Natalie show, final episode
The Natalie show ended, perhaps fittingly, with some birdies and bogeys, emblematic of Natalie’s season. The best part was the five minutes in the beginning when we got to see Paula Creamer off the course. To be frank, the show should have had more “behind the golf scenes” coverage to make this a real reality show. If I were directing the show, I would have focused on 1 or 2 tournaments and followed Natalie from start to finish, behind the scenes. We got to see some of that this week with Paula Creamer and with Natalie at the baseball game during the US Open, but there was just too little of it.
Birdies
1. Bowling with Paula Creamer: Natalie was nice enough to take “rookie” Paula Creamer out for a night of bowling with the gals and caddies. Natalie donned her best outfit yet: a white Harley Davidson shirt and some pretty nice blue jeans. But then Paula — who said this was only her 2nd time bowling and who had started out by rolling the ball between her legs — proceeded to dust Natalie in 3 frames when there was a bet on the line. Natalie lost. Paula won. Beginner’s luck? Sandbagger? A foreshadowing of the season? Anyway, this was the best bit of the night, and I don’t even like bowling.
2. Natalie nailing some guy sleeping in the grandstand: OK, this may have been staged. But Natalie saw a guy “sleeping” in the grandstand during a practice round with Paula and asked her caddie how far it was. He said 55 yards, and then Natalie pitched a wedge shot and hit the guy on the leg. Natalie fell to the ground to hide, in what appeared to be a spontaneous reaction. Whether staged or not, it was still a good shot.
3. Throwing out the first pitch: After a few warmup pitches and instructions from Papa Gulbis, Natalie successfully threw out the first pitch at a Colorado Rockies game. She throws better than a “girl,” to borrow Papa Gulbis’s words. She’s a jock.
Bogeys
1. Repeating clips from Episode 1 with Butch Harmon and earlier shows: Wasn’t there enough footage to go around without having to repeat things? Too bad the Ben Roethlisberger clips had to be edited out. That guy says he’s a 6 handicap. Let’s see it.
2. Gambling with dad: I love Papa Gulbis because he is a character. Although I’m a craps player myself, I didn’t find the segment of Papa Gulbis gambling with Nat all that interesting. Gambling’s just not that fun to watch, unless it is Texas Hold’em. Bring back the Dodge Viper.
Grade: B
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