A Practice Round at Poppy Hill GC + Legends & Leaders!

Hi everyone! Today I was up at 4:30am to get out the door for breakfast and warm up before playing my first practice round at Poppy Hills Golf Course!  We had a lot of fog to start the morning, a new experience for me, but by the 2nd Hole it had lifted! I got to play today’s practice round with Vivian Guite from The First Tee of Naples. Vivian and I were both selected to attend The First Tee National Par 3 Championship earlier this year and met during the event.  I played pretty well, and again, was wowed by the views and wildlife! As you will see in our pictures, we saw MANY deer just meandering across the fairways. So cool!  After our practice round we ‘bumped’ into Bernard Langer in the Player Hospitality tent! So cool! (Yes, I think I’m going to say that a lot this week) Wednesday afternoon we had the chance to experience 17 mile drive. We weren’t able to stop and get out of the car but it was surely a beautiful view from the window. If everything works out, we plan to walk around Cypress Point, tomorrow!  The event event participants attended was called ‘Legends and Leaders presented by EMoney‘ and was hosted at Monterey Peninsula Country Club. During the event, 9 special guest spoke on the 9 Core Values, each highlighting a unique Core Value that carries special interest in their lives.  Each guest had an amazing and inspiring story to tell – but my personal favorites came from Jeremy Poincenot and Victoria Arlen. First, Jeremy Poincenot spoke about Perseverance (my favorite Core Value!). His personal story was about e spoke about how he suddenly became blind and had perseverance along with encouragement to continue. Now his dad and he are #1 in the world blind golf association. My second favorite speech was Victoria Arlen who spoke about Confidence. She was paralyzed from a young age and was scared that she wouldn’t be able to play sports. Victoria grew up in a family that golfed a lot. One day she had the Confidence to tell her family she wanted to learn how to golf – despite her condition. Today, she is able to walk, golf and even speaks three languages! Oh, and she is an Olympic Paralympic Swimmer (and medalist!)  Tomorrow I will play by second practice round, on Pebble Beach Golf Links, at 8:30am with 2016 PURE Insurance Championship winner, Paul Broadhurst! I am very excited! PS – I forgot to mention, I also met Tom Watson at last night’s dinner!