Michelle Hui: Visiting Sedona - The Land of the Red Rocks
Spring is always the most exciting for the Rockets, because this is the season when we travel to our favorite destination, Arizona! What is even more special this year is that we are lucky enough to spend 17 whole days here. We will be competing in two tournaments, a head-to-head match against Western Michigan, and spending the entire Spring Break working hard on fine-tuning our golf games.
The first leg of our 17-day adventure in Arizona is set in Sedona, where we competed in the Red Rock Invitational hosted by Northern Arizona University. The 4.5-hour flight from Detroit to Phoenix went smoothly, and after another two-hour van ride we made it to Sedona. Upon arrival, we found out the tournament had been moved forward a day due to predicted extreme weather conditions on Sunday. This means that we would not be having a practice round. Exhausted from travelling, we hit the sack in preparation for a long day ahead. Tasha had some troubles getting to sleep because there was a wild animal growling outside her window (we found out in the morning that it was a bunny!).
The house we were staying in was beautiful, but since we had arrived in the dark the night before, we had no idea what our surroundings were like. Let's just say we were all stunned by the views greeting us in the morning. Our house sat on top of a hill overlooking the famous red rocks of Sedona. Happy snaps were taken and then off to the golf course. We rode around in carts and marked out our game plans while Coach worked hard at mapping out the greens. Tournament play began at 1:00 pm, and after the first round we were in seventh place with an average score of 325. The highlight of the day was Erica almost having two hole-in-ones! We had dinner at a Mexican restaurant called the Javelina Cantina (pronounced Ha-velina), and the food was delicious.
The second and final round began at 9:00 am, and while we had prepared for bitter cold weather, it turned out to be a nice day! We played a little better, shooting a 318 to move up the ladder to fifth place. Congratulations to Erica who shot rounds of 77 and 78 to finish in sixth place individually. We then went to visit the Chapel of the Holy Cross, which is an architectural masterpiece, built right into the side of one of the red rocks. On the way to pick up our dinner order, Coach and Emily took a detour and ran into a family of javelinas (a kind of savage-looking wild pig). It was our first sighting of the trip! The house was also equipped with a hot tub, so naturally we had to test it out.
Our final day in Sedona did not disappoint, and I was pleasantly surprised by the three inches of snow that had fallen overnight. Never would I have expected to see snow in the desert, blanketing all the cacti and adobe houses. The scenic drive down to Rio Verde was also something special. As we drove further south, we watched the sun come out and the snow melt away. Toledo Golf loves to shop, and we were lucky to take a two-hour pit stop at the Anthem outlet mall. I found a skirt and wallet, Emily spent her retirement fund again on a sweater and jacket, and Erica bought two pairs of shorts and a belt. Tasha bought jeans for herself and some goodies for a loved one back home, Coach splurged on two pairs of awesome running shoes and Bugaboo gloves, while Nam was good and saved up her money.
Overall, while the golf could have been much better, this was one of the most phenomenal trips I have been on. Tune in later for the second chapter of our adventures in Arizona!
Michelle Hui is a senior from Mt. Eliza, Australia and is majoring in exercise science.
