However, it was such a nice day today that I fancied a walk out and - as luck would have it - the layout of this course means that the tee off for Hole 1 is next to the spectator area for the 18th. Hole 2 comes back almost parallel with Hole 1 and then Hole 3 goes around the back of the tented village here and finishes you (well, me in this instance) back at the Media Centre. So, off I went to get some "whole event experience".
As luck would have it, my arrival at the 1st tee coincided with one of the most interesting - and indeed, glamorous - ties of the round and I found myself walking the course with twice winner Yani Tseng, American poster girl Paula Creamer and Japanese superstar Ai Miyazato. By way of introduction, Yani Tseng is from Taiwan and has won this tournament for the past two years and is therefore the reigning champion.
Ai Miyazato has mega-star status in her Japanese homeland and her picture is always to be seen in the various celebrity magazines. For this reason, she is followed around by a dedicated band of Japanese press photographers who snap her every move. Armed with this knowledge, I resolved to place myself across from the "japarazzi" at every opportunity in the hope of being "discovered" in a Japanese style magazine.
American Paula Creamer (pictured) is the poster girl for the Ricoh championship and also a Ricoh world brand ambassador. Always easy on the eye, she did not disappoint on this occasion either, shunning the autumnal attire of her fellow competitors and wearing a fetching skirt with long socks instead.
There was a sizeable crowd of spectators watching this particular match and I took my place among them to watch all 3 girls tee off. My comparative inexperience at following a hole was immediately shown up as most of the crowd suddenly set off en masse, shadowing the players on the fairway, and by the time I had caught up, the second shots were already being played.
Following this steep learning curve, I adopted a tactically better watching position for the next shot which meant I could then keep up with play as we got ever nearer to the hole.
By the time we reached the 3rd hole, I had pretty much mastered where to stand, when to clap and when to put a spurt on.... experience that will serve me well tomorrow as I select another match or two to follow around the course - well, 3 holes anyway...
For the record, Creamer hit 4, 5and 4 for these first three holes of the second round, Tseng 5,5,and 3 and Miyazato 4,3 and 4.
To find out more about the Ricoh Womens British Open Golf Championship, check out the official website at: www.ricohwomensbritishopen.com
