The joys of an LPGA tourney

I have the good fortune to attend each year both a PGA event, The Memorial, and an LPGA event, the Wendy's Championship for Children. The Memorial was great again this year, but I find myself even more excited to attend the LPGA event which is taking place this week.

There are lots of reasons I enjoy the LPGA event so much as compared to the PGA event: tickets are FAR more economical, the course is FAR less crowded, the players often seem interested in engaging with the fans, there are lots of cool on-site give-aways by the tournament sponsors (ranging from sodas to snack bars to golf balls).

But, in the end, I think I enjoy the LPGA event so much because it inspires me to improve my golf game more so than the PGA event. When I watch the PGA pros, on a course measuring 7200 yards, bashing their drives 300 yards and hitting 6-irons from 200 yards away, I come away feeling that I will never be able to play golf the way it is played by the pros. But when I watch the LPGA pros, on a course measuring 6600 yards, driving about 250 yards and hitting 7-irons from 150 yards away, I come away feeling that I can play like a pro. I also come to see the little things a pro does to average rounds of 70 (instead of the rounds of 80 that I average).

Of course, Michelle Wie, basher of 300 yard drives, is going to mess all this up.