Palm Springs, California, is just an awful place to have to go for work. It's hot, the sun is always out, hardly any traffic, there's a lot to do, and plenty of restaurants to choose from. Nobody wants that. ;)

Well, Dad and I went out to Cali for the first stage of LPGA qualifying school, and I loved it! This was my second trip there and it was better than the last. I didn't have him caddy as we decided we work best off the course, but he was a great cheerleader for me. We played at Mission Hills where the Kraft Nabisco Championship is played. The course is a lot of fun - you really have to work the ball around that track. I finished in the top 30 even after a rough finishing round, so I will be going to the finals in December.

On one of the days after playing, Daddy and I went to the Palm Springs Air Museum. I am a total nerd when it comes to things like this. We got to see different planes, short films about Doolittle's Raid, the factories that made the planes, and the types of planes used in WWI and WWII. There were also plenty of veterans hanging around to tell stories about this time in Korea or back at the Navy yard.

One of my good friends, Kathleen Ekey, and I also spent a lot of time together. We got pedicures, had dinner, walked around one of the little plazas that had those cute boutiques - ya know, the usual girl stuff. It was nice to have a good amount of relaxing time off the course. I guess my plan worked well since I accomplished the goal of getting to finals.

Now that I am "off" for a while until finals, I will be working with my coach and athletic trainer while playing some small events here and there. I will be playing the Maryland Open next week in Ocean City on October 4-5. I think I start playing waitress again next week, too. Should probably go talk to the boss about that. Have a great weekend y'all!

Last week I was in Albany, NY for the Duramed Futures Tour Championship and met some great people there.

I roomed with Ashley Prange - some of you know her from the Big Break. She is a great girl and we had a lot of fun. We played in a small pro-am on Monday and then headed to a welcome dinner for some of the sponsors. This is where I met some key people that make the tournament possible. It was a cocktail party, so we do get to have a little fun on the road after all!

Tuesday and Wednesday were normal practice days. I did some working out and shopping in between as well. Wednesday night was the official Meet the Pros party, and Ashley "made" me get all dolled up. I secretly love dressing up, doing the works with hair and make-up, as long as someone else is the one doing it! ;)

I could go more into detail of the random little things that happened, but really you had to be there to think it was funny.

On Friday night, we went to Lombardo's for dinner. It is the family owned restaurant of one of the guys that helps with the tournament. Nom nom nom, delicious! I had shrimp in a light lemon butter sauce with sun-dried tomatoes, proscuitto, and a side of penne with marinara. There may have been a few glasses of wine consumed as well, considering the day I was having.

I made the drive home to Baltimore on Sunday morning. It wasn't just any drive, though. My speedometer doesn't work, nor does my battery gauge, and now apparently my gas gauge is a little off. I was watching my gas gauge, and knew I needed to stop soon, plus I needed an energy drink so I pulled off the highway.

Well, I get about a half-mile from the gas station and my car completely stops in the middle of the road.

Great. What the hell just happened?

Some very nice Jersey man stopped and helped me get off of the road and made sure I was ok. I had no idea what was wrong, and never thought I could have run out of gas because my gauges did not say I was on E - no little light came on and I thought I had at least enough for another 50 miles. I was wrong. I ran out of gas. I am a complete idiot.

I thought this was much more humorous than my dad did... Oops! At least I can laugh about it.

I hope this makes someone's day a little better. After all, there are worse things that could have happened.

I finally got myself together and made some improvement these last two events! Nothing great, but at least made a few checks and saw some good things. I feel like I have learned so much this year and it has all come to light at once. It was certainly the boost I needed going into our last event in Albany and the rest of the fall. 

The past few days, I took a little vacation with a few of the girls I play with on tour. One of them has a lake house in North Carolina, so we got to go tubing, swimming, play cornhole and just relax a bit. It was a much needed few days off, even if I did get beat up a little tubing. 

On my drive back home, I started thinking about my schedule and plans for the fall. I decided I am going to LPGA qualifying school. I wasn't planning on it since I had not been playing well and it cost so much money, but I had made a check the past two weeks and started feeling better about my game. 

And I don't want to just sit around and think "what if" for the next year. I'm not going to let anything get in the way of my dreams, especially not myself. 

So now I am working on getting everything taken care of that goes along with Q-school, my game, hotel, plane tickets, etc. Time to get excited and ready to play!

Well, this is my fourth missed cut in a row. It doesn’t feel good. I’m frustrated, disappointed and a little mad. But this week is over and so I now have to look on to the next tournament.

That is what you have to do as a professional sometimes. Evaluate your performance and make a plan to move forward. I have been working very hard on many aspects of my game and they are all in pretty good shape. It’s just that my scores are not showing those improvements. At this point, it is mostly mental and I just have to play through this "slump." Easier said than done. The only way to get through times like this is to not let yourself get down and keep playing.

I’m not going to change my grip, or find a new position for the club at the top of my backswing or anything like that. Golfers can always find parts of their game to critique and change. At this point that is not the case for me. I have been working on those things the past two years with my coach and am finally getting to a point where I have accomplished a lot of the technical goals I set.

Now, I just need to play. I have said this a few times now and that’s because its true (and I’m reaffirming this to myself). I have to take the technical aspects from the range and turn them into feel on the course.

The first thing I will do when I get to Harrisburg is putting practice. I work on getting a feel for the speed of the greens. Knowing the speed not only helps my longer putting but also my short game. It allows me to choose what kind of shot I want to hit because I know how far the ball will roll out based on my feel of the speed.

I’ve been thinking a lot about how to explain the financial workings of being on the Futures Tour. It is something that is hard for me to talk about. But as many have requested the information, I’m going to do my best to explain. 

Here’s a ledger to show all of the costs.  This is a brief and rounded breakdown as I would rather not post my exact finance information, but there are many more categories and money spent.

• Qualifying School: $1,000 Futures Tour, $5,000 LPGA
• Tour Membership: $350 Futures
• Entry Fee: $500 per tournament x 17 events
• Hotel: $85 per night x 7 nights x 17 events
• Caddy: $500 per week x 17 events
• Gas: $50 per week x 17 events
• Travel: $100 to each event
• Food: $50 per week

When budgeting, you have to think of everything you can imagine that goes into expenses - more than you would even think. Food, gas, car maintenance, entry fees/qualifying school entry, travel expenses (airfare/rental car/hotel), caddy when necessary, lessons/equipment/practice rounds/yardage books – it is an exhaustive list though some costs are omitted.  

The cost for golf itself is stifling. Each tournament entry is $500 – there are 17 events - and qualifying school entry is $5,000.  

Put it all together.  For an entire year on the Futures Tour, the grand total is around $31,865 - $36,865 for me.  Depending on the player, it could be as high as $45,000.

The top 5 on the money list at the end of the year will most likely break even. Outside those five, chances are very slim to end the year in the black.

What do I do to be able to afford chasing this dream of mine? Well, I work as a waitress when not traveling and take any pro-am opportunity that arises. I am lucky to have had the help of some family and friends to get started, but I still rely greatly on my parents. 

People always ask, “What about sponsors?”  Frankly, they are very hard to find. 

Many girls stop chasing their dream as professionals not because they don’t believe in themselves anymore, but because they simply cannot afford it any longer. 

I hope everyone had a safe and fun 4th - I know I did! Got home from Kentucky late Saturday night and slept in a bit yesterday morning, for once. My parents and I sat on our deck for breakfast on Sunday. What a beautiful morning it was.

I put my bathing suit on and headed to my friend's house to go out on the boat for the day. It was perfect timing for me, I really needed a day to just relax and have some fun with good people. 

I am getting ready to go on a five week stretch of playing six tournaments. Yep, six tournaments in five weeks. I'm playing in Canada at the beginning of next week, which is just a two day event so I can still get to my regular Futures stop in time for the start. Going to be a long trip, but I've been in a little funk and the best way to get out of that is to play through it. Things are really improving in so many ways with my game, now I just need to get the scores to show it.

Before I go to Canada, I am stopping at Oakmont to watch some friends play in the U.S. Women's Open. I'll be there part of Thursday and all day Friday. I'm disappointed to not be playing, but sometimes you can learn a lot by just watching. Very excited to see the course since I have heard nothing but the best about it. I'll try to get some good pictures as well!

I’d like to first take a second to send prayers to the family and close friends of Erica Blasberg. I didn’t know her personally, but it is sad to have lost a role model on the LPGA.

Even though there was no Futures event last week, I stayed in the Midwest and played in a pro-am. The 2010 Your Charity Pro-Am was held at Lawrence Country Club in Lawrence, Kansas. I had the best amateur team and we WON! The winning group had $500 donated to the charity of their choice which for us was the Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center in Lawrence. One of my partners had a hole-in-one! It was so exciting!

Before heading to Lawrence, I stayed with friends from junior golf in Dallas and got to visit with an older sorority sister of mine who also lives there now. I stopped at the outlets and picked up a few things - I have to spoil myself just a little sometimes.

The week off was relaxing, though it was different being on the road and off at the same time. I stuck to my normal routine, though. During off weeks I usually practice a lot, workout, play a little, and try to relax since tournament weeks can be a little more stressful. I try to do something fun like go to the beach, fish, lay by the pool, anything like that to chill out and let my mind wander a bit.

Some weeks we get to stop at amusement parks, other sports games, museums, etc. Touring the country is kind of like a road trip vacation with your friends, except you stop and work for a few days at a time along the way. It’s not as glamorous as it sounds always, we break down and get flat tires just like everyone else. Even with those hiccups, at the end of the day we are still doing what we love and hopefully soon at the highest level.

The Mercedes Benz of Kansas City event starts Friday and then I go home to Baltimore! I can’t wait to see my family, friends and dogs. I’m also going to the O’s game next Tuesday, first of the season :)

Played pretty well this week - even par - much more consistent. Finished at T19, which could always be better, but I will certainly take it as progress and a learning experience. The Dominion Club has a wonderful facility, and I really enjoyed the hospitality.

When I’m not practicing, playing, or helping with the junior clinic (there is one at each event so if you check my schedule and live in the area be sure to bring your kids out!), I am usually checking out what the town has to offer.

This week we tried a few new places for a taste of the local cuisine. Starting at the "Meet the Pros Party," we had a great spread of pasta, fajitas, fish, beef, fresh fruit, and - my favorite - the chocolate fountain. Then my dad and I went to Rudy’s BBQ (great, of course) and this little place called Fralo’s for some pasta.

Another local and famous place called Chris Madrid’s is a must try when in San Antonio. They have great burgers and fresh cut fries.

I can’t decide on my favorite meal though because my host family also made a great steak and veggie dinner one night, and then a chicken and rice that was fantastic another night. I hope a certain few health nut friends of mine don’t read this ;)

Don’t worry, I make sure to workout - and it’s going to be a whole lot more after this week!

Well, this past week we were in Brownsville, Texas. It was a nice small town stop. I had a wonderful host family and some great weather. Unfortunately, I missed the cut. A lot of good things going, just not at the same time. Golf is such a fickle game. 

Today, I drove to San Antonio for this week's event. As you can see in my picture, the truck is quite full. I am on the road for a month, and then going to my parents house for two weeks before heading out for another long run of tournaments. I, along with many other Futures Tour players, drive from tournament to tournament with my life in my car. It’s fun traveling all over the country, playing different courses, and meeting the wonderful families that take us in for a week at a time.

This week, I have a travel buddy - which has been entertaining already. We stopped at the San Antonio River Walk for dinner after four hours in the car. The drives are often full of stories, advice, singing, etc.  The funniest part of today's drive was probably when my friend told me she thought I was a pretty good singer!  I think she had her iPod on because I am NOT a good singer.

We made it to our host family in one piece, and tomorrow will work on unpacking my truck. I hope y'all have a wonderful week! I play again starting Friday, so wish me luck!

Hi everyone,

This is your soon-to-be favorite little golfer - Stephanie Connelly from Pasadena, MD! I am very excited for this season, and to let y'all see what it’s like from my side of the ropes.

First, I’ll let you know a little bit about me and where I’m playing. I just finished college at UCF (the University of Central Florida) last May and turned professional right after the NCAAChampionship, which was held at Caves Valley Golf Club in MD! It was so great to finish my college career at home.

As a professional, I began playing on the Futures Tour in June 2009 for the second half of the season. I went through qualifying school for the LPGA and Futures Tours in the fall and earned fully exempt status on the Futures Tour. My goal is to earn my LPGA card through my play this year.

Now to the fun stuff...

I am very sarcastic, generous, fun, and honest to a fault. I joined a sorority while in college and loved every second of it. I’m an only child (but not the bratty princess type) and daddy’s little girl. I have been fishing and swimming since I was two and still love both today. I love the Orioles, Capitals, crabcakes, boats, snowballs, summer, golf, and - most importantly - my friends and family. I like to have a good time. I work hard and probably play too hard, but "you can't take life too serious, you’ll never get out alive." (It's a quote from a movie I like.) You will hardly ever see me without sunglasses, Sperrys (pretty sure they should sponsor me), pearls, a coozie, or something Vera Bradley (they could sponsor me, too, or make a golf bag!). I love all kinds of music - country, my parents' favorite rock bands, and a few of my friends even get me into a little rap/gangsta stuff. I have a motorcycle. I am very random and overuse punctuation marks... :P

If anyone has specific questions or ideas of topics for me to write about feel free to comment!

Thanks!
Stephanie