LONDON, Ont. Trevor Story 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 Charlie Blackmon Jersey . Pretty good hitting, too. Dan Haren pitched six innings and sparked the go-ahead rally with a single, leading Los Angeles to another win over the skidding Atlanta Braves, 4-2 on Tuesday night. Gerardo Parra Jersey . 4 jersey of former defenseman Rob Blake this coming season. The ceremony will take place prior to the Kings January 17 game against Anaheim. http://www.cheaprockiesjerseys.com/?tag=cheap-todd-helton-jersey . Kyrie Irving and the Cleveland Cavaliers were left fretting over an MRI on the stars left knee. Paul George scored 21 points, Roy Hibbert added 19 and the Pacers used a dominant fourth quarter to blow out the Cavaliers 91-76 on Tuesday The Pacers (25-5) have won eight in a row over Cleveland, their longest active streak against any opponent.Emotions boiled over in a game between the Boston Bruins and Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night, resulting in a pair of ugly incidents. Tensions rose in the first period when Penguins defenceman Brooks Orpik hit Bruins forward Loui Eriksson with what appeared to be a clean hit. Thornton attempted to engage Orpik in a fight, but the defenceman declined the invitation. Later on the same shift, the stick of Penguins captain Sidney Crosby became entangled in the skates of the Bruins Brad Marchand. Marchand fell to the ice and, as he was prone, the knee of Penguins James Neal made contact with Marchands head. As a scrum ensued following the kneeing incident, Thornton skated in behind Orpik, pulled him to the ice from behind with a slew foot and delivered several punches to his head, knocking him unconscious. Orpik was stretchered off the ice after a lengthy delay. Neal received a minor penalty for kneeing and Thornton received a match penalty with intent to injure for his attack on Orpik. The ball is now in the court of Brendan Shanahan and the NHL Department of Player Safety as the league will look to mete out supplementary discipline. But what does each player deserve? The chain of events was set in motion by Orpiks hit and his refusal to engage with Thornton. One of the leagues heavyweights, TThornton has never been suspended before in his career, but his attack on Orpik was clearly premeditated by what happened earlier in the shift. Cheap Rockies Jerseys China. . In an interview that ran on ESPN.com this week, Thornton was asked about the future of fighting in the NHL, Thornton positioned himself as a proponent of "the code." "Ive been a firm believer my whole life that what goes around comes around," Thornton told ESPN. "If youre one of those guys that suckers someone when theyre down or you go after somebody that doesnt deserve it or isnt the same category as you, that will come back and bite you at some point, too." Does this fall into that category and, if so, will it come back and bite him? Neal has been suspended twice before. In 2009, as a member of the Dallas Stars, Neal received two games for a hit from behind on the Columbus Blue Jackets Derek Dorsett. Then, in the 2012 Eastern Conference quarterfinals, Neal received one game for a charge on Claude Giroux of the Philadelphia Flyers. Considering that Neal is a repeat offender and Marchands prone status, what, if anything, does Neal deserve? Before the NHL hands down its suspensions, weigh in with how you would deal out justice in tonights incidents. What suspensions should be handed out? As always, its Your! Call. Cheap Diamondbacks Jerseys Cheap Braves Jerseys Cheap Orioles Jerseys Cheap Red Sox Jerseys Cheap Cubs Jerseys Cheap White Sox Jerseys Cheap Reds Jerseys Cheap Indians Jerseys Cheap Rockies Jerseys Cheap Tigers Jerseys Cheap Astros Jerseys Cheap Royals Jerseys Cheap Angels Jerseys Cheap Dodgers Jerseys Cheap Marlins Jerseys ' ' '