Who is Hee Kyung Seo?

With only 23 years old, she's already a star in the KLPGA. Several years ago the South Korean who caught all the attention and the limelight was Jiyai Shin, who appeared in magazines and sport's news all over Asia. Today, Seo is stronger than ever and is considered as one of the best players of the Far East; therefore, it wouldn't be odd to see her play next yea as a full member of the LPGA.

 She joined the KLPGA in 2006.

Sometime ago Hee Kyung Seo lived in the shadows, mainly because current world number 2, Jiyai Shin, draw attention after her surprising win at the Ricoh Women's British Open. This, with two more victories, led Shin to the LPGA, which opened the door for Seo.

In 2009, the young Hee Kyung won five championships of the KLPGA, taking over the Money List Title and becoming "Player of the Year". Seo accomplishments brought the spotlight over her because, other than Shin, she's the only South Korean that has won more events on that tour.

One of Hee Kyung's special characteristics is that she uses to come from behind to take the lead and, eventually, win the tournament, thanks to her solid game and tough mentality. An example of this came in the Korea Women's Open, a major int the Asian tour, in which she overcame a 6 stroke disadvantage to claim the title.

In the LPGA, she played her first event in 2006, the Kolon-Hana Bank Championship, where she finished 16th. Two years later she competed again in that same tournament  and grabbed the 17th place. In 2009 she was part of the SBS Open field and managed to get a top 20; then she played the Kraft Nabisco Championship, but missed the cut; after this, she went back to a major, the Women's US Open, and tied for 48th; she was part of one of the most prestigious events, the Evian Masters, where she finished 30th, and finally she disputed, for the third time, the Kolon-Hana Bank Championship, where she got her best result, 15th.

Last week she received a sponsors exemption to play the Kia Classic, event that she won in-style after shooting 70, 67, 69 y 70, leaving Inbee Park 6 strokes behind. This result gave her the chance to play as a full member of the LPGA, nevertheless, Seo wants to focus on her own tour, the KLPGA. Even so, she'll play at the Kraft Nabisco Championship, which is scheduled for this week.

With this, the Asian players made clear, once again, that they are the ones to track down and the dominant group of the most competitive women's golf tour. To corroborate this, we just need to see the results in the past 3 events: in the Honda LPGA PTT Thailand five Asians figured in the top ten; in the HSBC Women's Championship there were nine among the best 10 and in the Kia Classic, seven. More over, the winners of those events are Ai Miyazato from Japan (2) and Hee Kyung Seo from South Korea (1).

Third stop

After one month of inactivity, the LPGA players are back to continue with this year's schedule. This is the first tournament that they'll play in US soil, since the first two tournaments were celebrated in Asia. So, expect coverage for all and lots of fans following their favorites.

This is an inaugural event and will be played in California.

As expected, the field includes the best of the best, 17 of the top 20 Rolex Rankings players will dispute the title. There's also a 1.7 million dollars purse which will be distributed among those who make the cut.

Nevertheless, there are four players that have good chances of taking it away:

Ai Miyazato: the Japanese won the first two tournaments of the year and seems like she's on fire! Ai has climbed through the Rolex Rankings and is already number 3; less than a point from Jiyai Shin (2) and two from Lorena Ochoa (1). Miyazato's momentum might stretch, unless someone steps in.

Cristie Kerr: in Asia, she made clear who's the best North American around. Her game is solid and balanced, that's why she has played 87% of this season's rounds under par. Kerr was 4th in the Honda PTT LPGA Thailand and runner-up in the HSBC Women's Championship; playing in the USA should giver her a good advantage.

Suzann Pettersen: she's by far the best European in the Rolex Rankings and is considered to be number 4 thanks to her performance. This year she's had two top 5 and was close to winning the season-opener, but Ai Miyazato's brilliant final round left her as runner-up. Pettersen is second in the Money List and her short game is better than ever.

Yani Tseng: a year ago "Nini" was number 2 in the Rolex Rankings, today she's 5 and not happy about it. In Asia she gained the confidence lost in 2009, so it wouldn't be rare to see her lift a trophy this season. Yani's approaching shots are very accurate.

Those who might surprise, for their experience and talent, are Lorena Ochoa, even when she hasn't had a great season she becomes dangerous when she finds momentum, and Jiyai Shin, who just needs a couple of good shots to get into contention.

No experience 3

In previous posts we've talked about terms and elements of a course; today we'll close this series of entries with a fundamental issue: the clubs. There are 4 types and, as you can imagine, there's a reason for this.

Woods

They are designed for long shots, from tee to fairway and from fairway to green. If you want to recognize them easily just look for the"chubby"ones; they have big rounded clubheads with long shafts. Today they are made of titanium, carbon fiber or metal, but before the 80s the raw material was wood, therefore the name. A golfer usually carries the following woods in the bag: 1 (driver), 3 and 5.

Irons

Different from woods, they have thin clubheads. The distance that the ball travels after being hit with this kind of club is less, therefore the irons are used for approach shots, this is from fairway to green and from tee to green (only in par 3 holes). Some special characteristics are the inclination in relation to the floor (loft), the grooves in the surface that hits the ball, and the shaft, which increases or decreases according to the loft. This way, they are classified in long (1, 2, 3 and 4), mid (5, 6 and 7) and short (8 y 9). Finally, we need to mention the wedges, which get into this category and the difference between them and the irons is that their loft is higher than the 9 iron, it goes from 45º to 64º, and are very useful when you need precision or to get out of the rough or a bunker. In this category we have the pitching wedge (PW), gap wedge (GW), sand wedge (SW), lob wedge (LW) and ultra lob wedge (LW 64º). A bag usually includes: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 irons; sand wedge, pitching wedge and lob wedge.

Hybrids or rescues

They are the new kids on the block; since they combine the advantages of the woods and the irons, they help you out in tricky situations. These clubs can replace the long irons; nevertheless, there are complete sets which substitute all the irons, but the decision is up to the golfer.

Putters

They are designed to make the ball roll instead of fly. Therefore, they are used in the green and it is the club you use to sink the ball in the cup. There are lots of designs and the player needs to try several to decide which is the right one.

With this we've completed golf basics, but as usual, feel free to mail us or follow us on twitter to clear further doubts or give us your comments.

No experience 2

Today we'll talk about the elements of the golf course. All of them have a function in the game, therefore is important to know a bit more about them.

Tee box

This is where the golfer hits the ball for the first time. It's a plain surface that can be higher, even or lower that the green level; there's a plaque that shows the yardage and par of the hole.

Fairway

In few words, it's the area that separates the tee from the green. The main characteristic of the fairway is the short and even grass, so an ideal tee shot should lands here. There are some obstacles along like bunkers, hazards and rough.

Rough

This kind of grass happens to be taller, so if the ball lands here the shot to get out of it is very difficult; it's located next to the fairway and green. During Grand Slam tournaments the rough is even taller.

Bunker

You'll find them next to the fairway and the green. If the ball lands here part of it would definitively get buried, so the shot and the strategy might need some adjustments. The height depends on the course and if your shot gets stuck here you don't get a penalty.

Hazard

Like the bunkers, the water hazard is an obstacle that makes a hole harder, still, you won't find them in all of them. They are set between the tee box and the fairway or between the fairway and the green. If your ball gets here you'll have a penalty shot, it's common that after this you drop a new ball into a red circle nearby.

Green

Its the final destination of the ball before getting into the hole. The grass is very soft and short, but is not easy to make a shot since the green has undulations and the speed of it varies considerably.

Now, you know a bit more about terms and course elements, tomorrow we'll talk about clubs, so stay tuned!

No experience 1

In previous days I was talking to a friend; he told me he had no clue about golf, well actually he knew that the ball was supposed to drop on the cup, but that was pretty much it. He said he was interested in knowing more about the sport; and I'm sure he's not the only one out there who happens to be inexpert on this matter. Therefore, I'll make a series of posts regarding golf basics for those who want to know what people means when talking about Lorena Ochoa, Tiger Woods and other high class players.

For starters, every hole must be completed in a certain number of strokes, this is called PAR. So, when you hear someone saying: the 8th hole is par 5, that means you are supposed to finish it with no more than five strokes.

Nevertheless, this might not happen regularly and some other terms jump in. If that same hole, number 8, par 5, is finalized with 6 strokes, 1 over par, that means we've just scored a BOGEY; if we do the opposite and we finish it with 4 strokes, 1 under par, then we'll just made a BIRDIE.

But what if we complete it with 7 strokes, 2 over par?,  well then we've just made a DOUBLE BOGEY; but if we manage to finish it with 3 strokes, 2 under par, then we made an EAGLE.

Now, if we go to a club and they tell us: "this course is PAR 72", that means that the addition of every hole (that's all the pars) is equal to 72, here's an example:

In the previous image OUT means the front or first nine holes (1-9), while IN refers to the back or last nine holes (10-18).

It's not a rule, but almost every 18 hole course happens to be par 72, still, there are some clubs that feature par 71 or par 73 courses.

Now we know a bit more about strokes and terms; tomorrow we'll talk about the parts that set a course, so stay tuned!

Experience and hierarchy

She's one of the most successful golfers in the world; her flawless game has shown who she is. Besides, she's a complete class of act in and outside the ropes, which makes her a fan favorite. Recently she won her 49th tournament, which made clear that there's a lot more to come from Karrie Webb.

She's, without a doubt, the greatest female golfer of Australia.

When she was 20 she decided to become professional and went to play at the Ladies European Tour and the Duramed FUTURES Tour. In 1996 she entered the LPGA, in that season she was named "Rookie of the Year" and won 3 times, which made her the first player to surpass earn more than 1 million dollars in one year.

Her track record kept growing and by 1999 she won the "Player of the Year" award, above from Annika Sörenstam, who had received it in 1995, 1997 and 1998; more over, she had dominated the tour almost since she got there.

The Aussie was the new golfer to defeat and in 2000 se won two majors: Krafk Nabisco Championship and U.S. Women's Open; along with the "Player of the Year" award and the Vare trophy. Next season  she completed the LPGA Career Grand Slam, becoming the youngest to accomplish the feat.

Even when she was the strongest on the tour, weeb went into a slump (2003-2005) and only won at the John Q. Hammons Hotel Classic (2003) and the Kellog Keebler Classic (2004), both from the LPGA schedule, and the ANZ Ladies Masters (2005) of the Australian Tour. it was precisely in 2005 when she was inductee into the Hall of Fame, becoming the youngest person alive to do so, with only 30 years old.

Webb reinvented herself and in 2006 she stopped a ferocious Lorena Ochoa who had lead for the Kraft Nabisco Championship from day one; nevertheless, Karrie holed a 116 yard shot to eagle the 18th in the last round, this forced a playoff, which Webb won after birding the l8th, this resulted in her 7th major trophy. That year she grabbed for more titles which put her in the Rolex Rankings top 10 for the first time.

In 2007 she won the MFS Autralian Open and the ANZ Ladies Masters; in 2008 she successfully defended the MFS Autralian Open. By 2009 she won again in the LPGA, when she defeated Jiyai Shin by two strokes.

This year Webb won the ANZ Autralian Ladies Masters for the seventh time, breaking Annika Sörenstam's record (she won Swedish Open six times). In this season Karrie will have to fight against to grouos: the Asians and the youngsters, both are dominating the tour by number and victories; which wil make 2010 a tough year; nevertheless, the Aussie's experience might be the secret ingredient to leave their peers on the way.