National Squad member Julia Boland made the cut to finish 44th at the Suntory Ladies Open on the LGPA of Japan Tour. The below blog was written following the first round of the tournament. By Julia Boland Well I am now just at the beginning of my American summer and I am really enjoying feeling like a golfer again. I graduated from Texas A&M a few weeks ago with my Masters in Exercise Physiology, and then also finished up with my coaching career (at least for now) with NCAA National Championships. Texas A&M finished 7th in the United States, an awesome effort for a young team. My summer is looking pretty big. I have a couple of Amateur events and then first stage of tour school in the end of July. I played in the US Women&aposs Open Qualifying last week in Houston, and came 5th- just good enough to make a play off for the 2nd alternate. I like to say that I beat the one and only M Pressel in the play off Morgan Pressel has a younger sister Madison – I will let you decide who I beat. I am currently writing this from my hotel room in Shin Kobe Japan. A shout out to both Golf Australia and Suntory for giving me this opportunity. I have to say I am learning a lot. Japan is awesome. I am doing my best at eating out and trying all sorts of food- so far so good! I think that if the Japanese food was served on Master Chef it would get minus points for texture and presentation, but the taste is pretty good. Shin Kobe is famous for steaks, which are about the thickness of a minute steak, but much more tender. Golf in Japan: I think the rest of the world needs to come over here and see what this game is all about. RIDICULOUS in a completely awesome way. The amount of people who are out watching is beyond anything I have ever seen. I can only compare it to the final round of the US Open. I am playing with a fairly popular player and even though we teed off at 7:48 we had over a hundred people watching from the beginning. (I am writing this following the first round) I think at times there were probably 200 people and then the final hole maybe upwards of a thousand. People often say of me that I rarely let the truth get in the way of a good story, but I actually counted at one point, and consequently lost count. Needless to say it s really great to be playing in a country where female golf is the bomb . The crowd is super enthusiastic and they love to track your ball whilst in unison saying ooooooooooohhh ahhhhhh, good shot . It’s pretty crazy, and it is definitely making me think more seriously about this tour. Julia Boland is a current National Squad member and was a volunteer coach at Texas A&M in the United States. She is a member of Pennant Hills and Tamworth Golf Clubs.
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