Life on the Alternate List

Hello! It has been a while so I have to catch you all up on what I have been doing. After I made it home to Syracuse, NY I went to two CN Canadian Tour events, the first in Montreal and the second in Niagara Falls. When I finished playing in Niagara Falls, I was close to the top of the Symetra Tour alternate list Harris, Michigan tournament. It was going to be a 12 hour drive from where I was, but it would be worth the drive if I got a chance to play. I drove 7 hours and stopped at a hotel, woke up the next morning and finished the 5 hour drive up to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. When I finally made it to the course Thursday afternoon I found out I was second on the alternate list. As an alternate you can get called to the tee at the last second if a player misses her tee time. Friday morning I got to the course at 7:00 to check in and was informed a player had gotten hurt and the first alternate got in to the tournament. Now I was first alternate so I warmed up and waited by the first tee for the morning wave of tee times. Everyone showed up for their tee times. So I had lunch and came back at 11:50 to check in again before the afternoon wave. Unfortunately I did not get into the event. Coming so close and not getting in is disappointing. I had to then make the long drive back to New York, but I took a detour to Chicago to visit with one of my good college friends. I then drove 12 straight hours home. This trip totaled 1900 miles. I was exhausted and it took me a good week to get mentally and physically rested.

 

Then I went to the Tennessee Open at Stonehenge CC in Fairfield Glade, TN. This was my first time in TN and I had a great time. I am happy with how I played, my ball striking was great and my short game was pretty good as well. I had a few errant shots that ended up in big numbers however I did make the cut and had my best round the last day.

Again I was on the alternate list for the Symetra event in my hometown of Syracuse, NY. I played the same waiting game all day on Friday and did not get in. However, I did see many friends I haven’t seen in a while at Drumlins Golf Course so I was very happy to see them and catch up.

Being so close to getting into tournaments is giving me motivation to work hard and improve my game for qualifying school coming up in September.

Road Trip up the east coast!

Hello! 

I have left beautiful sunny warm Florida and am heading up the east coast for some northern summer tournaments. I drove from southwest Florida up to North Carolina all in one day, a 12 hour trip, to see some good college friends of mine. We had a great time catching up but I had to get on my way to Richmond to get some practice in and see more college friends before heading up to Trump National in New Jersey for a US Open Qualifier. The Qualifier was a one-day 36 hole event. I had not walked a round of golf since September, so 36 holes carrying my own bag was a lot. I have been to 3 northeastern Qualifiers and every time there has been rain. Luckily this time there was no thunder or lightning so we got all the holes in, but fumbling with all that rain gear and an umbrella was not fun. Despite the weather, lengthy course (6700 yards), and deep thick rough, I am very pleased with how I played. I shot 79-78 and I kept the ball in play so no penalty strokes, only one 3 putt all day, and my worst hole was a double on a par 5. The reason for my bogeys was not getting up and down. I chipped well, especially from the deep thick wet rough they had around the greens. I just missed some 4 to 8 foot par saving putts. 

My next tournament is the Connecticut Women’s Open in Clinton, CT. It is on May 29 and 30. Then I will go up to Syracuse, I haven’t been home in almost a year so it will be great to be there and see my family and be able to go to my brother’s graduation from graduate school. In June I will play two CN Canadian Tour events, one in Montreal, Quebec and one in Niagra, Ontario. 

Falcons Fire!

 

Hi Folks!

I had a great tournament this week! This was my first tournament finishing at even par after 3 rounds! I shot 69-72-75. First I need to thank Darin Hoff, he revamped my putting over the winter and we continue to maintain what we built. He got my setup solid and stoke smooth the day before the event and also before I went out to play each day which gave me a huge confidence boost. I made some great birdie putts but I made some amazing par saving putts.These pars kept my momentum rolling, pars can’t hurt your score, but bogeys can. I am very happy with my putting progress so far this year, and I can’t wait to see how good I will become!

I also had a great week with my wedge game and chipping. I have worked very hard on my wedge, pitching, and chipping mechanics and distance control. This showed when I made a ton of great shots around the greens to leave myself good chances at par. 

I am very very encouraged with my results from this week. I will take this weekend to continue improving my short game!! Then off to another tournament next week!! 

 

Red Tail Tournament

Last week I had a great breakthrough in the tournament at Red Tail! I struggled the first round with my putting. I was trying to manipulate my stroke instead of letting it happen. I worked on it after that round and was confident I had fixed the issue.

The second round I was hitting the ball well and was making some really good putts! The 18th hole is a tricky hole from the tee. If I hit my driver well, I will go through the fairway and roll into the water, and if I hit my 3 wood, I have another 3 wood into the green. I chose the 3 wood – 3 wood option and missed the green and then three putted. That was my worse hole of the day so it left a bad taste in my mouth ending like that. But I knew I played well the other 17 holes so I was happy with the day.

My last round was the best of my professional career! First sub-par round as a pro! I hit the ball well, I even hit two iron shots to less than a foot each! Tap in birdies are the best. I got up and down every time and I made some great putts for par saves. I am really happy with this day and I hope I can hold on to how I was thinking and feeling and bring those thoughts to all of my rounds!

West Orange Tournament

Hello All!

I apologize for not updating sooner on my West Orange tournament results. I struggled that week and was very frustrated and disappointed with how I played. I was not hitting the ball well and the course provided little room for error, not a good combination. On top of that, my chipping was not good enough to provide many up and down par saves. It was a hard week and I couldn’t wait for it to be over so I could come back home and work on my game.

The highlight shot of that week was on a par 4 that I had to re hit my tee shot because the first one landed out of bounds. My second tee ball started right and continued curving right heading more out of bounds than the first ball. As words that can not be repeated here spun around in my head and I headed to my bag for another ball, my playing partner Susan waived the ball was safe. Confused but not going to question a safe ball I rode up to her and she told me the ball flew over all the trees and hit a car that was driving on the road, then hit another car and bounced back in bounds!! That put a smile on my face when there was not much else to smile about that week.

First Tournament

I had my first tournament of 2012 this past week! A Suncoast Tour event at Metrowest in Orlando, FL. I am very happy with my improvement from last year. In just a few months I was able to increase my up and down percentage, which is where I struggled a lot. I did this by lots and lots of chipping and pitching practice, improving my techniques and developing feel and confidence. Also a big part of this was my putting. I have worked with the head pro at Fiddlesticks CC, Darin Hoff, diligently on my putting technique for the past month. I have seen remarkable progress!! I was able to decrease my three putts to only two in 54 holes, I used to lose a lot of shots with my three-putts!. I finished 18th out of 30 so I did not earn a check, but I have seen tremendous improvement in the areas I have focused on the past few months. This is very encouraging and I am very excited to continue improving!

I have a few days at home then I will turn around and go back up to Orlando for another tournament at West Orange CC.

San Antonio

I came out to San Antonio, Texas to lay out my year plan and organize my goals for the year. I have put together a preliminary schedule of events, I am still waiting for some series to put out their schedules to complete my plan. I am playing in three Suncoast Series events in a row in January to start the year. This is a mini tour based in Orlando, Florida to give players a place to play in competition. While some players take these events as pre-season warm ups, I will come into them ready to give my all and win!

I am also setting realistic and measurable goals for the season. I am putting together practice plans that will help me reach these goals in tournaments. I will readjust my goals as necessary to ensure that they are realistic and achievable.

I have a pretty big goal of playing on the LPGA Tour. For the last 4 years of my life academics was first with me. I did a pretty good job of maintaining my high academic standards and playing Division I golf at the University of Richmond.
Today, I have committed to put my entire foot forward and commit to my goal of playing on the LPGA Tour. To do this I need to set realistic and reasonable goals so I can fulfill my perfectionist tendency (thanks dad) by striving to be perfect in maintaing a good attitude and executing excellent effort.

Welcome!

This will be a place for my friends, family, and supporters to follow my progress on becoming a member of the LPGA Tour!