th – 9th. I will be serving as one of about 8 Starting Announcers used, and will be announcing the groups as they reach the 18th green on Saturday and Sunday.

[jim mcdaniel]

Congrats Terry, that is an honor.
Jim McDaniel

[Bob Newman]

Congrats Terry– it is a great honor to do this. I remember abut 4 years back hearing a hometown girl that made it to the US Womens Am played in Charleston, and the pride and honor it was to hear “From Edgefield, SC, please Welcome Anne Marie Covar”.

[don rabb]

Good Luck Terry with some of those names on the LPGA tour!

[Tom McGeehan]

Terry, don’t forget to rehearse the names. Let us know about any funny moments. See you in Myrtle Beach.

[Rick Kimbrell]

I was looking and looking but I could not find a guy in a Hawaiian shirt doing any announcing. Would not recognize you without a Hawaiian shirt. 🙂

[Terry Cornelius]

Thanks, guys. It was a lot of fun! Rick, I asked them to be able to wear Hawaiian shirts, but I couldn’t find one in purple and white (our tribal colors that were also used for the tournament) that they would approve! Think the shirts in my size made the pineapples look too big! I was used in the morning wave hours when I did starting of the groups…don’t think any of that made the telecast. As for announcing the groups reaching 18 on Saturday and Sunday, I have not been able to watch all of the coverage yet to see if any of the announcements were captured. I did see myself in the background on several shots, as I was seated about 50 feet off the green to front left, trying to stay out of the way between announcements.

The golfers were all fantastic to meet. It’s funny how when you see them so much on television, you get the feeling you already know them. Well, some I have met over the years, as I have done announcing for four different weeks of Symetra Tour events. Some of the ladies even recognized me from prior years, which was gratifying. Commissioner Mike Whan complemented my pronunciation of the names just before the Trophy Presentation on the 18th green, saying he knows getting them right is not an easy task for their tour. He even came down to say hello while the final group putted out, and proceeded to steal my chair! LOL He was wearing some pretty sweet brown wing-tipped golf shoes that truly were not overly gaudy…gotta look for a pair of those.

Christie Kerr made my announcement of her a little easier. The bio card on her which I was given was almost two paragraphs long! She came to the Starter tent and scratched out most of it, told me all I had to announce was how many wins and how many majors, and corrected her city from Miami to Scottsdale.

From the coverage and from the direct comments I heard, the Oneida Nation hit it out of the park in putting on our first tournament. We had over 50,000 folks come through the gates throughout the week, and the players were really appreciative of the crowds – especially for a first year event. The winner, Katherine Kirk of Australia, was even stopping to sign autographs for kids in the middle of the 4th round! You don’t see that on the men’s tours.

At the end, Ashleigh Buhai was really pressing, and was one shot back on 18. Kirk hit first and placed her approach 11 feet under the hole. Buhai promptly stuffed one to 3 feet, and it looked like a playoff was imminent. But, Kirk drained her putt…center of the hole. Buhai made an anticlimactic birdie once the crown quieted down. Kirk was presented with the SkyWoman Trophy, which itself was the subject of quite a bit of buzz. Mike Whan called it the nicest trophy he’d seen in 35 years. I will try to link some posts of coverage below.

http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/story/sports/golf/2017/07/09/thornberry-creek-aces-inaugural-lpga-classic-tournament/459692001/

http://www.postcrescent.com/story/news/2017/07/09/katherine-kirk-wins-inaugural-thornberry-creek-lpga-classic/463150001/

[chuck beauregard]

Terry,

You got a wonderful lady for your champion. I had the pleasure of meeting Katherine three weeks prior to the event at a local CA public driving range working on a strange drill. I had to ask her what she was trying to do. She couldn’t have been nicer to an old man and explained it in detail. Way over my head.

Chuck

[Terry Cornelius]

Thanks for the note, Chuck. Yes, Katherine was one of the few who attempted to carry on a conversation with Staff at the 1st tee on Sunday morning. Most other players were all “down-to-business” and other than the standard, “good morning” would only speak to other players and caddies. As noted, Katherine was also stopping to sign autographs and high-five with kids during the final round. She hadn’t won since 2010, and even indicated she considered retiring after last season. Now she is a champion once again, got to play in the US Open and made the cut there, too.

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