On Location @ The Ginn Tribute

Next week, I take the Hound Dog LPGA Blog to the course for the very first time. I’ll be posting directly from RiverTowne Country Club in Mount Pleasant, SC (near Charleston) while watching the Ginn Tribute Hosted by Annika.

The technical obstacles involved in bringing the HD Ginn Tribute experience to your browser are enormous. The condo we’re renting has wireless access, so posting after the rounds will be no problem. The tournament website declares Blackberries to be off-limits but underground sources have assured me that as long as no audible evidence is gathered, I shouldn’t get locked up by the authorities. My plan is to live-blog via said Blackberry each day that I’m on the course. As this is a family vacation and my wife, son and sister will be cutting me major slack as it is, we’ve reserved Friday for hitting the beach and other non-golfy things. Fine – I’ll need to soak my sore feet by then, anyway.

Wednesday (Pro-Am Day) is the day I’m expecting to log the most hours. Armed with camera and an extra 2 gig memory stick, I”ll be snapping anyone swinging so much as an umbrella. If I’m feeling especially bold that day, I might even approach a player or caddy or two and ask them if they’ve ever heard of Total Driving. Just kidding, I would probably just try to impress them with my knowledge of how their season is going (“great Top 20 at Safeway!”). If any of you have acquaintances on Tour that I can safely approach using your good name (“Bob in DC says hi!”), be sure to pass that info along.

The change in blogging locale has its disadvantages. I won’t be able to provide any Ginn highlight clips – no room in the car for the DVR – and the fact we’re leaving the house this Saturday morning means I won’t be able to post clips for at least the last two rounds of this weekend’s Corning Classic either. I apologize in advance to all of you without Golf Channel access. Hopefully, a few pictures from Pro-Am Day will be an acceptable substitute.

You can probably guess that I’m quite jacked about this trip. It will be my first tournament since the 2006 Florida’s Natural event in Atlanta, which was held about three months before I started this blog. At that event, I probably only knew about 20 or 30 players well (maybe even fewer than that without an announcer or golf bag to jog my memory) so I’m anxious to see if my expanded knowledge about the Tour can possibly make the on-course experience any more enjoyable. That might be tough – I got to stand within ten feet of Grace Park last time! I’ll be sure to let you know about any new close encounters.