Sun Valley Trip

We just got back from a fabulous get away in Sun Valley. It was a perfect relaxing weekend to recharge the batteries for a demanding golf season ahead. We love that town and enjoyed a wonderful vacation with great friends! Here are some highlights...

Just about to Land in Sun Valley

Thank you Tempus Jets for the memorable ride into Sun Valley

All the boys at the local hockey game! Go Suns!

Ready to hit the slopes!

Last Meal .... Grumpy's - Best burgers in town!!

West Coast Swing 2010

It always seems like I upload the photos from the West Coast Swing around end of March! It is such a crazy and fun time that it just flies by before we have a chance to share it all! Here are some of the highlights from our journey!

Sony Open, Honolulu Hawaii

*** DJ Gregory sharing his story with the La Pietra Varsity & JV Girls Basketball Teams, (organized by Parker's Mom, Beth McLachlin - Teacher at La Pietra)


Blessing in a Backpack Program in Hawaii

The PGA TOUR Wives Association partnered with Blessings in Backpack and Friends of Hawaii Charities (Charity sponsor of the Sony Open) to feed Hawaii's underprivileged school children. The program provides undernourished school children food for the weekends. Participating schools have seen dramatic increases in test scores, reduced number of school nurse visits on Monday, increased attention/focus in the classrooms! To learn more about how to get involved... visit http://www.blessingsinabackpack.org/

Parker Paddle boarding
Unfortunately Parker missed the cut at the Sony but we spent our weekend enjoying the water and trying out Paddle Boarding!



Sunset View
last evening before we had to leave


Waste Management Open - Phoenix, AZ


***

Blessings in Backpack Program in Phoenix
The PGA TOUR Wives Association partnered with the Thunderbirds to enable children from 7 different schools to now benefit from the Blessings in a Backpack program! It was wonderful to see this program expand in Arizona and make a difference for the children in our own community.

Sunday Afternoon at the Phoenix Open
Our great friend Andrew caddied for Parker at the Phoenix Open!

2010

Parker and I are loving being back in Hawaii. Its been a full year since he has been back home. We've spent this week catching up with family friends, and of course fitting some beach time and practice time in.

We had a great off season spending most of the time at home. We were able to get in a great routine and enjoy getting settled into our new place. Our highlight was probably hosting our very first Thanksgiving at our home. It was so much fun and hope will be a tradition for many years to come!

Right now Parker is on the Big Island hosting his junior clinic at Waikoloa! It is always such a treat to be back there and spend some time with the kids.

Parker has continued to put in a lot of hard work on his swing and has been focused on developing his strength and conditioning during this off season... or "pre season" as we like to call it. Now that we have arrived in Hawaii, we are truly excited to embark on the new season ahead.

Looking forward to kicking it all off at Sony next week!

Happy 2010!

Kristy & Parker

Wrapping up 2009

Its hard to believe that the season has now officially come to an end. We had a great last PGA TOUR event of 2009 in Florida. We stayed with Parker's coach, Sean Foley, and his family. We had so much fun getting to spend time with them, especially their 19mo. old. Fun dinners at the house and happy hour on their patio. We also spent a few of the nights with Stephen Ames and his son. Sean is Stephen's coach as well so we had some great "Team Foley" get togethers.

Parker and Stephen were paired together during the first two rounds of the tournament which was a great experience for Parker. Even though Parker didn't make the cut I think he was able to take away some great things from the golf course that week. On Sunday we offered to babysit so the Foley's could go out and watch Stephen and Justin Rose (another one of Sean's students) in the final round. Both were playing well that week and had a chance to win. Parker and I watched it on TV and it was a blast to see Stephen go home with the trophy!

Now we are at the Callaway Invitational in Pebble Beach. It is so beautiful here, words can not describe. It is easily one of our favorite weeks of the year. Parker has had the chance to play Monterey Penisula Golf Club, the new addition to the Pebble Beach Invitational Tournament and Cypress with his 2009 Playing Partner Doug MacKenzie. Scott Simpson and Parker's Dad joined them for an epic day out on the golf course.

Today he played Pebble Beach and we couldn't have asked for more perfect weather. He had a great group of playing partners and is off to Del Monte tomorrow for day 2.

I love this tournament because you get to really appreciate the beauty of these golf courses. there are no spectators, grandstands, ropes, etc like in a regular PGA TOUR event. Just the guys on the course.

Viking Cancelled

I still can't believe the Viking Classic was cancelled.

The tournament week basically went like this....

Thursday - alarm went off at 5 am... Parker and Ricky Barnes left for the course... txt messages from the Tour followed with 1/2 hr rain delay... 1 hr rain delay... 3 hr rain delay... day cancelled.... then practically the entire TOUR went to the nearby movie theater... We saw Michael Jackson's Movie (it was amazing!)

Friday - alarm went off at 5 am... Parker and Ricky left for the course... txt messages with 1/2 rain delay... 1 hr rain delay... 3 hr rain delay... day cancelled... once again - everyone went to the nearby movie theater... we saw Couples Retreat


Saturday - practice facilities were closed and we awaited news from the Tour.

Finally just before noon, it was announced that the event was cancelled - we hopped on a plane and headed home to phoenix :( I was so sad for all of the people at the tournament who worked so hard all year to put this event on. It was a shame that the weather just didn't allow this tournament to happen. It was especially a bummer since Parker seemed very ready to play that week.

Off the course we had a great time getting to stay with the parents of one of our very best friends. Ricky stayed there as well which made it a blast. We loved our time and Jackson and have to thank Tim and Jean for showing us such a great time. It was fun to connect with all of our extended friends there as well!

I was extra bummed that the tournament got cancelled because I was soooo looking forward to seeing one of my favorite chef's Tyler Florence do a cooking demonstration at the tournament on Saturday. We missed it because we ended up flying home that day. Once we got back to phoenix we turned on the golf channel and since there was no tournament to show they were airing the Tyler Florence Cooking segment. I was sad to have missed it but it was cool that they were still able to put it on and share it on the golf channel. We were inspired to cook that week at home!

Now we are in Orlando, Florida staying at Parker's coaches house. It is so nice to be able to be able to hang with him and his family. We are looking forward to a fun week! Last PGA TOUR event of the season... lets make it a great one!

Fall Series Kick Off

After our break during the playoffs we are now back into the full swing of things. Turning Stone was so beautiful (and still very cold) but we loved it anyway! It felt like fall with the leaves changing color and the chill in the air. Parker had a great week but feel just short of the cut line. It was pretty heart breaking. I think it was actually the most bummed I had seen him all year. He has been so patient with his swing changes and has put in so much hard work this year. Now that he is getting so close to being able to convert his hard work to success on the golf course, his expectations are higher and higher. I know its coming.

The fall weather didn't last too long because after Turning Stone we headed back out to Vegas. Since an entire week on the Strip can be a bit overwhelming, I took full advantage of getting to explore a different part of Las Vegas with my girlfriend Sybi Kuchar. We went on a hike in Red Rock Canyon and it was an amazing getaway. I had no idea that Las Vegas could be so beautiful.

For the second year in a row the highlight of the Vegas tournament was when Justin Timberlake's mother put on an amazing luncheon for all of the girls!!! It was a blast and was topped off by a fun visit from Justin himself!!! Here is the picture that we captured, poor guy - you can barely see him in this mob of women!

On the course, Parker had a great week in Vegas, scoring really well the first couple of days and then not getting as much as he wanted to out of the round over the wekeend. All in all it was a great week with another incredible Justin Timberlake and Friends Concert.

After fun week at home for the Frys.com Open we have arrived in Jackson, MS for the Viking Classic. Parker had another solid week last week so hopefully he will have lots of momentum coming into this tournament. His swing defintiely seems to be coming together so it has been getting exciting to see how things will develop on the golf course.

Getting Ready for Fall

Since Parker is not a part of the playoffs this year, he has had some great time to prepare for the fall. With a visit to Florida to see his coach, he has been able to get some great practice in and get into a consistent workout schedule. Although we would have loved to have been in the playoffs this year, being home has been a wonderful treat. We recently moved and have been using this time to work on some home projects! I think this break from a tournament schedule was just what we both needed to get ready for the fall series. We are looking forward to Turning Stone first, it is always one of our favorite events of the year. Hopefully it will be warmer than last year!!! I'm bringing my hat and gloves just in case!

Ready for more House Projects!

Defending Champion

Returning to Reno has been one of the highlights of the year! Even though I missed out on the win last year, just being back to the course gave me goosebumps. Everyone was so wonderful. We had the whole family to support which made the week so much fun! Thanks to everyone who came out and walked with us. Especially the Andersons who graciously hosted Parker once again this year, baby Jason for making Reno his first golf tournament ever, and DJ Gregory who walked Reno for the first time (since he was at the Bridgestome Championship during his 2008 PGA Journey). It was such a special week - thank you!


Before Reno, we had a family reunion (on Parker's side) the week before the tournament. It was the greatest week! It was very relaxing but still kept us in the competitive spirit. Oh yes, there were family competitions in volleyball, bocce ball, and baggo. We even had a golf day with the whole family. It was my first time playing on a golf course ever! When Parker and I were first dating we went to the driving range a couple of times, but since golf has become such a large part of our lives, I just haven't really had the desire to play during our "down time." His Aunt let me borrow her clubs and we played a scramble! That is such a fun way to play golf, I had no idea it could be so fun.... a lot less pressure on my shots ;-)

Fort Worth

Another week of great progress for Parker. Though it hasn't quite shown in his score yet, I know that he feels like he is so close to putting it all together on the golf course. Even when he ended his friday round with a Tin Cup like moment, he still managed to leave his mark at the Colonial... check out his best shot of the tournament!

Sports Center Top 10

"Walking with Friends"

It was a great week in Charlotte, one of our favorite events of the year. I absolutely love the town and Parker loves the course. Works out well for everyone! Now we are in Ponte Vedra, Florida. We rented a condo on the beach this week...we have Parker's Dad, Coach, and Sports Psychologist staying with us. The whole team is here!

Another reason that this week is extra special is that tomorrow May 5th is the date of our good friend DJ Gregory's book release. If you are a fan of golf you have probably heard his inspirational story, but just in case...check out it out below:

In the past year DJ has become a great friend and we are so excited for the launch of his book Walking with Friends: An Inspirational Year on the PGA Tour . Hope you can check it out!

With DJ and his family, holding his very first copy of the book