Alliance Bank Classic: Round 2

Sometimes life gets in the way. You can't expect everything to go right. Life isn't up to your plan. Last night a little bit of life got in the way. I woke up exhausted, and with a splitting headache. I had my awesome orange plaid shorts on so I chose it was gonna be a good day. I still had some work to do. I played some really steady, good golf. Made a lot of putts (thank you Eli!!) and hit some great shots. I had a ton of fun out there. Ended up shooting -1, 70 for the day. We sped around the course, having to wait for two groups at the turn.

If you were to ask what the difference was between yesterday and today, I would say: 6 inches. Between my ears. My mental attitude/confidence was so much better than yesterday. I knew the putts were going to drop, I knew I would hit it close, yadda yadda. It's a fantastic feeling! Sometimes, I get caught up in being technical, way too much than I would like, when I just need to feel the putt and trust my stroke and just let it go.

Went to the gym after I played and routinely kicked my own butt. I tend to take it out on myself when I play bad. Today's case was yesterday's poor performance that could lead to a missed cut.

Saw the movie Salt which was pretty good. I am such a sucker for a good action flick. It could be an average movie to others but I'd love it. I just like the adrenaline rush and trying to figure out the plot.

Just saw that I made the cut, so I'm sure I'll be sore tomorrow. Oops.

Alliance Bank Golf Classic: Round 1

Today didn't go as planned. I am hitting the ball so great, and all aspects of my game are so good right now, but it's been a challenge to fit them together efficiently. My putting hasn't been something I can rely on and in professional golf it needs to be. I have a great stroke, a great putter and I am a great putter but my attitude and confidence in putting need to be better. My practice for putting this week hasn't been on the green, it has been in my bed visualizing the ball going in from all lengths on the green.

I had a chat with my coach, Eli Haskell tonight and I am excited to get out there tomorrow. I better be, I'm the first tee time off, 7:50a. Should be able to whip around.

Syracuse, NY

Okay, not gonna lie, I'm kinda getting tired of the postcards. I have been taking way better pictures of the places I have been than those postcards portray and Tiffany Joh told me that they are stupid. Anyway, this picture made me laugh so I will share.

Population: 138,068

Elevation: 400ft.

Famous people from Syracuse: Tom Cruise, Richard Gere.

Other interesting facts: The Erie Canal ran through Syracuse.

They produced the majority of the salt in the US in the late 1700s to the early 1900s, and oddly enough I saw the movie Salt here.

The International at Concord: Round 2

The day didn't start out as planned, hitting out of some trees and trying to salvage par right out of the gates. However, I stayed patient and on my front nine, had five legit looks at birdie. On my back, I started off birdie, birdie, a good start to make up for a poor front, but struggled on some of the tough holes where all you need to walk away with is par.

It's so frustrating to miss another cut, just by a handful, and look back and think what a dope I was for missing that putt, or not chipping it closer etc. That will drive you nuts! Instead, just like every week I will focus on what needs to be better and continue to work on that until it is sufficient in tournament play.

It really does get old missing cuts, trying not to worry about the future. It's a good gut check. If you are worrying, and down on yourself you are obviously not cut out to be out here. You have to be tough skinned, and competitive, and you can't let up improving, because you better believe some other girl farther down on the list would KILL to be in your shoes.

I am blessed to be here, doing what I love, and seeing the country, in the case this week, the BEAUTIFUL country. It is a very unique situation and I wouldn't trade it for all the money in the world.


A few highlights before I go:

On Wednesday, I went to do some errands, clean my car, and see Inception. I stopped in a mall parking lot to wipe down the inside of my car (after nine weeks on the road, it's pretty disgusting!!) so I did the drivers side, then stepped out to get the passenger side. Well I was listening to NPR and working so the car was on. I stepped out, walked around, cleaned that side then shut the door. I walked over to the drivers side and realized I had just locked myself out of my car, while it was running. Yupp. Sure did. So I panicked for like 10 seconds, thinking how in the heck I was gonna get out of this one. I sat down to collect my thoughts and I figured I had to ask someone to use their phone to call my parents to get the AAA number. I was unfortunately without my purse, phone, anything. So I stopped a nice couple probably on their way home from the mall, and told them what I had done and asked to use their phone. They gave it to me without any hesitation. I tried, mom, dad, mom again, nothing. Then the woman said I should just call 411 and ask for Concord AAA. Genius! So I did that, they verified all my info and sent out a truck. I was standing there with mall security (haha) and the couple that stopped to help. They wished me luck in the tournament, I guess it was obvious I was a golfer, and they had housed players before so that was cool. Right when they took off, the AAA man came to save the day. It took about 10 min total and I was on my way. Only 10 min before, I was thinking man, this is going to take about 2 hours!! Funny how that works out. Glad I was in a small town. I even made it to my movie on time.

Yesterday, I went for like a four mile run from my host's house. It is in the country/mountains in NH so it's very beautiful. I was on my way back to the house, and I see this dog running straight at me. I didn't have the best feeling about this one so I stopped. Sure enough this dog was showing its teeth and barking. 'What the hell did I do to you?!' I was thinking. It started circling me and then jumped up trying to bite me. I kicked it. Yess. It jumped up again. Kicked it again. Meanwhile the owners are making their best efforts to come restrain the dog, all were unsuccessful when it jumped at me again. It got my shorts, but it was a small price to pay for not biting my leg! It seemed distracted as it ran off the other way, and I started to run on home. I passed the owners and they said, "This is why we don't usually let him out". Haha. Really? Your dog is freaking crazy. You should NEVER let him out! So I sprinted home, periodically looking back to see if Cujo was on my tail. Thankfully he wasn't.

Today, I am practicing until my hands bleed, then maybe another run. Tomorrow I am heading an hour north east to the coast of Maine for some "lobstah". I'm not a big lobster eater, but I guess if it's the best lobster in the country, I'll eat it. This place I am going to is right on the coast, by a sweet lighthouse. It will give me some good down time and relaxation before our next event in Syracuse, NY.

The International at Concord: Round 1

Today was fun! I love playing when it's overcast. It feels more quiet to me. Whatever that means...I started off great, hitting it 315 off the first tee! Made the turn in -1. The front and back nine on this course are so different. The front is kinda open with flat holes and the back is up and down and tree-lined. Very pretty though. We played in a pretty constant mist/rain. It was refreshing. The temp was pretty low too 78, wow was it perfect! The back was more of a scramble but without two three putt bogeys I played pretty well, +1, 73. Just need some birdies to drop and I'll be doing a bit better.

Tee off tomorrow with Caroline Larsson and Laura Crawford at 9:50 off #1. Excited. :)

Great Article

Here's a great article about the life of an up-and-coming professional golfer in the Denver area. Good stuff.

Greetings from Concord, NH

Population: 42,225

Elevation: 270ft.

Notables: Actress Keri Lynn Pratt, Steve Bernard Creator of Cape Cod potato chips.

ING New England Golf Classic: Round 2

I have had my fair share of experiences out on tour this summer. One week your putting is great and the next it's not. Meanwhile, your ball striking is crap then you start hitting it great. Well, that kind of stuff happens, but it's how your mistakes impact your mental game that will determine if the next week, both come together.

Today, I hit the ball well but late in the round on the back nine I had three three-putts for no apparent reason but missing the 3'. My playing partner took an extremely long time to putt her 6' before each of my 3' and I'm not sure if that weighed in on my error but all of a sudden I didn't feel comfortable over that putt.

This is why golf can be so tough. You have everything going well, then one little thing can tweak your mental state and everything else is effected. Being out here on tour, I'm trying to learn some kickers that will offset those errors that turn into ruined rounds. I feel that I'm well on my way because I am making the mistakes. When you make mistakes, you grow. There isn't any other explanation than that. That is exactly what this tour is designed to do, and it is delivering. When you make those mistakes, you think about it for a day or two then work to fix it.

You can't take a missed cut personally. You have to focus on what happened during the round to create some uncomfortable feelings or errors in judgment and combat those feelings or address them for the next week. There is always another week to play well.

It's a lot like life. If you make a mistake, try and fix it for next time. If it doesn't work, then try something else. The way to drive yourself insane and out here, become so far in a rut that your confidence couldn't pull you out if you begged for it to, is to keep doing the same thing and expect a different result.

ING New England Golf Classic: Round 1

I have been playing well for probably the last month, month and a half, but my scores haven't really been showing it. For the two weeks, I have been pondering how to approach my game in a new way to help improve those little mistakes that keep occurring. Well, they aren't all gone but I have finally addressed putting. Yesterday, after skimming parts of Every Shot Must Have a Purpose by Pia Nilsson I came to the conclusion that my pre-shot routine for putting needs to change. Sometimes, you can be so focused looking down on the ball you forget to focus on the target and I believe this is what was happening. Now, I take my practice swings behind the ball my shoulders perpendicular to the hole, and staring straight down my line. Today was the first day in competition that I used it, and my pace was right on, and I even made some putts outside of 20'! Honestly, my birdies have been chip-ins, and tap-ins lately and it gets exhausting not making any long putts!

The course is very pretty we are playing this week, Wintonbury Hills Golf Course. Evidently it is a Pete Dye design and he charged $1 to play, ummm, like 6 years ago. Pretty cool! The greens have gotten faster everyday (YAY!) and they are finally putting pretty nice. The fairways are wide but the undulations in the green are tricky. It is a really fun track.

Today was nothing too crazy, 3 bogeys, 2 birdies on my front nine and just one birdie and a whole lotta pars on my back. It started gusting on the back nine so I'm glad I got in the clubhouse when I did. I could smell donuts with two holes left, some guy was making homemade donuts by the putting green. Haha. I'm not a big donut girl but they smelled AMAZING! I tried one, and they were pretty good, but I'd rather have a Sam Adams Summerale. Mmm I love summer.

My mom is coming tonight to watch the weekend (and for my birthday on Sunday)!! I am so excited, because no one has seen me play in one of these events and they are so fun. Bloomfield definitely has the best spectators thus far! There were a ton of people out there today which is fun to see. I heard it was senior day, so I'm sure they got a discount. Every senior loves a bargain, right?! Anyway, tomorrow is a new day, time for more birdies and fun times. I can't wait.

I'm Close To Hartford, Connecticut

Population: 124,462

Elevation: 56 feet above sea level

Nickname: The Insurance City

Home to Katherine Hepburn, J.P. Morgan

Falls Auto Classic: Round 2

There is really nothing exciting to write about today so I won't bore you with my mental lapses. It was hotter than hades, and after 5 weeks going strong, I snapped. Make a couple bad swings at the absolute wrong time and you are looking at making a number. I think that's what I like about the level I am playing at. You really can't fall asleep and just put it on cruise.

I did chip in on #5 which extends my streak to a chip in a week in the month of June and carried it into July! Pretty pumped about that stat. My awesome host family, the Hensleys', came out to watch which was awesome. Kristie Smith's gallery had about 20 people in it, then Laura's parents so it was nice to get a clap at the end from three people. Ha.

Now, onto the week off. It has been a go-go-go month so it will be nice to relax for a week and have some down time. I'll be working out a lot more, practicing enough and being a normal person the rest of the time.

The week after that, we head up to Hartford, Connecticut. My mom will be coming out for the weekend, and after the tournament we are going to the shore, south of Boston for my birthday. Pretty excited about that!!

"Sport is not about being wrapped up in cotton wool.  Sport as about adapting to the unexpected and being able to modify plans at the last minute.  Sport, like all life, is about taking risks."
          - Sir Roger Bannister


What I am reading: Same Kind of Different As Me by Ron Hall and Denver Moore with Lynn Vincent


What I am listening to: Listen Up! The Official 2010 World Cup Album

Falls Auto Classic: Round 1

Today I teed off with Laura Crawford and Mari Chun. We had a fun group. It was a pretty ho-hum day. I hit 16 greens in regulation and missed a lot of birdie attempts. On the front, I capitalized on my par-5 birdies, which I am happy about. On the back nine, I had an unnecessary bogey, but followed it up with a birdie. I missed some short putts for birdie on the last two holes, but overall, it was a solid day -- boring, if you will. I could have gone a lot lower, but it was a good start.

The greens are rolling about a 5 so they are SLOW. I feel bad for the girls playing in the US Open next week where they will be 13-14. It will be quite the contrast. 

Tomorrow I am with Laura again and Kristie Smith at 2pm.

Grinder

"I want to become a grinder. To us on tour, a grinder is a guy who doesn't give up, who keeps on keeping on, who plays hard and scratches for every par even when he doesn't have his A game. To us its a term of high respect. On the tour, its a badge of honor to be thought of as a grinder, as a guy who never, ever quits."
-John Daly

"Climbing Mountains"

"You know, high achievers are a lot like mountain climbers.

When you think about mountain climbing, maybe your stomach does a
little flip-flop, like mine. But, you know, people who are
successful in life are really a lot like mountain climbers. They
don't start out climbing Mount Everest. Instead, they train and
practice on smaller slopes until they build the skills and
confidence to move on to bigger challenges.

When they choose a goal, they map out a plan and, as much as
possible, they follow it. They equip themselves as well as they
possibly can and they learn from the competition. They fully expect
to run into problems, so when they do, it doesn't throw them. They
deal with them as best they can and move on.

They keep their fear and negative thinking under control because
they know that these things will defeat them more certainly than
any avalanche. They also understand the importance of persistence
and tenacity. And finally, every now and then they bite off a
little more than they are absolutely certain they can chew.

Like a mountain climber friend of mine once said, when there's no
place to go but up, you go up.

Now, you may not want to conquer Everest, but I'll bet there's a
mountain in your life just calling out to be climbed. And, you
know, I'll bet you can do it."


Brian Willis

CEO (Chief Excellence Officer), Winning Mind Training Inc.
www.winningmindtraining.com