Hello from the Midwest!
Last week I had my US Women's Open Qualifier at Indian Hill CC in Winnetka, IL. My dad caddied for during my 36 hole qualifier. It's fun to have him on the bag because he is the reason I even got started in this crazy but addicting game of golf. I shot 79-72 (151) at my qualifier. There were two spots available as well as two alternate spots. The qualifiers shot 146 and 148, the alternates were at 149. The course was playing tough at times with the wind being a 1-2 club wind all day. In my first round of 79 I was only +3 at the turn but then took a tough triple on my 14th hole. I hit a poor drive left and then my 3rd shot into the green went left as well. Before I knew it I putted for a triple. Having that score happen was frustrating but I knew I had to stay positive because there was a lot of golf left. Once I finished my round I was determined to shoot under par my 2nd round. I was -1 at the turn of my second round but then had two 3 putts that shouldn't have happened. Those bogeys on 10 & 11 were the only mistakes that final back 9. I played SO much better than my scores that day and it was heartbreaking to see how close I was to qualifying for the US Women's Open. I finished in 5th place and missed going by 3 and alternate by 2. The triple and three putts shouldn't happen during golf but that's the way it unfortunately goes sometimes. I have to stay positive because it was 32 good holes out of 36. I know everything will click and when it does I'll be so happy!
The next day after my qualifier I flew out to Charlotte, NC for my Symetra tournament. I got in Tuesday night and had a pro-am the next day. My group was awesome! We shot -13 under but didn't win. I played well and they were good players too. I always enjoy playing in the pro-ams because of the people I get to meet. I had a lot of fun with them and was even able to recruit one to be my caddie for the tournament. Our tournament started on Thursday that week and finished on a Saturday. Mike was my caddie from my pro-am group and he was a big help with green reading at Raintree CC. My rounds were 78-75 and I had missed the cut again with playing better than what my scores reflected. My first round had a tough break and making a double from my ball sitting right on the Out of Bounds line on a dog-leg left par 5. I hit a great shot but it did't kick off the hill like I had seen it do many times before. I made the turn at +4 but brought it back to +1 after 13 holes. Once I go to my 15th hole I made a triple on a par 3 :/ My club slipped a tiny bit at impact and my ball hit right where the water and the wall met. I needed 1-2 more feet and would have cleared it. It was frustrating to have that happen after getting back to +1. A positive note was I also made 4 birdies during that round so there are some really points in my game. The next day went better but I wasn't hitting the ball as close for birdies. My lag putting was much better than in past tournaments. My mistakes came from 3 putts on two holes. Otherwise everything was going well. Having Mike on my bag was a lot of fun. I really liked having someone else out here with me to give me a second opinion and confidence when I was choosing my targets to hit too in the fairways and on the greens. A big thank you to Mike for caddying! My travel plans changed a little bit too for going home. One of my friends on tour lives in WI and she had asked if I wanted to join her in driving back home on Saturday. I decided to join her because my flight would have originally been Monday morning. It was a fun drive back and it's also better when two people are in a car. I had a day and a half extra at home which is always great to get when traveling all the time :)
Last week was tough to accept because my golf game is so close to being together. I'm having 4-5 bad holes that are hurting my scores. There is a lot more good than bad in my golf game and I have to take each day with positive thoughts for good golf! I feel really good about my swing and I'm very happy with the way my putting is going. I know putting is a process and so is everything else in golf. My confidence is still good and I'm excited to have our next 4 Symetra events in the Midwest!
Last week I had my US Women's Open Qualifier at Indian Hill CC in Winnetka, IL. My dad caddied for during my 36 hole qualifier. It's fun to have him on the bag because he is the reason I even got started in this crazy but addicting game of golf. I shot 79-72 (151) at my qualifier. There were two spots available as well as two alternate spots. The qualifiers shot 146 and 148, the alternates were at 149. The course was playing tough at times with the wind being a 1-2 club wind all day. In my first round of 79 I was only +3 at the turn but then took a tough triple on my 14th hole. I hit a poor drive left and then my 3rd shot into the green went left as well. Before I knew it I putted for a triple. Having that score happen was frustrating but I knew I had to stay positive because there was a lot of golf left. Once I finished my round I was determined to shoot under par my 2nd round. I was -1 at the turn of my second round but then had two 3 putts that shouldn't have happened. Those bogeys on 10 & 11 were the only mistakes that final back 9. I played SO much better than my scores that day and it was heartbreaking to see how close I was to qualifying for the US Women's Open. I finished in 5th place and missed going by 3 and alternate by 2. The triple and three putts shouldn't happen during golf but that's the way it unfortunately goes sometimes. I have to stay positive because it was 32 good holes out of 36. I know everything will click and when it does I'll be so happy!
The next day after my qualifier I flew out to Charlotte, NC for my Symetra tournament. I got in Tuesday night and had a pro-am the next day. My group was awesome! We shot -13 under but didn't win. I played well and they were good players too. I always enjoy playing in the pro-ams because of the people I get to meet. I had a lot of fun with them and was even able to recruit one to be my caddie for the tournament. Our tournament started on Thursday that week and finished on a Saturday. Mike was my caddie from my pro-am group and he was a big help with green reading at Raintree CC. My rounds were 78-75 and I had missed the cut again with playing better than what my scores reflected. My first round had a tough break and making a double from my ball sitting right on the Out of Bounds line on a dog-leg left par 5. I hit a great shot but it did't kick off the hill like I had seen it do many times before. I made the turn at +4 but brought it back to +1 after 13 holes. Once I go to my 15th hole I made a triple on a par 3 :/ My club slipped a tiny bit at impact and my ball hit right where the water and the wall met. I needed 1-2 more feet and would have cleared it. It was frustrating to have that happen after getting back to +1. A positive note was I also made 4 birdies during that round so there are some really points in my game. The next day went better but I wasn't hitting the ball as close for birdies. My lag putting was much better than in past tournaments. My mistakes came from 3 putts on two holes. Otherwise everything was going well. Having Mike on my bag was a lot of fun. I really liked having someone else out here with me to give me a second opinion and confidence when I was choosing my targets to hit too in the fairways and on the greens. A big thank you to Mike for caddying! My travel plans changed a little bit too for going home. One of my friends on tour lives in WI and she had asked if I wanted to join her in driving back home on Saturday. I decided to join her because my flight would have originally been Monday morning. It was a fun drive back and it's also better when two people are in a car. I had a day and a half extra at home which is always great to get when traveling all the time :)
Last week was tough to accept because my golf game is so close to being together. I'm having 4-5 bad holes that are hurting my scores. There is a lot more good than bad in my golf game and I have to take each day with positive thoughts for good golf! I feel really good about my swing and I'm very happy with the way my putting is going. I know putting is a process and so is everything else in golf. My confidence is still good and I'm excited to have our next 4 Symetra events in the Midwest!