Vancouver

Hey hey, I'm just sitting in Vancouver right now getting ready for tomorrow's second and final round at The Vancouver Golf Club. I'm playing in the first CN Tour event of the year and am currently tied for 2nd at one under par, 3 shots off the lead! I played fine today, nothing to go crazy about. Actually my ball striking was pitiful on the front nine...too much thinking and not enough feeling. I made some very clutch par putts and stayed relatively patient. I birdied 12 and 13 and chipped in on the 16th hole to finish off a day that could have gone either way. I will be playing in the final group tomorrow with a good childhood friend of mine Christine Boucher, a day that I'm sure will be filled with lots of laughs and hopefully a couple new editions to my extensive french vocabulary. I'll let everyone know how it goes, lets hope the drives are straight and the putts are falling!!

Memorial Cup

WHALERS 2-1 in Overtime!!!!

I'd take 20 miles an hour at this point

Since I have been neglecting everyone in my writing I wanted to make sure that I clarified some weather situations for everyone. I'm not going to go into any real detail because frankly I really don't want to relive the last few weeks but I thought I would pose a question for everyone. What would you prefer, 35 miles an hour winds with 45 degree temperatures and the occasional rain drop, OR, winds upwards of 45/50 miles an hour in the middle of Texas that might have stirred up a little dust. This wind also caused the Futures Tour staff to post pone play in the middle of the day due to wind- the first time in tour history. Please send me an email, I would genuinely like to know if people can comprehend these situations or if I really have become a softy after leaving Canadian winters once and for all! I have to give another shout out to my little buddy, well call her Dorothy for this purpose. Folks at one point I had to actually grab hold of her golf bag and keep her grounded as her feet were VERY close to coming off the ground, not to mention her walk that was closely resembling a run as a rather forceful gust came up behind us! Now I don't feel extremely sorry for her because I'm pretty sure she can eat as much Mexican food as she likes but you still have to look out for your rookies!!

Does anyone have a nickel?

I'm sorry for all the blogs at once but I finally made it home to Toronto and had a chance to do a little reflecting! Last night while driving from Kansas City to Chicago I was trying to come up with some more lessons for everyone when an obvious one jumped up and slapped me in the face. It was about 10:45 pm, Sam and I only had 2 hours of driving left when I had a mini panic attack, forced on me by the sign that read Toll 3/4 of a mile. For crying out loud, we had made it ALMOST the entire way without any blonde moments when I realized I had NO change besides the baggies of dimes, nickles and pennies I had organized when moving out of the condo in April. Now this was not your ordinary toll road, the first two tolls were $1.90 each-come on people really, what happened to those nice little 25 cent tolls. Sam's quick brake lights and a swerve to the shoulder told me she had no money either- this is when debit cards have absolutely NO USE. In short, the toll both gentleman hated me when I payed $3.80 with nickles, dimes and a few quarters I managed to collect from my golf bag. The second part to this lesson is that if you are the one with the baggies filled with coins, make sure you go through the gate first so you don't have to park your car and get out in the freezing cold and run up to your travelling companions car to throw the last few nickles in the basket for her!! Yes folks, this stuff really does happen.......

Memorial Cup

I want to give a HUGE shoutout out to my baby bro Zack Shepley #28 and all his PLymouth Whaler teammates as they battle it out at the Memorial Cup this week in Vancouver, BC!!

Getcha a nice little trophy boys!!!

Another airport to check from my list

Hi guys, I hope everyone is doing well and staying out of trouble. I'm just sitting in the Houston airport waiting for my connection into McAllen Texas to arrive. After finishing in Lafayette Louisianna yesterday afternoon, we drove to New Orleans where we flew this moring back to Texas to finish up our windy leg of the tour. I had a good week in Lafayette and had my best finish on the Futures Tour, a tie for 8th. I shot 68 on Sunday and had one of my best putting rounds to date. Not only did I put 3 solid rounds of golf together but I got to play with one of my very good friends on Sunday, Ms. Cortney Reno herself. I have to give her a little shoutout for her deuce on the first hole after holing out a 90 yard wedge shot- very impressive. When I mentioned the windy leg of the tour earlier I didn't really elaborate but I most certainly will. There were times in college that we played in some miserable weather but I have to say that Frisco Texas a few weeks ago was pretty high up there on the painful list. After having Friday's round called early due to a storm with tornado warning in the area we had to finish up our first round at 7:30 Saturday morning. Now mind you 7:30 is usually a little cool but try 36 degrees with the windchill and winds upwards of 30 miles per hour. After finishing our first round, the entire field had the priviledge of playing the second round in this weather before it too was called early due to sunlight issues. Saturday's round was finished early Sunday morning and thankfully the weather gods were back on our side and we had a much more pleasant final day. I promise I am not making this up at all. If the tour was to be polled I would estimate that on average everyone had four layers of clothing on and bought the pro shop out of handwarmers twice. It was tough but I guess the good side is that it makes for one heck of a story. Will everyone please keep their fingers crossed that the typical McAllen winds go a little easy on us this week?

Cheers,

Shep

A Few Lessons

HI,

What better way to start off my blog experience than to share with everyone a few of the lessons I have learned while driving around the country. The first lesson is a recent experience, the first 200 miles of my journey to be exact. Here it is plain and simple, stop what you are doing, drive to your nearest automotive store and purchase a nice set of jumper cables. Next, take them out the package, find a safe place in the car and NEVER remove them. You know its going to be a long year when after 3 hours of driving, a nice little light illuminates on your dashboard and your car begins beeping at you. Yes, I went from a calm and relaxed state to pure panic in 2.3 seconds. Now mind you, it was Saturday evening at 6pm, the night before Easter Sunday and I still had 15 hours of driving left. The first thing I did was call my brother to ask him what the chances were of my battery dying as soon as I turned off the car? “There’s a pretty good chance sis, you do have jumper cables right?" Hence my first lesson, go out and buy jumper cables so you don't sound like a complete idiot when asked this question and you're forced to answer a quiet "um nope." After a quick lesson in jumping a car which included "Jess, make sure you ground the car first so you don't electrocute yourself" I was feeling a little better. I was still kicking myself for not addressing the battery situation when it had been pointed out to me a month earlier by my mechanic.----Lesson #2: Listen to your mechanic--- It turned out after a stop at Ace Automotive, that my battery was in good shape and I was now dealing with a clogged tube;) I guess I can go ahead and retract my second lesson though; you don't always have to listen to your mechanic! Don’t worry Grandma, I made it to Dallas in one piece.

Okay let’s see, a couple more lessons I can pass along...............if your car comes with a compass, always make sure it is on and you are aware of what it says. It would be a real shame if you say, got off while driving 38 hours cross country for a little Dairy Queen and were slightly distracted with the new blizzard favor to notice that the compass was reading W instead of E when you got back on the road. Trust me people it can happen to the best of us.

This is a big one, if you happen to travel in a caravan of many girls carefully observe the amount of fluids you are taking in. It’s a quick and unfortunate way to loose friends if your voice is the only one over the walkie talkie asking for a rest room break at each and every gas station

I could probably go on forever but I think I've done enough damage for one day. I’m sure I have made a few of you a little concerned but honestly don’t worry, I’ll be just fine.

Keep smiling,

Shep