Hi Everyone!
I know this is WAAAYYYYYYY overdue and late but my schedule became a little crazy after a 4 week stretch of tournaments in MI, IL, IN, and back to MI.
Battle Creek, MI: This was our first stop in the Midwest and we played at Battle Creek, CC. It was enjoyable to be back on Midwest golf courses because it felt like being at home. I had a wonderful host family, Jeff and Kim, who were so kind throughout the week and they also gave me a big goodie bag of all Kellogg's products! Kellogg's headquarters is in Battle Creek and I was amazed at all of the products Kellogg's has! As for the tournament, I felt good going into it and comfortable with the golf course. My practice rounds and days all went really well. During my tournaments rounds I shot 70-80 and sadly missed the cut. My round of 70 was a great feeling. I hit the ball well, chipped and putted well too! I had two simple mistakes out there. Even though I shot 80 in the 2nd round I had to keep looking at the positives of the tournament. I had a triple during my round of 80 that could have easily been avoided. Take that triple away and I made the cut. It was great to shoot under par after a couple weeks of not having a low score. I felt confident in my game even though I had simple mistakes that hurt my chances of putting together a good weekend score. I stayed positive because I knew good golf was going to happen. To pass the time on Sunday, my friend and I went to Kalamazoo and spent the day there. We ate brunch at Food Dance, which was delicious, and saw a movie. It was a fun day and a good day to take my mind off of a frustrating Saturday round.
Decatur, IL: Our second stop was at Hickory Point Golf Course. This year was the 30th anniversary of the tournament being held in Decatur/Forsyth. I thought it was incredible to have a tournament expand over that many years on the Symetra Tour. I stayed with my awesome host family, Randy & Jessie, from last year. One of the traditions while staying there is to eat grilled peaches. Randy cooks them on the grill with cinnamon and sugar and then they are topped with white chocolate and vanilla ice cream. It's so goood!! I played in a pro-am on Monday and had a lot of fun! Even though we didn't win, it was a great day. We let a few good birdie chances slip away but enjoyed our time out on the course. I also helped out with a junior clinic on Tuesday of that week. There were some great junior golfers in my group! My practice rounds went well prior to the tournament. Once the tournament finished I shot 76-70-73 and tied for 44th. This is the first tournament that I can remember shooting under par in the 2nd round to make the cut. I had it -4 under with two to play but found a fairway bunker on my 17th hole and had a disappointing three putt on my 18th hole. There was a lot of good golf in my 2nd round where the wind was playing an additional 1-2 clubs. Even the last day could have been slightly better with being -2 with 4 to play. I was proud of myself for not giving up after the first round and for shooting under par again. I now had two tournaments in a row with under par score. I had the same caddy from last year, Rich, who kept my golf rounds fun and relaxed! My mom was also able to come and watch me play on Saturday and Sunday. Maybe she was my good luck charm :)
South Bend, IN: Our third week stop was at Blackthorn Golf Course. I was excited for this tournament because I was staying with my former teammate who I had not seen for a while. Before I could unpack everything at her place I drove to Angola, IN on Monday to play in a pro-am that helped raise money for the Junior Achievement organization. We played at a great golf course (Glendarin G.C.) and I had such a fun group. We made a lot of great putts that day! Once that pro-am was done I drove to my friend's place on Tuesday night. Just like the previous two tournaments my practice rounds went well and I felt confident with my game. I was lucky enough to have my boyfriend drive down Thursday night to caddy for me Friday morning. I shot 70-75-71 that week and finished T45th. My parents also drove down Saturday morning to watch me for the weekend. I had two great rounds that week with good putting and ball striking. My second round hurt my score but this was the first tournament where I had two under par rounds and first time I had under par rounds for 3 weeks in a row. I loved having my family and boyfriend out there that week as well as my former teammate to support me before, during and after my rounds. My confidence was rising and I could see improvements in my game that weren't there last year.
Harris, MI: Our final tournament on our 4 week Midwest stretch was at Sweetgrass Golf Course. Lucky for me I was able to spend a night at home (Sunday) before driving up on Monday. I also had a great host family for the 3rd year in a row up there, Jeff & Holly. This was the only tournament I was able to play in during 2012 and that is when I first met my awesome host family! That week I played in the pro-am on Wednesday and had good practice rounds/days leading up to the tournament. On Thursday night, the Island Resort Casino puts together a wonderful dinner for us. They have such great food and this year we had a chance to win our entry fee back ($500)! Four girls were randomly drawn and I didn't have the good luck on my side that night. It was still a wonderful night! Once the tournament finished, I shot 78-75 and missed the cut by 1. I had poor lag speed putting my first round. That really hurt my score and chances for a decent round. The second round I played so much better than what my scored reflected. The wind was gusting 2-3 clubs more the entire round. The only mistakes I had were 3 simple routine up and downs that I didn't convert. Given the conditions that day and the pin placements, I had one of the few lower scores for the afternoon wave of tee times. Even though I missed the cut, I saw a lot of good progress in my golf game during this 4 week stretch. My scores were lower and I put myself in better scoring places on the leaderboard. When looking at my results on paper, it may not seem like big improvements, but to me I can see successful steps moving forward in my golf game.
I spent the last 3 weeks at home to prepare for another 4 week stretch out in NY, NH, & VA. I'll fill you in more about my break in my next post :) First stop this week is Albany, NY!
Pictures will be up later too for this post!
I know this is WAAAYYYYYYY overdue and late but my schedule became a little crazy after a 4 week stretch of tournaments in MI, IL, IN, and back to MI.
Battle Creek, MI: This was our first stop in the Midwest and we played at Battle Creek, CC. It was enjoyable to be back on Midwest golf courses because it felt like being at home. I had a wonderful host family, Jeff and Kim, who were so kind throughout the week and they also gave me a big goodie bag of all Kellogg's products! Kellogg's headquarters is in Battle Creek and I was amazed at all of the products Kellogg's has! As for the tournament, I felt good going into it and comfortable with the golf course. My practice rounds and days all went really well. During my tournaments rounds I shot 70-80 and sadly missed the cut. My round of 70 was a great feeling. I hit the ball well, chipped and putted well too! I had two simple mistakes out there. Even though I shot 80 in the 2nd round I had to keep looking at the positives of the tournament. I had a triple during my round of 80 that could have easily been avoided. Take that triple away and I made the cut. It was great to shoot under par after a couple weeks of not having a low score. I felt confident in my game even though I had simple mistakes that hurt my chances of putting together a good weekend score. I stayed positive because I knew good golf was going to happen. To pass the time on Sunday, my friend and I went to Kalamazoo and spent the day there. We ate brunch at Food Dance, which was delicious, and saw a movie. It was a fun day and a good day to take my mind off of a frustrating Saturday round.
Decatur, IL: Our second stop was at Hickory Point Golf Course. This year was the 30th anniversary of the tournament being held in Decatur/Forsyth. I thought it was incredible to have a tournament expand over that many years on the Symetra Tour. I stayed with my awesome host family, Randy & Jessie, from last year. One of the traditions while staying there is to eat grilled peaches. Randy cooks them on the grill with cinnamon and sugar and then they are topped with white chocolate and vanilla ice cream. It's so goood!! I played in a pro-am on Monday and had a lot of fun! Even though we didn't win, it was a great day. We let a few good birdie chances slip away but enjoyed our time out on the course. I also helped out with a junior clinic on Tuesday of that week. There were some great junior golfers in my group! My practice rounds went well prior to the tournament. Once the tournament finished I shot 76-70-73 and tied for 44th. This is the first tournament that I can remember shooting under par in the 2nd round to make the cut. I had it -4 under with two to play but found a fairway bunker on my 17th hole and had a disappointing three putt on my 18th hole. There was a lot of good golf in my 2nd round where the wind was playing an additional 1-2 clubs. Even the last day could have been slightly better with being -2 with 4 to play. I was proud of myself for not giving up after the first round and for shooting under par again. I now had two tournaments in a row with under par score. I had the same caddy from last year, Rich, who kept my golf rounds fun and relaxed! My mom was also able to come and watch me play on Saturday and Sunday. Maybe she was my good luck charm :)
South Bend, IN: Our third week stop was at Blackthorn Golf Course. I was excited for this tournament because I was staying with my former teammate who I had not seen for a while. Before I could unpack everything at her place I drove to Angola, IN on Monday to play in a pro-am that helped raise money for the Junior Achievement organization. We played at a great golf course (Glendarin G.C.) and I had such a fun group. We made a lot of great putts that day! Once that pro-am was done I drove to my friend's place on Tuesday night. Just like the previous two tournaments my practice rounds went well and I felt confident with my game. I was lucky enough to have my boyfriend drive down Thursday night to caddy for me Friday morning. I shot 70-75-71 that week and finished T45th. My parents also drove down Saturday morning to watch me for the weekend. I had two great rounds that week with good putting and ball striking. My second round hurt my score but this was the first tournament where I had two under par rounds and first time I had under par rounds for 3 weeks in a row. I loved having my family and boyfriend out there that week as well as my former teammate to support me before, during and after my rounds. My confidence was rising and I could see improvements in my game that weren't there last year.
Harris, MI: Our final tournament on our 4 week Midwest stretch was at Sweetgrass Golf Course. Lucky for me I was able to spend a night at home (Sunday) before driving up on Monday. I also had a great host family for the 3rd year in a row up there, Jeff & Holly. This was the only tournament I was able to play in during 2012 and that is when I first met my awesome host family! That week I played in the pro-am on Wednesday and had good practice rounds/days leading up to the tournament. On Thursday night, the Island Resort Casino puts together a wonderful dinner for us. They have such great food and this year we had a chance to win our entry fee back ($500)! Four girls were randomly drawn and I didn't have the good luck on my side that night. It was still a wonderful night! Once the tournament finished, I shot 78-75 and missed the cut by 1. I had poor lag speed putting my first round. That really hurt my score and chances for a decent round. The second round I played so much better than what my scored reflected. The wind was gusting 2-3 clubs more the entire round. The only mistakes I had were 3 simple routine up and downs that I didn't convert. Given the conditions that day and the pin placements, I had one of the few lower scores for the afternoon wave of tee times. Even though I missed the cut, I saw a lot of good progress in my golf game during this 4 week stretch. My scores were lower and I put myself in better scoring places on the leaderboard. When looking at my results on paper, it may not seem like big improvements, but to me I can see successful steps moving forward in my golf game.
I spent the last 3 weeks at home to prepare for another 4 week stretch out in NY, NH, & VA. I'll fill you in more about my break in my next post :) First stop this week is Albany, NY!
Pictures will be up later too for this post!