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The Home Turf - Georgia Open

I’m waiting for there to be a week that I don’t describe as having a total blast. That may happen, but this week won’t break that trend. It was, again, such a fun week playing professional golf.

Per my last blog, many of you know that I was traveling with my friend Haley. Both of us took a sting in Texarkana with missing the cut by a slim margin. However, few things can eases the sting of a tough finish like a quick turn around to the next event. And that’s exactly what we got.

The WAPT was hosting an event the following week in Arkansas, but, long story short, the home turf was calling my name. The Georgia PGA was hosting the Georgia Women’s Open the very next week following Texarkana. Additionally, the course that was hosting the Open was only 15mins from the house I grew up in, and I had spent a decent amount of time playing the course during my high school years. The Open had a professional division, and it was an opportunity I could not pass up.


Given that my parents still live in the same house, free lodging was a guarantee. It was a smaller event, less entry fee, free housing, and nearly guaranteed money by the end of the week. I would have been a massive silly goose to not sign up.


(For those who may be new to the blog, I’ll take a moment to reiterate that pursing professional golf is not a lavish lifestyle. Us professional players who are working to get onto the LPGA are the shining definition of broke. Any chance to save a penny or make a dime, we are on it like white on rice. We order water if we have to eat out, and every donation received gets put towards affording another entry fee.)


With all that said, there was no passing up the Georgia Open. Additionally, seeing that there was a smaller field of professionals, I took the liberty of trying to recruit some of my friends on tour to come back to Georgia and play with me. I knew I could host a few girls at my house and help out more than just myself. I could offer to give some other players a week with fewer expenses and a better return on their investments. Long story short, I convinced two of good friends to come play: Haley Greb and Lucy Lamb. By Sunday we were all in town, and it was time to play some golf.


Day 1: Playing on the home turf comes with its advantages and potential disadvantages. The advantage is the familiarity. The potential disadvantage is the mental pressure from everyone expecting you to do well. I’d love to say I’m a master at mental pressures and nothing phased me. But I would be lying. My driving average this season probably sits around 85-95%, and when I miss the fairway, I’m sitting just barely in the rough. Nothing detrimental. However, my tee shots are not free from the nerves. I learned that lesson quick when I pulled my first drive of the day way off into the weeds leaving me no choice but to just punch the ball out and try to get it to the fairway. The punch was successful, but starting the day with a double was a little rough. I played the rest of the round fairly steady. I had one other bad swing on a par 3 over water which resulted in my 2nd double of the day. I made some birdies to erase a few other mistakes, but not enough. And for what felt like the millionth time in a row, I finished at +4.

I was frustrated after day one. I knew I was hitting the ball well, my swing was there, my putting was solid, and I had a solid game plan for the course. I just would have one or two costly bad swings. Knowing my overall game is in such a good spot and still posting higher numbers gave me the desire to punch a wall. (Thankfully, no walls were harmed). Now, I never except to go 18 holes without a bad swing. However, those bad swings needed to be better - if that makes any sense. I went to the range after the round and only hit balls for about 20 minutes. I didn’t need a range session. I knew I had a good swing and could hit the ball well. What I needed was to find what I was doing different mechanically due to nerves so that I can be aware of a productive swing thought for tomorrow. I found my swing thought, hit 2 balls in a row that were solid, and then I went home. I turned my brain off from golf, and I just worked on having a good attitude the rest of the day so that I would have a positive mindset for the final round.


Day 2: The +4 curse was finally broken! Still didn’t eliminate every bad swing that came with costly results, but the game plan showed improvement in the results. I made par on my first 10 holes before getting punched by the par 3 again with another double. However, the mindset was strong. My swing thought had been working. My shots were good. One bad swing? Who cares. I could bounce back. And I did. I birdied the next hole and the final par 3 on hole 16. Unfortunately, one other bad swing snuck in on the back that resulted in a bogie, so I capped the round with a score of +1.


Takeaways from the second round: Wow is this game fun, and boy do I have the skills to produce consistent par/sub-par golf. It felt good to play a steady round of competitive golf again. It felt good to see myself grow and get better at playing my game. Nonetheless, my biggest joy from the 2nd round came as a result of a spectator. My dad. Since turning professional, my dad hasn’t had the chance to see me play. On Tuesday, that finally changed. I know my dad’s opinion of me isn’t attached to any score, but boy did it feel good to play somewhat well with him watching. He is the reason I found this sport. God was gracious to give me such a solid day on the scorecard with my dad walking along to watch. (Quick side note, my mom was back as caddy this week. As much as I love my father, he was fired from ever carrying my bag a long, long time ago haha!)

To conclude the tournament recap, I’d say it was a lot of lessons, but paired with a lot of success. I finished top 5 in the pros and made my 4th check this season. Lots of good momentum to take with me into the grand finale tournament for the WAPT season in two weeks!

I would end it here, but there are too many fun mentionable moments from the week to skip over. As I stated earlier, I had two of my closest tour friends staying with me. Neither one had been to Atlanta before, and this was Haley’s first time ever being in Georgia! Crazy! Now, as any good local host would do, I could not let them leave without sharing a taste of the Atlanta life. Time was tight since both girls were leaving the next morning, but, thankfully, Atlanta is the city that never stops. Even on a Tuesday night. Therefore, after showering and eating some food, we found ourselves inside of Trust Park watching the Braves play. Chop On!!

All in all, what a special ending to a stretch of competition and travel. Now it’s time to enjoy a little over a week off of competition to focus on some extra rest and good practice. I want to also continue to thank God for providing the opportunities, and I want to thank each person who has played a role in supporting my journey of professional golf. It is because of you I get to sit here and write these blogs. There would be no stories to tell without the generosity of those around me!




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