Michelle Wie's ethnicity

Sassy Man · Post by **Sassy Man** » Oct 20th, '05, 22:43

as a recent convert to the religion called golf,

i, with 95% of the golfing world, read with passing interest about michelle. Now I always thought she was Chinese because Wie is a Chinese name. but someone told me she is korean.

can anyone confimr/dispel this?
any of yuo hawaiians or golf zealots?

just curious.

btw, any other golf enthusiasts around here?

WroW · Post by **WroW** » Oct 20th, '05, 22:46

She is also supposed to be able to speak fluent Korean but since we in Germany dont have much interest in Golf thats all I know

darkness449 · Post by **darkness449** » Oct 20th, '05, 22:47

She is korean

onoturtle · Post by **onoturtle** » Oct 20th, '05, 22:51

i'm pretty certain she's korean... and i read she supposedly speaks fluent korean too.

and she's tall. i dunno what your definition for tall is, but in hawaii she's is TALL haha the only time i saw her in-person in one of the cafes at the university. that was a few years ago. i guess she was having lunch with her dad (a prof at the uni i think). but anyway, she's tall, and i felt like a dwarf

WroW · Post by **WroW** » Oct 20th, '05, 22:52

onoturtle wrote:i'm pretty certain she's korean... and i read she supposedly speaks fluent korean too.

and she's tall. i dunno what your definition for tall is, but in hawaii she's is TALL haha the only time i saw her in-person in one of the cafes at the university. that was a few years ago. i guess she was having lunch with her dad (a prof at the uni i think). but anyway, she's tall, and i felt like a dwarf

I dont know much about golf...is it an advantage being tall or not?

Sassy Man · Post by **Sassy Man** » Oct 20th, '05, 22:56

so she's kimchi and not wonton eh?

y'know, i reckon they shoud do a asian drama about golf. I mean, what a top backdrop this would be? - a love triangle involving golf clubs.

where the main chraracter is stricken with cancer that will end his career. saved by the love of his caddy, a sweet pretty girl.

GOLF RAAAAAAGGGGGEEEEE!!!!

Sassy Man · Post by **Sassy Man** » Oct 20th, '05, 23:04

WroW wrote:
onoturtle wrote:i'm pretty certain she's korean... and i read she supposedly speaks fluent korean too.

and she's tall. i dunno what your definition for tall is, but in hawaii she's is TALL haha the only time i saw her in-person in one of the cafes at the university. that was a few years ago. i guess she was having lunch with her dad (a prof at the uni i think). but anyway, she's tall, and i felt like a dwarf
I dont know much about golf...is it an advantage being tall or not?

might help in the long game, ie driving and other fairwway shots. but no advantage at all in the short games ie chipping & putting. and games are won & lost on the short game.

i don't tink Tiger is that tall.

Sassy Man · Post by **Sassy Man** » Oct 20th, '05, 23:04

does she watch kdrama?

groink · Post by **groink** » Oct 21st, '05, 00:06

Sassy Man wrote:does she watch kdrama?

I played a twilight 9-hole round with Michelle about a year ago. At the time, she didn't watch K-dramas (I asked.) But she doesn't watch J-dramas either (she speaks Japanese, Mandarin and Korean.) I also was a walking scorer for several Korean LPGA golfers at the SBS Open at Turtle BAy back in February (Grace Park, Gloria Park and JJ), and neither of them watch K-dramas either.

--- groink (5-handicap golfer)

aishuu · Post by **aishuu** » Oct 21st, '05, 00:13

haha wow michelle wie got really popular really fast. I've only seen her pictures in the newspapers and she's definitely korean. no doubt.

Post by **LittleGreenGrasshopper** » Oct 21st, '05, 00:18

Sassy Man wrote: btw, any other golf enthusiasts around here?

I guess I'm sort of one. I actually like watching golf. I also play it as well, tho, not on a full-size course (too long and don't have the driving skills), rather on Pitch and Putt courses. As for Michelle Wie, I had always thought she was Taiwanese for some reason. Thanks for clearing up my mistake (so I don't like like a fool when I talk about golf and her in front of friends

).

floss · Post by **floss** » Oct 21st, '05, 05:32

She's not a bad looker too.

Sassy Man · Post by **Sassy Man** » Oct 21st, '05, 12:50

floss wrote:She's not a bad looker too.

Ain't that the truth. All 185cm of her.

Groink,
that's pretty cool that you got a chance to hit 9 holes with her. Get any tips? or did you give her some?

i'm strictly a social hacker, so not too familiar with the handicap system, but 5 is pretty darn good aint it? you been playing long?

groink · Post by **groink** » Oct 22nd, '05, 00:07

Sassy Man wrote:Groink,
that's pretty cool that you got a chance to hit 9 holes with her. Get any tips? or did you give her some?

i'm strictly a social hacker, so not too familiar with the handicap system, but 5 is pretty darn good aint it? you been playing long?

It was purely by luck. At the golf course, I placed my name on the twilight list (a time period, usually starting at 3:30pm, where you can play as many holes as you can until there isn't any more sunlight.) It just so happened that I was placed in Michelle's group, along with two other people. She plays golf everyday after school.

As for tips... No, I couldn't offer anything. She also hit her drives past mine... On one hole, she hit a 320-yard drive, which was about 30 yards farther than mine. I wasn't embarrassed at all. You've got to watch her hit with a driver in-person... Just the sound of the clubface hitting the ball is different than what you normally hear. Her head speed is also incredible, although the stiffness on the shaft of her driver is still less than Tiger Woods (which is why she didn't hit with his driver when they met in Maui.)

Why can she hit far? I think it has to do with two things: her height and her flexibility. The taller you are, the wider your swing arc can become. A wider arc generates more power on the point of impact. But even though you have the height, she also has the ability to turn her shoulders and hips really fast, allowing the two to keep up with the head of the driver, so that's why she's also pretty accurate off the tee. Because she's now doing weight training, her shoulders are becoming even more tone, which means even more power on her drives.

The only thing I think she must work on is her putting and her course management. She has the driving down, and she has a great short game. What allows her to add 5 strokes to her score is her putting... Great examples of lousy putting are her final round at the 2005 US Women's Open, and both 1st and 2nd rounds at the 2005 Sony Open in Hawaii. Her lousy course management was obvious in the 3rd round of this past SAMSUNG tournament.

As for MY game... Yes, a 5-handicap is pretty good. My problem is the short game... I still have problems controlling the spin on the ball. I also tend to slice the ball with my driver at around the mid-way stages of a round because my legs aren't as in shape as they should be, causing them to wobble.

I think Michelle is going to make the cut at the Japan Golf Tour tournament. The courses in Japan aren't as long as what she sees in the U.S. She once played at Pearl Country Club on Oahu (she shot at 67), and it has a similar set-up to the course she'll be playing at. So I expect her to shoot high-60's on both qualifying rounds.

--- groink

jinalbert · Post by **jinalbert** » Oct 22nd, '05, 03:25

I guess it makes sense that she doesn't watch K-drama or any other dramas. I can't imagine that she would be playing much golf when addicted to dramas.

sook · Post by **sook** » Oct 22nd, '05, 03:37

thanks groink for the analysis.

it was better then reading the news.
btw, can you go pro with a 5 -handicap?

Yoroshiku · Post by **Yoroshiku** » Oct 22nd, '05, 03:41

im sure she watches kdrama but not addicted like us

zdoon · Post by **zdoon** » Oct 22nd, '05, 05:02

Wei is a Chinese name and is pronounced "way" as far as I've heard. Wie is pronounced "wee."

Michelle's Korean name is "Sung Mi."

As far as Korean sports stars go, don't forget about Jeanette Lee too. Most people don't seem to know she's Korean:

zdoon · Post by **zdoon** » Oct 22nd, '05, 05:04

Yoroshiku wrote:im sure she watches kdrama but not addicted like us

she may since, as far as I recall reading, she had a crush on So Ji Sub.

groink · Post by **groink** » Oct 22nd, '05, 08:11

sook wrote:btw, can you go pro with a 5 -handicap?

Well, you can try to qualify as a scratch player so you can't apply the handicap. Only scratch scores in pro tournaments. I also can't enter the US Open or the Open Championships because you need to be scratch or a 1-handicap.

bloopy_babo · Post by **bloopy_babo** » Oct 22nd, '05, 18:31

too bad she didnt get on the lpga tour. i was able to watch teh lpga tour when in came in my area. actually some of the korean golfers came to my parents' resturant. my dad got some of them to sign his hat. im sad that they wont be stopping near sacramento cuz longs drugs wont be sponsered anymore.

kali4niaguy · Post by **kali4niaguy** » Oct 22nd, '05, 18:46

forget about being a scratch player, I just want to get to the 100 mark! I need to play more to get that, haven't played in a long.

zdoon wrote:As far as Korean sports stars go, don't forget about Jeanette Lee too. Most people don't seem to know she's Korean:

I know who Jeanette Lee is, "the Black Widow". everytime ESPN showed her playing, I couldn't change channels.

she was #1 for awhile but she didn't stay up there very long.

groink · Post by **groink** » Oct 22nd, '05, 19:12

zdoon wrote:As far as Korean sports stars go, don't forget about Jeanette Lee too. Most people don't seem to know she's Korean:

In the US, Jeanette made a guest appearance in the HBO comedy Arliss, where she played the cousin of a Chinese woman (the "they all look alike" idea still prevails in America.) A few years ago, I used to have an autographed poster of her hanging in my cubicle, but took it down after attending the company's sensitivity training course (aka sexual harassment/involking a hostile environment/etc.)

kali4niaguy wrote:forget about being a scratch player, I just want to get to the 100 mark! I need to play more to get that, haven't played in a long.

The way I broke 100 for the first time was by changing my course management strategy. Most people's problem with breaking 100 is that they have some good holes, but they're backed up by some lousy holes with 10-strokes. Most of those bad holes is caused by a person playing beyond his ability. My driving sucked, although I was still trying to get the ball to the green in regulation with just my irons. It occured to me that it didn't make any sense seeing my ability to accurately drive the ball didn't allow for me to play that strategy properly.

Instead of trying to go for the green in the least number of strokes, I figured as long as I purposely play bogey golf for each of the 18 holes, I'd score in the high 80's to low 90's. So I basically played the course thinking bogey, such as getting the ball to the green in three strokes on a par-4 instead of 2. And on the par-5's, I'd use them as my screw-up holes (there are usually only 3 or 4 par-5's on any given course, so wasting a few strokes on them will still get me under 100). If you think about it even more, double-bogey golf will actually get you a 108, so by eliminating a few of those double-bogeys, you should hit under 100.

With this strategy, I basically left my driver and 3-wood at home, and carried only a few of the irons and wedges I felt comfortable using. The first time I did this, I shot a 95. After a few rounds under 100, I started working the driver and woods back into the bag. At that point, if I was still hitting the woods and driver badly, I knew I could still break 100 by switching back to just the irons.

The whole idea to playing on a real golf course is to play to your ability and confidence level, rather than trying to actually learn how to swing the club correctly and heavily damaging the golf course in the process. Learning to swing a club is what the driving range is for. If you play the golf course using only the clubs you know how to hit with, and manage the course in a way that it matches your ability, then you should hit under 100 in no time.

--- groink

Post by **LittleGreenGrasshopper** » Oct 22nd, '05, 19:20

zdoon wrote: As far as Korean sports stars go, don't forget about Jeanette Lee too. Most people don't seem to know she's Korean:

I thought Jeanette was from Taiwan too

... dangit, that's two in a row that I've mistaken a korean for a taiwanese. She's an awesome pool player. I saw her and another top female player in a 'tricks match' where each player comes up with a trick and the other tries to duplicate it. That was pretty cool.

Well, now you know who not to ask for info on budding femle sports stars (especially Koreans with chinese family names!

)

Rice · Post by **Rice** » Oct 22nd, '05, 19:24

zdoon wrote:
Yoroshiku wrote:im sure she watches kdrama but not addicted like us
she may since, as far as I recall reading, she had a crush on So Ji Sub.

If she watches Kdrama she might come to d-addicts which means

.

m0na · Post by **m0na** » Oct 25th, '05, 00:30

She is 100% korean. If you see her dad, who is sometimes her caddie, he looks very korean too hhehehe

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