[Rounteetepe]

Don't you love it when a day goes well? As I posted in my other thread, I headed down south of the border this morning with my girls to mingle with the Illinoisians at the Chicago Golf Expo. We had a nice little drive aside from a drop of grease that dropped from my $1.00 Sausage McMuffin on to my fleece while I drove and ate. We laughed and talked about school, golf, her new iPod, and how soon we hope to be golfing.

We parked in the Rosemont ramp, then gerbiled our way through a half mile or so of skywalks to the conference center main floor and the exposition hall. The Flatlanders were out in force, the aisles lined with the typical array of booths. Resorts, courses, gadget companies, club and clothing purveyors: all hawking their wares and services. We wandered, filling our courtesy of Harrahs in MS plastic bags with scorecards and brochures, most from Illinoisian courses we're unlikely to ever play. Cheeseland was well represented in the exhibitor lineup with a number of fine courses and resorts. We chatted with the booth personnel at several where Junior Lancer has played in tournaments, thanking them for making their facilities available, and expressing her eagerness to return this coming season.

A golf expo wouldn't be a golf expo without a skill test booth of some sort, and this expo was no exception. Billed as Chicago's Longest Putt, attendees were invited, at the cost of $1.00 per ball with a 3 ball limit, to attempt to make an 85' putt to be eligible to win a golf vacation, or to win a free round of golf from a choice of a number of golf courses for leaving the ball within a 3' circle surrounding the hole. The putt had some lefts and some rights, some backs and some forths, and a couple what have yous. Jr. Lancer and I joined the queue, our cheese sharpened vision focused on the putts of those preceding us so as to determine the best line and speed for the job. I bought our six balls and went first, rolling the first ball down our pre-determined line.

It could have been only a little better. Perfect speed and an almost perfect line saw the putt lip out and stop a foot or so from the hole. That one had the onlookers cheering and groaning. My next putt stopped just short of the circle but on line, the third again hitting the hole but going a bit too fast to stay in the circle. Those three had gotten the crowd's attention as Junior Lancer addressed her first putt. She pulled that one a bit and it skirted the circle on the left with decent speed. Her second rolled just right of the hole and through the circle. This one evoked a few "nice tries" and "good rolls". Then to a couple shouts of "Come on, honey" she hit her third putt. It was an absolutely beauty, tracking left of the hole and breaking toward it at the end, only to lip out and stop just a couple inches away. The crowd loved it, and we won two rounds of golf on a Donald Ross designed course in Batavia, IL. A reason for a future road trip.

Then the day went from fun to interesting. We took our seats for a short seminar from a woman that was the former women's golf coach at the University of WI and Northwestern. She had recently retired and was on hand to explain the IL Junior Golf Association, and to talk a little about junior competition in general, and how it can lead to collegiate golf. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately for us, the seminar crowd was not what it could have been. The talk was highly informative. She spoke about what it takes to be a serious junior competitive golfer, and what it means to play golf beyond the junior level.

When it reached the Q & A stage, this might surprise those who have managed to read this far, but I had a couple questions. I asked her at what age junior golfers start appearing on college coaches radars, at what age junior golfers should start considering where they might want to play, and how they could get their names out there so coaches and programs know they exist.

She was offering some interesting insight, and mentioned how if possible, a junior golfer can be greatly helped by having a mentor. Not necessarily a mentor for their game, but a mentor that can help them organize a worthwhile tournament schedule, someone to help them prepare a sound and informative academic and golf resume. This was really getting good when the MC sidled over to whisper she was out of time. She apologized, then invited anyone with more questions to approach her offstage. She was looking right at us.

We're not stupid.

She hit the bottom of the stairs, took about ten steps and there we were. She immediately introduced herself to Junior Lancer who reciprocated, then shook mine and Mrs. Esox's hands. She asked J.L. her age, if she worked with a coach, how much she competed, what type of scores she was shooting last season, and if she hoped to someday play college golf. She seemed impressed by my daughter and my daughter's answers. We talked about what type of tournaments/schedule she should be playing going forward. The conversation went for about 15 minutes, until noise from the next presenter made it difficult to communicate. At the end she explained that after a long career she had retired from coaching in order to work with junior golfers, and work as a consultant/mentor. NCAA rules had frustrated her in recent years because they prevented her from even talking to young golfers in many instances.

Long story long, she invited us to contact her and make a visit to her home base west of Chicago at some point in the near future, at which time we could further discuss where J.L. might like to find herself down the road in the world of golf. She could help her plan a tournament schedule that wouldn't overwhelm her, but might put her in more regional tournaments that college coaches keep an eye on. Where they might somehow note in the back of their mind a still young and developing girl golfer from Cheeseland.

Now we realize that she is a teaching professional that is looking to sell her expertise. We have no illusions that such input comes free of charge, but man, just knowing this is an email request away is pretty darn comforting as the world of college recruiting seems like it could be a pretty complicated place. We've noted her rates online, and in comparison to other former coaches doing the same thing, her time is highly affordable, and would indicate she is indeed trying to give something back to the game. And her services seem a much better option than more generic recruiting services. It was a pretty intriguing conversation. We'll see going forward where it may lead.

So we really enjoyed the Chicago Golf Show. J.L also hit a few shots at the TEE and Mizuno booths. Her swing looked good even with months of WI Winter and surgical rust on it. She swung a 6i in the Mizuno booth 74 mph, and the pro there was giving me the "very nice" head nod.

I so enjoyed myself I ate a whole Peruvian Rotisserie Chicken at a restaurant in Irving Park after the show. And some beans and some fries. Peruvians make excellent chicken.

Kevin