Buenos Dias Amigos!

We just arrived home from Mexico and we are already missing that amazingly blue water, those fish tacos, and our friends in Playa Del Carmen. This was one of our favorite weeks of the year during Parker's rookie season, and we had a amazing time again this year. It's definitely not a bad place to be as an alternative to Tucson (if you are not "yet" in the top 60 in the world). In Mexico, the Tour does a great job of making different activities available during the tournament week so you can really make the most of your trip and appreciate where you are! (sometimes with all of the travel it is easy to just go back and forth to the golf course, and not even know what city you are in?). But not this week...this week we were definitely making the effort to enjoy everything Playa Del Carmen had to offer.


At the beginning of the week we had the opportunity to visit an underground river called "Rio Secreto" or "Secret River." Not knowing exactly what to expect, we took a wild ride in a 4x4 jeep out to the middle of the jungle to the entrance to the river. We went on an hour&1/2 walk and swim through this underground cave. The most unique part of the excursion was when we were about mid way through the cave and our guide asked us all to turn our headlights (on our helmets) off. There was absolutely no difference with your eyes open or shut, and all you could hear were the sounds of the water dripping from the various geological formations surrounding you. It was incredible.


The next day Parker played in the Pro Am and I had the opportunity to swim with the dolphins. This was an amazing experience and something that I have always wanted to do. What surprised me the most was how strong they were. When I looked at the dorsal fin I was almost afraid to grab on to it, but as you can see, I had to hold on like crazy because they swim so fast and are so powerful.

The rest of the week was filled with enjoying our time with our family friends that we stayed with, jumping in the water everyday, and eating amazing food. Our friends have had a home in Playa Del Carmen for 16 years now so they know every local restaurant possible. I think that is what we love the most, finding those hole in the wall places that we would never find without a "local" guiding us. We ate the best shrimp tacos, guacamole, and arrachera all week long. We enjoyed happy hour every night and cribbage games after sunset.


The only downside to the trip was getting "Tourista" or "Montezuma's Revenge." Whatever you want to call it, it was no fun :-(. Ironically, I am the careful one out of the bunch. I am the only one to brush my teeth with bottled water, and I am always conscious of what I am eating, but what can you do? I couldn't seem to pin point what caused it either, I even ate at the golf course that day? I am just glad that Parker steered clear of it. Plus the only thing I missed was a few days of golf...and to be honest, I watch a lot of golf all year long. ;-)

All in All it was an amazing trip! We are excited about being at home for a week and then heading out to Florida for the next few.
Hasta Luego!
-Kristy

West Coast Swing

I was hoping to get the chance to write after the Sony, then after Torrey Pines, and now I am realizing that 3 tournaments have already gone by in a blink of an eye. To sum it up, it has been a very busy, yet extremely fun filled last month.

The Sony Open had to have been one of our most memorable tournament weeks thus far. We had a great support group of family who came from the mainland and local friends & family who came out to cheer on Parker. Thanks to Waikoloa, we all sported the "Go Parker" Waikoloa hats for the week. After coming close the cut line, Parker battled through the weekend and finished T10 at the first tournament of the year. Not only did he have a great finish, but I have never seen him play in front of such a big crowd. Between his local following and the Shigeki Maruyama fans, hole to hole, that was the most people Parker has ever played in front of.

The "Beers for Birdies" Group at The Sony Open

Parker unfortunately has been battling a flu/cold for a while now and had to take off the Bob Hope. The turn around from Sony to the 5 day tournament in Palm Desert was going to be too much to handle. So instead we had a nice week at home and he prepared for The Buick in San Diego.

San Diego was also a special week. We had a large group of family and friends from Southern California come down to support him. We got to stay at my sister's house which was very nearby the golf course. Parker played great finishing at T29, even though I know that he had a lot on his mind that week. His dad had suffered a stroke the weekend before up in Northern California. After being with his Dad and knowing that he was going to make a full recovery, Parker was able to remain in the tournament. Thanks to the support of all of his family he was able to play.

From San Diego we headed back home to Phoenix. It would have taken a top ten at the Buick for Parker to get into the FBR. Either way we were going to be at home, which is always nice. The FBR week in Phoenix was crazy... because it was also the week of the Super Bowl. Since Parker wasn't playing this week, he actually had the opportunity to go! He and one of his best friends got to watch the game from amazing 50 yard line seats. One of my best girlfriends also came into town for the Super Bowl. Her husband and a friend went to the game and all of the wives enjoyed an very nice and relaxing afternoon watching it at home. We got to be in sweats, had some great Super Bowl food, all from the comfort of our living room couches. The guys called us about once a quarter telling us how amazing the whole experience was!



The next day after the Super Bowl, we got on a plane to go to Pebble Beach. One of the great things about the AT&T Tournament is getting to stay with our friends Genny & Dan at their beautiful home on the Monterey Peninsula Country Club. We always have such a great time with them. Even though we are not from the area, we consider this tournament to be one of our home tournaments. We have spent a lot of great time at Pebble and it happens to be close enough for the Southern California friends and family and close enough for the Northern California friends and family to all come and watch! We had close to 75 people out there! Parker and his partner Jim Rohr gave us quiet a show. After the second day of play they were leading in the team scores! Jim chipped in and dropped some long putts for birdie. Even making a few natural birdies for eagle! In the end Jim and Parker ended up placing 3rd in the team scores, and Parker played great on Sunday to sneak up to T14th! One of the other highlights of the week was getting to meet one of my favorites... comedian/actor, Kevin James (who was just as great in person as he is in his show). The most special part of the week for us was having Chris, Parker's Dad a part of all of the festivities. He walked the golf course each day (including part of the wed. practice round) and amazed us all with his strength and positive energy.



Now that the West Coast Swing is winding down we wanted to thank everyone who made the effort to be at these tournaments with us! It is our favorite time of the year! Now we are enjoying a bit of down time at home and look forward to our upcoming trip to Mexico for the Mayakoba Classic!

Kristy