About a month ago I found myself on a whirlwind trip that started in Orlando, FL and concluded in Ballantyne, NC by way of Belford, SC. In a little under four days we managed to photograph Annika Sorenstam, Pia Nilsson, Lynn Marriott, Krista Dutton, Dana Radar and Karen Palacios Jansen for various instruction articles that will appear in upcoming issues of GFW.

During these "instruction" trips I have the distinct privilege of transforming whatever ladies' locker room we happen to be using into something akin to a specialty boutique replete with a hair and make-up station. Each outfit you see pictured in a Breaking 100|90|80 story is usually selected from two giant racks of clothes and anywhere from 10-20 pairs of golf shoes! Try to imagine what FIVE of these shoots back to back entail. It is my sole responsibility to procure all of these clothes, package them up and travel with them. (If you had the misfortune of meeting me during the weeks leading up to the shoots, the time when I was getting everything together, chances are you would meet my grumpy alter-ego!)

I would absolutely deny this (especially to Dave Allen, our instruction editor and the mastermind behind this grueling schedule), although it is the absolute truth: I look forward to every single moment of these trips and I quickly forget just how much work they can be.

For starters, it never gets old to have ANNIKA SORENSTAM know who I am (in the last year I've worked with her on six different photo shoots!) I am never not in awe just being in her presence. She doesn't even have to speak to me, there's something about her energy. Secondly, I get to bond with these incredible women of golf about...fashion! There I said it, the dreaded F-word of the golf trenches. I know these women are athletes but they are still women, and I get to see a different side of them-- a private side, the one that stands in front of a full length mirror with a tilted head and a scrunched nose evaluating a reflection. I get to talk with them about what they like to wear on the course, what golf brands they love, which ones they hate, how to minimize this or maximize that... I give tips on fit and  proportion, the right hem length, the right bra and the hottest golf shoes. In return I get to see a side of golf that's not available to the general public.

When I return to the office, it usually takes me a couple of days to get back into my usual sport of monitoring every aspect of the fashion world. It's like coming down from a high -- back to the reality of unrealistic trends, highly covetable and overpriced shoes...Soon enough I find my office groove again and before I know it I find myself wondering what Pia & Lynn would think of a particular sweater vest, or how Krista would look in a golf dress, would she even wear one if she had the chance? I see this as the convergence of my two worlds. There's the flighty, highly superficial but also very inspirational world of fashion and then there's the strong, practical world of golf clothes for women.