THE NABISCO CHAMPIONSHIP

March 22, 2001

Carin Koch

CARIN KOCH: I birdied the first hole, hit an 8-iron in there to probably 15, 20 -- 18 feet, something like that. Second hole I hit a full sand wedge my third shot about 75 yards and had about a 6-footer. I am not real good at this. Then No. 6, of course, 8-iron in the hole.

CARIN KOCH: I had 140 yards to pin. 139 yards.

CARIN KOCH: It bounced. It hit probably about 134 yards, something like that, then just jumped in the hole. It was a really good shot. I didn't yank it in there or anything. (Laughs). Then 11 I was in perfect position off the tee, middle of the fairway, hit a good drive and could reach the green with a 3-wood, but hit a bad 3-wood down left of the green. Bad chip shot and then 3-putted. I was actually not even really on the green after the chip shot, so..... Then I birdied the next one. 6-iron from about -- I think I had 150 to the pin, 50 or 55. That was about a 10-footer downhill and 15 I hit a bad drive to the right and could only chip out and chipped it up on the green, pitched it on the green and I hit a good putt but it didn't go in. So that was bogey. 18 I hit it right again in the rough and had to lay up and hit my third shot-- still had a 6-iron on my fourth shot into the green actually because I was in the right rough then I was in the left rough and -- you don't want to be in the rough here. (Laughs).

CARIN KOCH: I think it is probably both. It is just a lot of it and it doesn't seem to be a chance to get a good lie. You just-- you can't hit much more than just a short iron out of it. I actually told -- I was on the putting green this morning and I called my husband over and I said: What should I do if I hit it in the rough? Because I realized that in the -- I had played 13 holes of practice round on Monday and then the Pro-Am yesterday I hadn't been in the rough off the tee yet. So I have been hitting my driver pretty well. I said I have got to have a game plan if I do hit it in the rough. I didn't really know what to expect when I did hit it in there. I have an 11 wood in my bag instead of a 7 -- instead of a 4-iron and sometimes that is just really great to hit out of the rough even if the lie looks really tough, it pops out of there a lot better than you think. So if I think that I have a shot to try that and basically either that 11 wood or just hit a short iron out of there because you can't -- it is really hard to hit like a 5-, 6-, 7-iron. It is just almost impossible, I think. For me anyway, I don't have real big wrists, so.....

CARIN KOCH: I only tried it here on the 18th. I wasn't in the rough -- the other time I was in the rough on 15 I just had to chip out. I had trees in my way. Those were the only two times I was in the rough. I hit my driver pretty good today again.

CARIN KOCH: I think so. Yeah, I think so. That is all I can remember.

CARIN KOCH: I feel like I left some out there. I got off to a great start and I had got my 8-iron, you know, in the hole on the 6th hole and I thought I left a couple over in the rest of the round. I don't feel like I played 2-over golf after that. I hit it pretty solid. I hit those two in the rough but I had a lot of good birdie chances, but I just hit a lot of good putts that they would lip out or -- I am sure everyone else did too but I feel like I had some more in me rather that I am happy that I got in where I was, so, I feel good about the next few days.

CARIN KOCH: Yeah, most of the time I do. I always bring my 4-iron with me. If it's really windy or if it is a course where I feel like a 4-iron is better I will bring it. But most of the time I use the 11 because it goes higher and it lands softer and a lot of times that takes what's in front out of play rather than trying to hit a 4-iron and get it stopped.

CARIN KOCH: I have an 11 wood, 9-wood, 5-wood, 3-wood and driver. Especially on courses like this it is really nice to have, you know, clubs that go high and land soft.

CARIN KOCH: I hit my 11 wood about 170 yards.

CARIN KOCH: Well I got off to a great start when I finished second in the first tournament which I think I surprised myself a little bit because I went to Sweden for Christmas and only gave myself about a week to practice and I think I went out there with no expectations and that is really good to do. Then after that I think maybe my expectations had been a little too high. I have been working on my swing and I have been making a lot of progress as far as how I have been hitting the ball, but I haven't been able to score real well in the last couple of months. So to put a couple of good scores together I think it is what I need for my confidence. I am hitting it a lot more solid and better than I think I have ever done:

CARIN KOCH: I work with Chuck Cook. He is in Austin. I have worked with him for about three or four years with my short game and the last couple of years with my swing.

CARIN KOCH: It is a great question. I come here every year and I love coming here. It is a great tournament. It is a great course. It is a course that should set up good for me because I like tough courses and I usually drive it pretty accurate. Every year I have just come here and played terrible. Last year was -- I started off terrible the first day and then I played good the last three days. So I don't have an answer. I don't know what it is but every year I have come here and felt really good about it and just haven't been able to have a good finish. So......

CARIN KOCH: Yeah, it is always nice to start off well and try to build on it.

CARIN KOCH: My husband just, you know, it is really good for me when he is not caddying because he can -- we have a two year old that we travel with and that can -- I can have all the time that I want to get time to practice and work out and all this stuff that we want to try to have time for in the afternoon. That is the main reason. He'd -- he will caddie here and there if someone asks me but full-time it just gets a little too tough and he doesn't caddie for me because we want to stay married. (Laughs) He calls himself nannie now - the nannie.