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LPGA NW ARKANSAS CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY JOHN Q. HAMMONS

September 5, 2007

Natalie Gulbis

ROGERS, ARKANSAS

ASHLEY CUSHMAN: Thank you all for coming in. Natalie, thank you for joining us. This is obviously a big week for you, busy, but being a debut tournament in Arkansas with Octagon, how has this been and then looking forward to getting ready for Solheim next week.
NATALIE GULBIS: First off, I'm very excited to be here, for sure. I did a media day for this event, I don't even remember what the day was that we did the media day, but you could really sense the excitement this area had and the media had and just from the turnout from that media day was pretty exciting.
So I was excited to go back and tell the players about coming here, because any time you come to a new event we really don't know what to expect. And it's also extra special for me because the agency that represents me, Octagon, runs this event, and I know the quality of events they run, and I think that shows, as well.
I had an opportunity to play the golf course two days ago and it's really beautiful. Pinnacle Country Club is a very nice place and I'm just looking forward to the week starting. It's going to pretty much supersede all the expectations you can have for a first-year event.

Q. How do you attack the course, having seen it and played it a little bit.
NATALIE GULBIS: Well, it's going to be interesting playing it. I'm playing in the Pro-Am tomorrow. I played the course, I played nine on Monday and nine on Tuesday. There hadn't been any rain. I know you guys hadn't gotten a lot of rain. There was a lot of roll out. The greens were fast. They were releasing five, six yards. Now you've had a lot of rain. I think the course is going to play longer. I think my targets will probably change. I'm looking forward for another chance to get out there and see how it's going to play this weekend, because it looks like there's still a lot of weather in the forecast.

Q. Did you get any interesting congratulations from celebrities?
NATALIE GULBIS: I got a lot of congratulations obviously from my friends, family, staff of the LPGA, players on tour, and on the PGA Tour as well. I think probably one of the coolest ones I had gotten was from Arkansas's own John Daly. He left me a really, really great voicemail. I've known him from him being associated with the Winn Grips commercials and through some appearances and he left me a really beautiful message.

Q. (No microphone.)
NATALIE GULBIS: It was just really nice and said he was really proud of me. It was very similar to the other messages. He is a very genuine guy and it was nice for him to call when he's had hard times going on right now. But he was one of many. I had a lot of great ones.

Q. On Thursday you'll play with the amateurs in the Pro-Am. Is it a neat thing for you guys to interact with the fans?
NATALIE GULBIS: Absolutely.

Q. What is it like for you to know that the fans want to meet you and talk to you?
NATALIE GULBIS: It's rewarding. I didn't know what it would like to be a professional athlete. I thought I would play against the best players in the world, but it definitely is so much more. To interact with the fans and to hear their stories and see how excited they get for you to sign something or to get the feedback from them. I have a TV show so they tell me little tidbits of what they saw on the show. It's been a lot of fun.
Pro-Ams are -- there's not a lot of sports where you can get really close to the athletes, and Pro-Ams are a pretty interesting example of how we get to go out and play with four or five people that support the LPGA and we get to be face-to-face. I know I'm playing with some individuals from Wal-Mart and individuals from the Boys & Girls Club tomorrow and it will be fun to give that back to them and hopefully have a good day without the rain.

Q. Have you met a lot of celebrities?
NATALIE GULBIS: All the time, and through the Pro-Ams I have too. Donald Trump is one of them. I have gotten to play with him a couple of times in Pro-Am events, and he's been somebody I always watched on TV. Derek Jeter, played in his Pro-Am. He was fun to meet, a lot of athletes.

Q. Even though you're not associated with the area, you're one of the fans' favorite players. Talk about that.
NATALIE GULBIS: It's fun because my picture has been on the program and some of the tickets and the room key this week, so that's been a little bit extra, seeing those little things. It's been fun for me to sign the tickets that I'm on. It's just something extra special.
I don't know. Outside of that, I just am looking forward to playing on Friday like all the other players and we're excited to have a new event. New events are fun and we know it's very important to make a really good first impression and I think all the players are really excited to be here.

Q. (No microphone.)
NATALIE GULBIS: Why? Because I love having fans. I do. I love being out there and having fans out there on the golf course. I feel so privileged that people are excited to watch me do something that I already love. And I remember also all the players in the beginning and the athletes that have been great to me and the prints that they left on my life when I asked them to sign a photograph when I was growing up. I remember the ones that were tough too, that blew me off or blew off a friend of mine and just the ones that made a difference.

Q. You mentioned a change in the weather. How different is the course now than it was on Monday?
NATALIE GULBIS: I won't see the golf course until tomorrow, but from experience, that could completely change. If we don't get more rain the next few days, it can go -- this course I'm sure drains really well, it could go just probably how it was on Monday. But if the forecast is how they say it's going to be and it continues to rain, the conditions will get softer, the greens will hold and you're going to get longer shots in, so it will definitely change.

Q. How do you balance your charity work with your professional career?
NATALIE GULBIS: Usually when I have a week I schedule in all of my practice time and golf time and I did the same thing for this week and I had a lot of open time actually for this week before I came here. Then as the week progressed I had open times where I could do other stuff like that run/walk Monday morning. I was only out there for a couple of hours, but I was surprised how many people came out and how much money they raised and it was a really great event to be associated with.
We're doing another one here tonight with Procter & Gamble. We're going to be cutting hair for cancer. And these are things I absolutely love to be a part of. I think anybody would love to be a part of something like these two events that I've been involved in this week.

Q. How do you decide to do it?
NATALIE GULBIS: They invited me to do it, and what a great cause. There is nothing that I would rather be doing. I have got my practice in. I have got my workout in. There's nothing I would rather be involved in than doing something that gives back to people.

Q. You're doing the cutting, you're not getting cut?
NATALIE GULBIS: They asked, What do you think about cutting like six inches off your hair. And I thought, yeah, that's not going to work. Can I wear a wig? Can they cut that? They said, well, would you mind cutting hair? And I'm like, yes, I'll cut hair, absolutely.

Q. You're in NW Arkansas and you see your face everywhere, how has becoming sort of a celebrity like that changed your life?
NATALIE GULBIS: How has it changed my life?

Q. Is it more exciting? Does it make you more cautious what you do in public? How has being that big of a celebrity changed your life?
NATALIE GULBIS: It's been fun. I don't think it's changed at all. I'm flattered to be on the sign and that the LPGA has used me. It's changed because I've had the opportunity to thank my staff at Octagon also from the LPGA that they're using me in accordance with this event, it's a great honor.
ASHLEY CUSHMAN: Thank you all for coming. Thank you again, Natalie, and good luck this week.

End of FastScripts

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