rcised a $7 million option on reliever Wade Davis, who would have b

LONDON, Ont. John Collins Jersey . - Winter was not kind to the London Hunt and Country Club, and Stacey Lewis heard stories about the poor condition the course was in. But when the No. 1-ranked golfer on the LPGA Tour arrived for this weeks Canadian Pacific Womens Open, she didnt notice the effects of the snow and cold weather. "The fairways are probably some of the best fairways weve had to hit off all year," Lewis said. "You really cant tell." Sixteen of 18 greens were unplayable, and course superintendent Jayson Griffiths said four or five were "over 90 per cent injured," including the 18th hole. Of the four acres of greens, three of them were gone. Players who walked the course in recent weeks could tell there had been damage, and they raved about the improvement. "Coming into this week I was pleasantly surprised of how well (the greens) were rolling," Canadian amateur Brooke Henderson said Wednesday. "I cant imagine the amount of work they must have put in to get this course in such immaculate condition." Griffiths said it took "countless hours." Those were spent preparing, seeding, watering, maintaining and waiting. The result was something he is proud of going into this tournament, which features nine of the top 10 players in the world. "Its just a humbling experience, it really is, and its just a lot of hard work," Griffiths said Tuesday. "I dont think there was a weekend where both Brent McDougall and Deb (Dale), my assistant, left this golf course. We were watering from morning till night if need be. It was 24/7, 14 weeks to get here. It was just a lot of extraordinary efforts." Griffiths began to realize in November how bad a winter this could be, and over time he saw the "worst-case scenario" develop. With the ground frozen "well below four feet" and no irrigation system as a result, he and his staff had a three-day window in April to get the greens back up to par. A crew of about 18 people seeded, germinated, watered the greens through 10,000-square-foot covers and waited. For a while, the course had just two greens to play on and 16 temporary ones, and members only got to play all of them beginning June 27. "We keep calling it the fifth season: patience," Griffiths said "We know that foot traffic on new seedlings, it just would not work. We would not be where we had if we had traffic." By the time players saw the course this week, it was tournament-calibre again. Thats essential with a field that features Lewis, LPGA Championship winner Inbee Park, two-time defending champion Lydia Ko and Suzann Pettersen, the top four players in the world. Tournament director Brent McLaughlin of Golf Canada said the field is "second to none," as usual. "We obviously want the best," he said on a conference call last week. "We are so lucky to have a long laundry list of such great players." Among the top-10 womens golfers, only 2010 champion Michelle Wie is not here. Wie withdrew last week because of a hand injury. Wies absence makes it a bit easier of a tournament on the other top players, but Ko — who won this event the past two years, in Edmonton and Vancouver — would like to beat the best. "We would never say that, Oh its good that shes out," Ko said on a conference call. "Its really unfortunate that she has a fracture. Shes such an awesome player, and it wouldve been great to have Michelle there." Eight former champions will tee off Thursday: Ko, LPGA Championship runner-up Brittany Lincicome, Pettersen, Katherine Hull-Kirk, Cristie Kerr, Meena Lee, Karrie Webb and Laura Davies. Kerr won this tournament in 2006, the last time it was at London Hunt and Country Club. How the course plays out the rest of the week, Griffiths said, will depend on how much it rains. Storms moved through the area Wednesday, and there were more in the forecast for Friday. Ko, a 17-year-old from New Zealand who seems to bring her best golf to Canada, said no matter the weather its important to play the courses giant greens as if theyre in sections. "If the pin is on the left side you kind of want to think that the green is only that left half," she said Wednesday. "But its going to be tough especially when you miss a couple shots, because even around the greens its not like there is fairway and then rough. Its just rough straight on." Its a difficult course because of that, but Canadian Jennifer Kirby expects a low-scoring tournament. "The rough is thick, but its not too, too bad," Kirby said. "I think that the scores will be pretty low, but the greens are massive, so I guess it all depends on where they put the pins." --- Follow @SWhyno on Twitter Stacey Augmon Jersey . -- The Denver Broncos retired John Elways No. Dan Roundfield Jersey . LeBron James and Chris Bosh didnt need any more. Williams scored 11 points in 10 minutes, Alan Anderson scored 17 points, and the Brooklyn Nets finished the exhibition season with a 108-87 win over the Miami Heat on Friday night. https://www.cheaphawks.com/334r-cliff-levingston-jersey-hawks.html . Jason Zucker and Matt Cooke also scored for Minnesota, which has won five of six. Kuemper made five saves in the first, nine in the second, and nine in the third. The rookies best save came with 2:17 left in the third period when he denied former Wild forward Matt Cullen from just outside of the crease on the right side.NEW YORK, N.Y. - San Francisco Giants World Series star Pablo Sandoval was among 12 free agents given $15.3 million qualifying offers Monday by their former teams.Detroit made the offers to pitcher Max Scherzer and first baseman-designated hitter Victor Martinez, and Pittsburgh to left-hander Francisco Liriano and catcher Russell Martin.Also receiving offers were shortstop Hanley Ramirez (Los Angeles Dodgers), outfielder Nelson Cruz (Baltimore), right-hander James Shields (Kansas City), closer David Robertson (New York Yankees), outfielder Melky Cabrera (Toronto), pitcher Ervin Santana (Atlanta) and outfielder Michael Cuddyer (Colorado).An offer could be made only to a free agent who was with the team for the entire season, and players have until Nov. 10 to accept. The price was determined by the average of the top 125 major league contracts this year by average annual value.If a player rejects a qualifying offer and signs a major league contract with another club before the June amateur draft, his former team would receive a draft pick as compensation at the end of the first round.The club signning that player loses its first-round pick in the amateur draft, unless that pick is among the top 10, in which case the club signing that player loses its next-highest pick. Ed Macauley Jersey. .None of the 22 qualifying offers made after the past two seasons was accepted.A total of 137 players became free agents, and 136 can start negotiating money with all teams starting Tuesday. Reliever Koji Uehrara agreed last week to stay with Boston for an $18 million, two-year deal.Three players who potentially could have become free agents stayed with their teams. Third baseman Aramis Ramirez exercised his half of a $14 million mutual option with Milwaukee; left-hander Tsuyoshi Wada agreed to a $4 million, one-year contract with the Chicago Cubs; and Tampa Bay exercised a $2.5 million option on right-hander Joel Peralta.Pitcher A.J. Burnett declined a $12.75 million player option to return to Philadelphia. Burnett and Baltimore catcher Nick Hundley became the final free agents.Kansas City exercised a $7 million option on reliever Wade Davis, who would have been eligible for salary arbitration. ' ' '