Fairways and Greens

Grace's Modeling Gig
On Monday, April 12th, Grace Park and Nike Golf premiered their new clothing line for the next season. Folks who have been watching Grace all season have already seen her wear some of the outfits, but this was the official debut; they will soon be appearing in sporting goods stores near you!

This event took place in Las Vegas, site of this week's LPGA tournament, at the Mandalay Place Mall. The evening started with a meet and greet, as Grace
signed autographs and chatted with fans. Folks were met by the gorgeous glamour photo of Grace shown as this week's Parting Shot; she signed a few copies of this shot for her fans.

Grace during the fashion show

After that, it was on to the main event: a fashion show featuring the new Nike line. Though most of the styles were modeled by professionals, Seoul Sister Grace got in on the action, too, although she later humbly suggested that the models did most of the work. In the photo above you can see one of the many nice outfits from the collection; she'll be doubtless trying most of them out this year!

Grace also mentioned to a fan who was in attendance that she has recently been fitted with new Nike irons, and is busily trying to get used to them, but for the moment will stick with her Ping irons. She won't switch to the new irons until she feels she can play her best with them. That's a very sensible attitude!

The Other Money List
One of the reasons the Korean gals have done so well on the LPGA is that their home country corporations have been very supportive of them, giving them excellent sponsorship deals, even if they are relatively unknown. This is very different from the situation in women's golf in general; sometimes even superstars are without important sponsors.

But until now, I've never had a clear grasp on exactly what kind of deals the top ladies had with their sponsors. But following Grace's win at the Nabisco Championship, a prominent national paper in Korea published the details of these deals, and I present them here (with the latest up to date won-to-dollar conversion and in order from largest to smallest) for your edification! Fascinating how well Young Kim has done, isn't it? Also note that other prominent deals, such as Soo Yun Kang's Astra sponsorship, were not included in the article.

Shi Hyun Ahn Drops her Coach
Shi Hyun Ahn recently parted from her long time (and only) coach. Hae-Shim Jung, 46, had been Shi Hyun's coach since she was an 8th grader in 1997. He saw her development through from those days to the great LPGA caliber player she has become. But apparently a lot of friction has developed, particularly in the last few months. He said that he usually likes to take total control of his charges, and drive them hard, but that Ahn balked under this system. She spent too much time talking on the phone to friends in Korea, he added.

Ahn is now training under her father, although presumably she will look to get another professional trainer soon. The split became official before the Office Depot, and so far, so good for Shi Hyun. After a mediocre 49th at the Office Depot, she rebounded with a tie for 11th at the Takefuji Classic.

By the way, be sure to check out Shi Hyun's gallery. We've added some very cool photos of her taken earlier this year. You can access her gallery by clicking here!

E-Mail... We get E-mail...
Much excitement this month as I got e-mail from not one but two Korean LPGA golfers! First off, Jimin Kang sent me a how-do-you-do. As longtime readers know, she is one of my favorite Korean players, and I'm certain she will get on tour next year and impress you all just like she's impressed me. And I'm not just saying that cause she grew up ten miles from my house... I mean it!! Seems she saw the site and liked it. Glad for that!

Then just a few days ago, Jenny Park-Choi dropped me a line. Wow! Jenny's been out of action the last two years to take care of her new bundle of joy. But now she's back on tour, and here's hoping she can make some noise. Thanks for the compliments, ladies! Good luck this year!