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November 18, 2000

Dottie Pepper

DOTTIE PEPPER: Made my first birdie at the 2nd. I hit sand wedge in there about 12 feet. Hit 8-iron into No. 5, about eight feet there. Hit 9-iron into 8 about 15 feet there. I made double at 9, slash and whatever (laughter).

DOTTIE PEPPER: None. It was sitting so far down.

DOTTIE PEPPER: No, the line wasn't a problem. It was the lie. It was really ugly. I drove it just left. It wasn't horrible. I still had a clear shot at the hole. It was sitting down so much. I had 130 to carry the front of the green, 139 to the hole. The ball was going to come out low. There's just nothing you can do about it. You know, the mistake I made was not getting the ball to the hole on the third shot.

DOTTIE PEPPER: Pitching wedge in there.

DOTTIE PEPPER: It was about a pace, then it came back. You know, that green is canted pretty well at the front. It drove into the long stuff, and I had nothing. I didn't even know how to hit that shot. Have to spend a little bit of time figuring out how to do that one again. Made birdie on 11. Hit 8-iron in there. That was about 25 feet. At 17, I hit 7-wood in there about a foot and a half.

DOTTIE PEPPER: I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to it, but I guess there was some shuffling going on, from what I've heard. But this golf course can do that. It can really jump up and bite you if you're not careful. Again, the wind was just enough where you really had to pay attention to what was going on. Again, I think a little bit of unfamiliarity with the greens, not having a whole lot of rounds underneath us, you know, it just puts that little tiny bit of doubt in your mind about whether you know it's going to break one way or you think it's going to break one way. You know, I think today probably saw a few more putts go in for a few more players, just getting the hang of it. The greens are so subtle that they're difficult.

DOTTIE PEPPER: I missed two greens today. I missed it on the fringe at 16, technicalities. But, you know, I was able to putt it. It was in the fringe.

DOTTIE PEPPER: I'm sorry?

DOTTIE PEPPER: No, I think Thursday was. Yeah, I think Thursday was. It still needs to be a little bit sharper. I rolled the ball extremely well. Speed with all but one putt was really pretty perfect. You know, that frees you up from wherever your drive happens to land. I think you know if you can get the ball on the green, you have a chance to make birdie. The closer you get it, you feel even better. Even standing out there 25, 30 feet, I thought I had a pretty good feel for it going today. Obviously, the ball was tumbling pretty well.

DOTTIE PEPPER: I would hope. There's no reason why it shouldn't. I'm just going to go do my half hour deal after I finish, go watch some football. (Inaudible) watching Texas Tech.

DOTTIE PEPPER: It will be extremely difficult, I mean. A bunch of us have talked this week earlier if they could play that golf course for Q school, and how difficult 9 would be to stand on there knowing you need to make four to keep your card or get a card. That would be a pretty staunch test. Probably where they should play it just to really separate who is playing well and who is not. If they could possibly do it, I think it would be great, as long as I don't have to go back (laughter). I think it's a great golf course. You know, I think obviously 9 is more difficult than 18, but either one of them are good golf holes.

DOTTIE PEPPER: Yeah, yeah. I think it will be good pairing tomorrow. I think she made birdie at 18. Looking forward to it, get to sleep. Bottom line, early tee times and not so early tee times.

DOTTIE PEPPER: I mean, I don't think three shots on this golf course is anything really, three or four. But, you know, obviously the closer you are to the lead, the better. If you're seeing what's happening in front of you in the group you're playing with, even better yet. You know, you basically play three days to get yourself in the hunt for Sunday. That's exactly what's happened. I need to have a little cleaner round tomorrow and I'll be fine.

DOTTIE PEPPER: Won the par 3 last week, beat the boys from the same tees. I'm playing well. I mean, there's no reason not to expect to come in and play well. I've just done what I expected to do, and now I just need to finish it off.

DOTTIE PEPPER: You cannot be there through the actual playing of the stroke.

DOTTIE PEPPER: Right, right. The ruling started at the beginning of this year, they had to clear out of the line of play.

DOTTIE PEPPER: I have a tendency -- my mistake is usually to the right. If that's one less thing I have to think about, then that's fine.

DOTTIE PEPPER: Well, because then I don't have to worry. Because of these greens being cut down so much, it almost blends in. It's easier not to have to struggle to find the coin. It's a lot faster if the tee is back there. I can find the tee faster than I can find the coin on the ground.

DOTTIE PEPPER: If it's a reasonable distance away, I'll do that, yeah.

DOTTIE PEPPER: Nah, that's too easy (laughter).

DOTTIE PEPPER: Sure, I mean, it would be nice not to have a winless season. It's not the end of the world if I don't win tomorrow. It's not the end of the world if I don't play well. It's not the end of the world if I play great and get beat. You know, it's one round of golf in a myriad of many to come, I would hope. Like I said, you just come in, try to get yourself in position that Sunday you come put a W in the column. It won't be for lack of effort, that's for sure.

DOTTIE PEPPER: You know, I had a lot of putts from the 25- to 30-foot range. If you get another 15 feet, you feel you can be a smidge more aggressive with them. Not quite as clean as I would have liked to have been. They had some pins pretty close to the edges. The penalty for missing on the short side, which Meg did today, she didn't miss by much, short-sided them, it was very difficult to get the ball up-and-down. I think when there's holes cut in those spots, you need to play to the fat side. If the ball turns in towards the hole, fine. But it's difficult to get the ball up-and-down from the short side here.

DOTTIE PEPPER: Anecdote. We all know she can't dance. That's starters. I don't know, call her cell phone and get her message. That's a pretty good one. Says, "My mom will return your call sooner or later." That's kind of the way she is. She'll get around to it sooner or later. Thank you.