ROGERS - David Dobbs felt like he might vomit when he walked onto the No. 1 tee box at Pinnacle Country Club on Thursday.
He was so nervous about the upcoming round he asked his wife, Patty, to ride in his golf cart.
Dobbs and three other amateur golfers were moments from beginning their Walmart NWA Arkansas Championship pro-am round with Eun-Hee Ji, the 2009 U.S. Open champion.
“You wanted to get the fi rst drive over with,” said Dobbs, an employee at Kent Dobbs Hyundai in Springdale. “When I hit, the drive wasn’t my best, but it wasn’t my worst. I didn’t embarrass myself.”
Gary Head, another member in Ji’s group, wasn’t nervous about playing with the No. 50 player in the Rolex world rankings.
He hadn’t played with Ji in his four previous pro-am rounds before Thursday, but he knew about her from her U.S. Open win.
He outdrove Ji and the restof his group on the fi rst hole, but that was it. Ji outdrove the rest of the group for the remainder of the round.
“The rest of the day, I just watched her hit like‘Wow,’” Head said. “I wasn’t so nervous, but it was a little intimidating to have a little 100-pound girl hitting it past you almost every hole.”
Dobbs, Head, MartinePollard and Crystal Thurman teamed with Ji to shoot a 10-under-par 61.
“I made a couple really good putts and some good shots,” Dobbs said. “We allhad a great time. I noticed everybody was able to make some good shots. That’s the reason you want to play bestball. Everybody had an opportunity to make big putts.
“Gary and Ji really brought us through. They did really good.”
The round allowed the amateur golfers an opportunity to spend time with Ji a day before the tournament begins, an event where she finished tied for eighth in 2008.
“She was very down to earth,” Dobbs said. “Very nice. We talked casually about different things throughout the round.”
The amateurs were also able to get tips throughout the round from Ji, who is ranked No. 16 on the LPGA money list this year.
“She hit it about 10 or 15 yards farther than us on average,” Head said. “She was hitting it about 260 (yards) and was very consistent and down the middle, very consistent. She’s just so unbelievably talented.”
Ji carried the group from tee to green at times, but only putted when necessary in the best-ball format.
“She putts last,” Dobbs said. “So she only putted if we missed our putts. Fortunately she didn’t have to putt on every hole all day.”
Whats Up, Pages 32 on 06/29/2012