Natalie Gulbis | Natalie Gulbis Photographs Pictures Calendar
2008
August

Hello From Japan!

This week I was invited to play in the AXA Ladies Open in Sapporo, Japan. Sapporo is a two hour flight from Tokyo. I have been to Japan over a dozen times in my professional career and always enjoy visiting this country. I left London on Monday night at 7pm and arrived into Tokyo at 5PM Tuesday. After a 12 hour flight I had a one hour photo shoot in the airport. I slept great on the plane but was not sure about taking photos after that..

I arrived to the hotel at 10pm that night and went right to sleep. At 2 am I was wide awake and ready to do something! I am staying at a Crowne Plaza hotel which is very nice. It has TV with two channels in English; CNN and ESPN. My first two days were long with appearances, golf and media for the first two days. I thought for sure I would sleep through the night on the second night but I was awake at 4am! I think the jet lag got the best of me when I slept 10 hours the third night and slept through two alarms.

The event this week is a 3-day event. I needed the extra day to get on the time schedule over here. I have now played one round of the tournament and shot an opening even par round, 72. The course is in fantastic shape, very fast greens that roll true. The players and fans have welcomed me graciously. Being the only American in the 108-player field is unique and the players have all taken time to say hello and help me out. Unfortunately there is a huge language barrier. I speak 10 words of Japanese and they speak about the same in English.

My favorite thing so far in Japan is the food. I love the way they eat with chopsticks and small portions. The food is so fresh from the fruit to the delicate Kobe beef. I eat a lot of sushi in the States and it is incredible over here. The food is so different. For breakfast, it is common to have rice, vegetables, salad, broiled fish and miso soup. Of course there are Western items as well like eggs, cereal and fruit but most people eat the traditional style breakfast. For lunch it’s much of the same and dinner includes beef, more rice, sea vegetables, and sashimi. The portions are tiny and there is very little fried food and sweets. They do serve ice cream with every dinner! At the dinner I went to last night with the event producers and Ippei, my contact from IMG, we took off our shoes before we sat down to eat. 20 small courses and 90 minutes later, the meal was complete. Yes 20 courses……an incredible meal! I ate sashimi and salad..not very adventurous. I did not want to eat anything my body may not agree with while playing.

Well I am getting ready to prepare for round two of the tournament. It was exciting to watch the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. Wow what a production. I love the Olympics I am really excited to watch it all. My favorites are gymnastics, swimming and track and field. GO USA!!

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Tags: Natalie Gulbis, LPGA, Golf, Golf Calendar,natalie gulbis, sapporo japan, crowne plaza hotel, miso soup, kobe beef, rice vegetables, broiled fish, time to say hello, language barrier, cnn, chopsticks, taking photos, favorite thing, espn, jet lag, photo shoot, professional career, traditional style, time schedule, axa

Posted by Natalie Gulbis Fan

British Open

After a tough four days around Sunningdale, I leave with a top-10 finish. Itfeels great to have a top-10 in a Major. I have had a good two weeks in Europeand the work that I did in the off week preparing has shown in my results. Istarted yesterday with an eagle at the first hole. What a way to start thefinal round! Unfortunately, I did not follow it up with any birdies andactually bogeyed two holes until #10. I eagled #10 and finished the round witha 71. Two eagles, three bogeys, no birdies..what a round. I have never had twoeagles in a round!

I had a great week here. As I shared earlier, Annika Sorenstam her fiance,Mike, as well as my best friends Mitch and Lara Mitchelson shared a 5 bedroomhome at Wentworth, which is another famous golf course here in Europe. We had agreat week. Annika, Lara and I cooked together on the final night, which was atreat. We made pasta, a fantastic chicken dish, roasted asparagus, garlicbread, salad, and sat around the table for an extra two hours telling storiesand laughing. It was special for me to spend time with my friends and also tohear Annika share her feelings on her participation in her last Major.

After the Tournament, Annika left for Sweden to play in the event she hosts inher native country. I was spent and Mitch and Lara cooked a wonderful meal andwe relaxed and chatted with great wine, salmon and fresh vegetables. We watchedHow to Lose a Guy in 10 Days as our starter movie, and followed that up withPhantom of the Opera.

It is Monday and I have a quick photo shoot with TaylorMade and then we areheading into downtown London to shop and go sightseeing. We are excited to goto Sloan Street and back to Harrods and visit Buckingham Palace and theNational Museum. Tonight I fly to Tokyo and on to Sapporo for the next event.It is a treat to have a day off to relax and explore. I travel so much andoften only see the hotel, gym, and golf course.

I will write from Japan

Natalie

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Tags: Natalie Gulbis, LPGA, Golf, Golf Calendar,natalie gulbis, lpga golf, sloan street, chicken dish, buckingham palace, hotel gym, thenational, quick photo, first hole, bogeys, annika sorenstam, birdies, harrods, photo shoot, sapporo, taylormade, wentworth, fiance, asparagus, lara

Posted by Natalie Gulbis Fan

HELLO FROM THE BRITISH OPEN…ANNIKA AND I RENTED A HOUSE THIS WEEK AT WENTWORTH WHICH IS RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER FROM SUNNINGDALE. WE ARE PLAYING IN THE BRITISH OPEN THIS WEEK. THIS IS ANNIKAS LAST BRITISH OPEN AND HER FINAL MAJOR EVER! SO SAD… HER AND I HAVE A TRADITION OF RENTING A HOME FOR THE WEEK OF THIS EVENT… IT IS FUN TO BE IN A RELAXED SETTING WHERE WE CAN COOK, HAVE DINNERS AND SIT ON OUR COMPUTERS WORKING AWAY AND SMALL TALKING AT THE SAME TIME. WE HAVE ONE ROOM IN THE HOUSE THIS WEEK THAT HAS THE INTERNET AND IT IS THE CHEF’S ROOM WHERE I AM STAYING… SO ANYONE WHO WANTS TO GET ONLINE IS UP HERE…. TONITE I AM GOING TO BED EARLY FOR MY 7:14 AM TEE TIME ON FRIDAY AND HAD TO SHUT DOWN THE ONLINE ROOM EARLY… ALSO STAYING WITH US IS MY GREAT FRIENDS MITCH AND LARS MITCHESLON. THEY LIVE IN ATLANTA… IT IS SO SWEET OF THEM TO TAKE THE TIME OUT OF THEIR BUSY LIVES TO SPEND TIME TOGETHER AND CHEER FOR ME IN ENGLAMD. LAST NIGHT WE HAD OUR FIRST EXPERIENCE ON A LONDON TRAIN FROM SUNNINGDALE INTO DOWNTOWN. WE WERE HEADING TO HARRODS AND THE DESIGNER SHOPS TO SPEND THE AFTERNOON. THE TRAIN WAS INTERESTING TO SAY THE LEAST AND WE CABBED IT BACK! I WONT SAY ANYMORE…. I PLAYED THE FIRST ROUND TODAY AND SHOT A 69, A GOOD START… HOPE EVERYONE IS WATCHING THE TELECAST EARLY WITH THE TIME CHANGE.. GOOD NITE

NATALIE

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Tags: Natalie Gulbis, LPGA, Golf, Golf Calendar,natalie gulbis, lpga golf, london train, golf calendar, renting a home, sunningdale, british open, time change, harrods, great friends, first experience, golf golf, wentworth, tee time, annika, time out, lars, tradition

Posted by Natalie Gulbis Fan