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My Decision to Turn Professional

On March 12th, 2020 I was sitting in our family room at home with my dad and brother after going on a hike.  I had no idea I was about to get a call that would alter my sports career.  The moment I heard my coach's voice on the other line, I knew something was not right. She briefly told me that the NCAA had made the decision to cancel all spring sports, and that we had no other information at that time.  I remember franticly trying to call my teammates, while refreshing social media to get as many updates as possible, as my dad sat there in disbelief.  So many different emotions rushed through my body, "There goes my final spring semester as an athlete" "Why is this happening?" "Will we get to come back for another year to compete for a National Championship?"  Not knowing any answers, what the next step would be, or where life was taking me, this was the first time I completely felt lost.


In my first three years of playing college golf I got to experience my older teammates last putt of their collegiate career, always thinking that one day that would be me.  You can't help but imagine what it would be like.  Your teammates and coaches watching, your family and friends cheering you on, and that feeling when the putt goes in of "Wow, that chapter of my life is officially done."  And that moment was taken away from me.  No last time I would get to wear that Cardinal bird on my chest in competition.  No last flight home with my team.  No last team workout, senior dinner, not even a graduation.  On March 12th all of those events I once thought were a guarantee were taken not only from me, but every other senior athlete.

 

When I found out I could take another year of eligibility, I immediately thought that was going to be my decision.  I was going to stay and all those "lasts" I never got the chance to experience could finally be a reality.  However, coming back to Louisville came with a twist.  The University ruled that the scholarship I had received for the last 4 years would not be guaranteed for that fifth year, and that I would only be given whatever scholarship was left over in the team allotment.  As an out-of-state student having 8 girls already coming for the 2021 season, the amount of out-of-pocket money to come back to play was more than I was comfortable paying.  I had already graduated with a major and a minor, so I had no need to come back to finish a degree.  It was time for me to decide what was going to be best for me and my future, not what I wanted in that moment.



In making the decision to not come back to school, I knew my next move was to turn professional.  I wanted to make my debut special, so I decided that the first professional tournament I would play in would be in my home state of Maryland.  This was very meaningful for me so that I could be close to home with my friends and family to be there around this monumental event.  Teeing it up with familiar faces around me definitely helped calm the nerves, and it is a moment I will never forget.  Deciding to forgo my fifth year made my future a scary unknown, but deep down I knew this was the right decision, and it has allowed me to focus on myself as a golfer, person, and overall athlete.  I am excited to see where this next chapter of my life takes me, and I appreciate all the support and encouragement from everyone around me.

01 Jun, 2024
After a much needed week off back in Louisville, I was back on the road for another 3-week stretch of events. The first stop was in Abilene, Texas. The first round I started off hot, making three birdies in the first 4 holes. Knowing it was only going to get windier throughout the round, I was happy to get off to a good start. After making two bogeys, I made the turn at -1, before making another bogey and double bogey and bouncing back with a birdie on 17 to finish the day at 1-over. This put me at T15 going into the second round. On the second day my round started off slow, making two bogeys early before birding the ninth hole to make the turn at 1-over. Making two more bogeys on the back nine, I finished the day with a round of 3-over putting me in a tie for 23rd and making the cut! The third round I started off hot again, making 4 birdies on the front nine and making two birdies and two bogeys on the back nine to shoot a solid round of -4 and moving me all the way up to T9. The last round I had a friend on the bag and we had a very easy round consisting of 16 pars and 2 birdies to shoot a bogey free round 2-under moving me up to a T8 finish. Having another top 10 finish and under par rounds really helped the confidence. The second week on the road we were in Anna, Texas. This course was hilly in spots, and is very placement oriented and can get tight. This would be a good test on the legs and the game. The week leading up to the event they had over 8 inches of rain and with aerated greens the course was playing super tough. The first round was hot, and having an afternoon tee time it was quite a scorcher. I started the first round with two bogeys on the front, before making the turn and making a bogey and two birdies to shoot a round of one-over putting me in T19. The second round was also super hot, but I had an earlier tee time so it wasn't as miserable, but it was also super windy. I started off with a bogey and birdie on hole 1 and 2, before making 11 pars in a row. I then made a bogey and a double to close out the round with 3-over. Even though I was bummed with the way I finished, I still managed to be in T25 to make another cut! I had been hitting the ball very well but not making any putts, so I was happy that the swing was holding up and knew I would eventually make some putts. I had my host dad on the bag for the third round who has been a member at this course for over 30 years, so I was hoping he would give me some good luck and good reads on the greens. However, the third round was not my day. This was the first round this season that I truly felt helpless. I started off with a good birdie on two and an amazing up and down on three, but it started to get away from me. I was hitting good shots, having a lot of approach shots landing on the fringe, and was struggling to get the speed right off those lies. I hit lots of putts on my line, but I guess I didn't match the line with speed because I burned a lot of the edges. Having 40 putts (including from on the fringe) really put me in a bad scoring spot, shooting 8-over and dropping me into 39th. The last day was the same story, hit it decent, had a few bad shots and bad breaks, but could not make any putts at all. My score of 9-over dropped me down to 41st place. This has been my poorest performance so far, and I was very disappointed with how it went. I realized that my body was very tired those last few days, and I needed a day of rest. After basically 5 weeks on the road my body started to fatigue in the heat, the hilly course, and the long rounds. The last week on the road was in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. This course was by far the hilliest one yet, with long walks and steep hills. These greens were very bumpy because they were recently aerated which was frustrating, but I knew everyone was going to have to putt on them so I had to stay positive. The first round I started off strong with an even round, putting me in T5. The second day I struggled a little making putts so I ended with a round of 2-over putting me in a T12, meaning I made another cut! With very tired legs I was fortunate enough to have a friend caddy for me the third day where we shot 1-over and put me in a T11 going into the last day. This break of pushing my cart up these hills helped me recover for the last day and finish strong with another round of 1-over finishing the tournament in 9th place. These last three weeks on the road have been very fun, but also very tiring. Making all 3 cuts was huge for my confidence, not only in my golf game but also how my body could handle walking three straight tournaments on hilly courses. After a long few weeks on the road, I now have a much needed month break before my next event, so I will be spending that in Louisville resting and recovering while getting some work and good practice in before the Illinois event!  As always, I will keep you all updated and I appreciate all of the support!
23 Apr, 2024
I am so excited to finally be back competing for a full season in 2024. After the Maryland Open in October, I took a long offseason and focused hard on getting my body ready to travel and compete for weeks in a row. I did a lot of strengthening, rehab, and made some changes to my golf swing to help me use the ground more and get more power. After the New Year, I started “75 Hard” which is a fitness challenge where for 75 consecutive days I had to read 10 pages of a non-fiction book, drink a gallon of water (no alcohol), stick to a diet, and complete two 45 minute workouts where at least one had to be outside. This was a good way to get my body prepped and ready for the season as well as also being a good challenge, and I loved completing it. To get golf ready, I went down to Florida for 6 weeks to knock off the rust and work on my game to get ready for the season.  The first event started the first week of April in Mandeville, Louisiana. This golf course was very tight and narrow off the tee, with out of bounds hugging almost every fairway. This was going to be a good test since I have struggled off the tee in the past. The first round started off strong, making birdie on my very first hole. I ended the round shooting 76, with only one ball going through the fairway out of bounds. I had 28 putts and ended the round T17. The second day I was feeling confident and hit the ball really well, however I could not make any putts. I ended up having 10 more putts the second round, and shot 82. This was frustrating because the ball striking was really well, and putting which is usually the best part of my game let me down. I ended up missing the cut by 4 shots, and spent the weekend practicing for the next week and celebrating my 26th birthday with some friends. The second event was in Lake Charles, Louisiana. This golf course was the complete opposite of the first, being pretty open off the tee. However, the morning of the first round, we were woken up at 6 am to a tornado warning. We had to take cover in the laundry room for an hour. Luckily, we were all safe. However, there was so much damage done to the course from the 80 mph winds, they had to cancel the first round. After so much work done from the grounds crew, we were able to tee it up Thursday. It was still very breezy with winds up to 40 mph that day. This made the course very difficult since there weren't many trees to block the wind. I had to get very creative with the shots to counter the winds. I ended up shooting 1 over the first day and was tied for 7 th which I was really happy about considering the conditions. The next morning the golf course played completely different because there was no wind at all. I shot 2-under on my first nine but made a couple bogeys coming in to shoot 72. Although I was bummed at the way I finished that round, I was in T13, meaning I had made my first cut of the season! For the last round, I had a friend caddy for me, which helped out tremendously, and we were able to put a good round together and shoot 69 to finish the tournament at T8. This was a really good boost of confidence to get a top 10 finish and see that my game was tracking in the right direction. The last week of the first swing of events was in Natchez, Mississippi. This course was the hilliest and longest walk of the three events. I started the tournament strong opening with a 1-under round and was tied for 19. Going into day 2, I knew I needed to put another good round together because the scores were very low. The second day was not my best, but I was able to walk away with a 1-over round of 73, making the cut on the number and getting to play the next two days. The third round was very up and down. I made 6 birdies but also two bogies and a double. This round of 2-under moved me into a tie for 17. The last round I had a friend on the bag which was a huge help to my body and also my mental game. I walked away with another round of 1-under, bringing my 72 hole score to -3 and finishing T18. Over the past three weeks, I felt really good about where my game was at. I was very consistent off the tee, and although my putting was hot and cold I was still able to put consistent rounds together and compete. Now I have a much needed week off back in Louisville to reset before leaving again for 3 more events! I will update at the end of the 3 events. As always, I appreciate all of your support!
08 Nov, 2023
After playing in my first tournament since surgery, the next three months were quite busy. Q-School was nothing short of a rollercoaster ride. It started with the concern if Q-School would even take place since that region got hit with its first hurricane in almost 70 years and so many streets were flooded. Luckily, the courses we were playing at were not damaged too badly. I arrived in Palm Springs 5 days before the tournament began with my swing coach who would be caddying for me. The first day I went to practice I started getting really lightheaded, dizzy, and a racing heart rate within 20 minutes of being outside. Thinking it was caused by dehydration, heat, and exhaustion from traveling the day before (especially with a fear of flying), I decided it was best that I skipped practice and went home to rest. The next day, Thursday, I woke up with really bad allergies, thinking it was caused by the dust, dirt, and debris from the recent hurricane. Playing my first practice round, not being able to breath, having a sore throat, and not much energy I got through the round and went home to rest. Friday and Saturday’s practice rounds were the same, and not feeling any better I decided it was time to go to urgent care. There, I was told I had Covid, and since I was already three days into the symptoms I just had to ride it out. When the tournament started Monday, I was still not feeling 100%, but being able to take a cart in the 120 degree weather definitely helped. I started off my first round playing on the Mission Hills Palmer course. I ended up shooting a round of -1 71, which was 4 strokes better than what I shot on that course in 2022. The next day we played on a new course we had not played in the past called Indian Wells. It was a very scenic course that backed up to the mountains on many different holes. The first five holes were very narrow holes with lots of hazards and out of bounds lining the fairways. In my head if I could get through those first five holes at +1, I felt like I could have another good round. I started off the round really strong. I did get through those first 5 holes at even par, so I was feeling really good about my round. Holes 9 and 10 I missed a putt inside 5 feet for par, and on hole 15 I missed a 3 footer for bogey. With putting being the best part of my game, this really threw my confidence for a loop. Knowing I could still manage a good round, I stripped a tee shot down 16 just on the left side of the fairway. Walking up, my playing partners, caddy, and I could not find my golf ball. After spending the 3 minutes of allotted time looking for my ball, I had to go back to the tee and re-hit with a penalty stroke. I ended up missing another short putt and made a quadruple bogey on the hole. After bouncing back with pars on the last two holes I finished with a round of 80. I was absolutely devastated because I felt like I played much better than my score, I just had a very unlucky break and some unfortunate putting mishaps. Knowing that advancing to the second stage was most likely out of the picture, I headed into the final round with less nerves. I ended up being on my own because my caddy had gotten a stomach bug, so that left all the responsibility to me. I ended up playing well and shooting an even par round of 72 on the Mission Hills Dinah Shore course, which was 3 strokes better than last year. Having played spectacular golf for 52/54 holes and not making the cut to second stage was devastating. I had a lot of time to reflect and although to come that close stung, I had to remind myself that I was lucky to even be able to compete this year. I did not know if I was going to be able to play at all after surgery, and to be able to compete at that level only 3 months after being cleared to swing was impressive. After Q-School I took a much needed break and was able to go on a family vacation to Budapest, Hungary for a week. I got to play golf there, and see all the sights in the city as well as the countryside. I ended the season at the Maryland Open at the end of October. This year it was held at Worthington Manor GC, the course that I won the Maryland Amateur at. The first round I shot 75, but was frustrated because I hit all 18 greens in regulation but made 5 bogeys inside 40 yards. To hit all 18 greens means my ball striking was as good as it could get, but I lost some shots in my short game. The second round I still hit the ball great, hitting 16 greens in regulation and shooting 73. I was able to finish second overall which I was very pleased with. Having this finish and playing really well gave me new confidence and is making me even more excited about competing in the 2024 season. I am planning on playing a full season on WAPT which will start in April. Until then I will be at home rehabbing and recovering, and then will be moving to Florida middle of January through middle of March to get ready for the season. I am super excited as this will be my first full health season since 7 th grade! As always, thank you so much for your continued support in my endeavor. I will update my schedule when it is released so stay tuned!
By Manish Shah 15 Aug, 2023
Nine months after my knee surgery, I have officially started to play tournament golf again! It has been a busy past few months with strengthening and rehabbing my leg, as well as working in the golf shop to make some extra money, and practicing to gear up for this season. I decided I was ready to try and play competitively and with the ok from my physical therapist, I signed up to play in late July for my first event in Conway, Arkansas. As my first event back, it was very nerve-wracking to say the least. Even though I had been practicing, I had yet to actually walk 18 holes. So my first time attempting to walk 18 holes came at the first round of the tournament. Luckily, my dad flew down to caddy for me which was a big relief and a big help. As I walked up to the first tee, I was filled with a lot of nerves and anxiety. Those feelings quickly diminished after I stripped my first tee shot down the middle of the fairway. I played pretty solid for my first round. My leg started to really get sore around hole 15, and it was a struggle, but I finished my round and I ended up carding a round of 77. After the round, there was a lot of icing, elevating, massaging, anti-inflammatories, and rest. For my second round, I was playing pretty solid and had it going being -1 through 12 holes, but my body quickly began to tire which resulted in some poor golf swings and ended the day shooting a 74. Having learned a lot during this first tournament, I had many positives to take away. I had three goals going into this first event trying to maintain my expectations. 1) finish all 18 holes walking, 2) break 80, and 3) not make any doubles. Having achieved all three of those goals both days was all I could ask for, making the cut would have been icing on the cake but I ended up missing it by 3 shots. Knowing everything I went through for the past 9 months, I am very positive moving forward. The swelling in my knee lasted about a week after my first event, but I had no sharp pains throughout the whole tournament, so my physical therapist was pleased with that. After having a week to recover back in Louisville I headed to Wichita, Kansas to compete in my second event. This second event I also had a caddy because this course was way hillier than the first one. The first round I shot 75, just making some simple bogeys due to not having played competitively in a while. Again, after a lot of icing and elevating, I shot a 75 for the second round. I had it going making the turn at -1 before my body got tired. This time I was able to recognize the tiredness and was able to make the adjustments in my golf swing to continue to hit good shots. This was a good learning process for the future to be able to realize when I am getting tired and how to adjust to make up for my body not being able to move as fast as it does when I start the round. Having the same three goals for each day I was able to achieve all three the first day and 2/3 the second day having made a double bogey on the back nine. All in all I am very happy with the progress that I have made. My surgery is a year and a half to full recovery, so to be able to walk 18 holes and play in 2 tournaments in just 9-10 months is amazing. I had a lot to take away from these two weeks and am motivated to keep getting better. I feel really good about my golf game, and my struggles are the results of still recuperating from my surgery. Up next, I will be traveling to Palm Desert, California at the end of August to compete in the first Stage of Q-School. The positive about playing in this event is that every player gets to ride in a golf cart, so I won't have to worry about my leg getting tired and that affecting my golf swing, I can just play freely. This will be a huge advantage to me compared to the last few weeks. However, I was glad to play in the 2 tournaments as I wanted to get some competitive rounds in before the most important tournament of the year.  As always thank you for your continued support and I will update the website after Q-School.
30 May, 2023
I want to give a post-surgery update and share some insight to the next few months. After my surgery on October 31, I had to keep weight off my leg for the first two weeks and be confined in a straight brace for the first 6 weeks. The only time I could take it off was to shower. During this time, I used crutches to get around and couldn't start physical therapy until I could start bending my leg. After the 6 weeks were up, I stayed in the brace for another 6 weeks, but could slowly start bending my knee to try and start getting some flexibility back. This was very painful since I had 6 weeks of scar tissue built up and had lost most of my muscle mass in my leg. At this point, I was able to start physical therapy twice a week to help me. During these first three months I could not drive, so to pass the cold winter months I read over 20 books (which is an accomplishment since I haven't read a whole book since high school), completed about ten 1,000 piece puzzles, and watched every tv show and movie on every streaming service you could think of. 
17 Nov, 2022
My second year as a professional golfer was full of ups and downs, but I had an absolute blast. I traveled to compete in 8 different states, including 3 states I had never been to before, played in my second 100 hole fundraiser for Colon Cancer, made eight total paychecks in 13 events totaling over $7,000, and made a lot of new friends along the way. Having a lot of time to reflect on this season I have learned a lot about my golf game and myself as a person. I first started working with a mental coach which has tremendously helped my mental game on and off the course. After learning about what the constant travel entailed from last year, this year I did a better job of eating well on the road, packing for weeks at a time, and managing my golf game for the long stretches on the road. In the 13 events I played in this year, plus a prep event and Q-School, I put just about 20,000 miles on my car, took 7 flights, and carpooled another 2,500 miles with friends to events. I kept stats for each of my tournament rounds and used a golf statistic website to help me log all of the information so I could evaluate and see what parts of my game were excelling and what parts of my game I was losing strokes on. I also used my stats from this year and compare them to last year to see the changes that I have made. This year after logging 45 tournament rounds, my average score was a 74.3, with my lowest score being a 5-under 67. After evaluating my stats from the previous season, fairways hit and greens in regulations were the two statistics that I lost the most shots from. I had very little confidence in my driver and hitting fairways especially under pressure. I really worked hard during the offseason on this and stayed on top of it throughout the season. The hard work paid off as I averaged 9.18 fairways hit per round, which is an improvement from my average of 7.57 from the previous season. This improvement not only helped my scoring average since I wasn't having as many penalty shots from hitting it in a hazard or Out of Bounds, but it also helped my confidence to hit the driver more often and play more aggressively. As well as an improvement off the tee, my greens in regulation statistic improved from averaging 8.76 greens last year to 11.01 this year. This positive statistic shows that the work I put in over the offseason and the changes I made helped my golf game drastically, and resulted in better opportunities and overall scores. After looking at the improvement in my statistics for my long game, I looked at the numbers for my short game and putting. This year I averaged 47.4% scrambling, which is up 2.5% from last season. My average putts per round was 30.5, which is one stroke higher than last year, however I was still very happy with the way I putted this season. Inside 3 feet I made 99.7% of putts, 3-5 feet I made 71.4%, and went 118 holes consecutively without a 3 putt at one point during my season. My putting confidence helped tremendously when other parts of my game were feeling off because I knew I could make anything and still save par. This offseason I finally made the decision to address the problem with my right knee and get it fixed. As most of you know I have dealt with knee pains for the past 10 years and have even worn a knee brace for the past 8 years. Throughout college and starting my professional career, the more demanding schedule and higher impact I put on my legs led to me having more pain, to the point where I couldn't squat down to read putts without pain, or I couldn't walk up and down the stairs without my leg clicking and popping. After talking with numerous doctors, we decided the best course of action was surgery, which I had on October 31. To put into everyday terms, I had a “pothole” in my cartilage that is under my kneecap. The doctor went in, cleaned out the pothole, and filled it using a lad engineered graft. He then anchored the cartilage and graft to my bone. This surgery was open-knee, so my incision is a little over 4 inches long straight over my kneecap. The recovery is not ideal. It is 6 weeks in a straight brace where the first two weeks are basically non-weight bearing. After I get my stitches out, I can start to put weight on it slowly and walk as long as I have the straight brace on. After 6 weeks I will start physical therapy and slowly start to bend my knee 30 degrees every 2 weeks. The total recovery time is 6 months, meaning I most likely won't be able to play tournament golf until closer to June. Although this timeline is not ideal, this surgery was needed for not only an improvement of my golf game but also quality of life. Hopefully after working hard in rehab I can get back into golf as soon as possible with less pain, not having to wear a knee brace, and ready to compete. As for my schedule next year, I will have to take it month by month, but my main goal is getting prepared and ready to play in Q-School next August. The WAPT tournament schedule has already come out for the 2023 season, and the first events start in April. I am hoping to play a few events come June/July to prepare for Q-school as long as everything recovers well. I will update my blog with my schedule as soon as I know and have made a decision of what I am going to play in. I will continue writing a blog after each event, and next year I will start to include a link to the live scoring so you can follow along. Please feel free to follow along my third year on tour at delaneyshahgolf.com , and as always donations are greatly appreciated to help with travel costs, tournament entry fees, and equipment. Every little bit helps, and to be honest, we could not have done this without everyone’s support. I am planning on getting fit for new irons once I am back in the “swing” of things. The irons I currently play are 6 years old, and I have completely worn out the grooves in the center of the face, I had to get a new PW at the start of the last season because I wore the grooves down so much that the metal on the face of the club was actually concaved! New technology in the past 6 years plus fresh new grooves means I will hit new irons further and more consistently, so it is an investment I need to make to better my game! I can't thank you enough for your continued support while I chase my dreams, and as always if you ever need anything from me don't hesitate to reach out! I wish you and your family a very safe and hap py holidays!
25 Oct, 2022
My 2022 golf season has finally come to an end. My last two events of the season were a WAPT in Oklahoma and the Maryland Open. Oklahoma was a blast, I got to see a lot of my friends again after not seeing them for a month. The first round I shot 78, due to poor putting which is a rarity. My speed was very off and I struggled making putts in the 8-15 foot range. After practicing putting for an hour I came into the second day confident and shot a 69. The last day I shot 72, which put me 19th out of 32 girls. Coming into this tournament not as prepared as I usually am for events I was very happy with how I played and especially how I hit it off the tee. Leading up to the Maryland Open I got to go Louisville for the week and play a ton of golf, get a lesson, play our golf team fundraiser, and go to a wedding. I went into the open a lot more confident and ready to compete. The Open was held at Chevy Chase Club, the course was super tough with very tight fairways, thick rough, and very slopey greens rolling at a 14. The Open has a very special place in my heart, it was my first ever professional event in 2020 and I had been playing in the event since I was 14. The first day I shot 74, with a short game mistake leading to a double bogey and some poor and unlucky approach shots. There was only one round under par for the day and I was only 5 shots off the lead, which put me in a T5 and in the second to last group for the final round. The second day was very cold and windy. High temps was only around 50, and winds blowing up to 25 mph. I embraced the weather and shot another round of 74, with the lowest round of the day being a 73. Both days I putted really well, not missing a putt under 6 feet and managing the speed well on those fast undulating greens. I ended the tournament at T3 in the professional division and a T4 overall. This was my best finish at the Maryland Open since I have been a professional, and I even made a check! Looking back on the season I have a lot to reflect on and process. My golf game has improved tremendously compared to last season, and I am excited to compare statistics. Along with my golf game, I felt like my mental game was very strong and a big part of my success this year. In the next few weeks I will post a blog recapping the whole season and my thoughts of this year and plans for next year. As always, thank you for supporting me!
07 Sep, 2022
Qualifying school was a hot one for the books. Spending a few days to practice prior to the tournament, I thought I knew what I was walking into weather wise, besides the dessert being hot, it was also very humid, getting up to 115 degrees and 60% humidity. Despite the sweaty weather, the courses, Shadow Ridge and Mission Hills (Palmer and Dinah Course) were in good shape. The top 100 and ties were going to advance to second stage. Leading up to the start of the event, I played 3 practice rounds over 4 days trying to limit my time in the heat as much as possible. During the practice rounds I felt like the Palmer course was going to be the toughest of the three because it has a bunch of holes that are tight off the tee with trouble on both sides. Shadow Ridge's greens weren't in the best of shape and pretty bumpy, but I knew all 320 girls had to play the same greens. Dinah Shore had a bunch of bare and dirt patches around the greens, but the putting surface itself was rolling pure. My short game and putting was feeling really good going into the week. My driver was going well, but knew that might change under pressure, however my irons were feeling a little off and near the hozzle which was making me have these short right misses. I am not going to bore you with a hole by hole play for each tournament day. The first day I played the Palmer course, which I liked because I felt like I was getting the hardest course out of the way first. I hit my driver very well, and made minimal mistakes until the last hole, where I hit my approach in the water and had to drop. I ended up making double, and shooting 3-over 75, which I was happy about. Despite that one hole, my golf game overall felt pretty good especially my driver holding up under the pressure. I knew if I shot two good rounds, I would still be in it to get to second stage. The second day I played Shadow Ridge. My irons had been feeling off and the day did not go well. Again, I hit my driver well, but my misses with my irons were getting bigger and I eventually ended up shanking a shot, something I haven't done in a tournament in years. That really rattled my confidence and threw me for a loop, but I pulled it together as best as I could and ended up shooting 6-over, 78. Disappointed with my performance, I worked with my swing coach over the phone to figure out a good swing thought for the last day. The last day was at Dinah Shore. The swing thought worked because I hit 10 fairways and 14 greens, the most I have hit in a while. The swing felt really good, but this day I just couldn't make any putts, having 34 putts, the most I have had this year in a round. I ended up shooting another round of 3-over, 75. Even though I improved my score from last year to this year, I ended the event not advancing on to second stage which was very disappointing, especially after having a very good season. The part of my game I was most worried about getting me into trouble (my driver) actually turned out to be one of the most consistent. However, my irons just let me down this week. While in Palm Springs, we got to do some cool sightseeing. We went up to a scenic overlook off he highway and then took an aerial tramway up an 8,500 foot mountain and did some hiking to overlook the city. Sad with the result, I came back home and took a much-needed break, both mentally and physically. I am helping coach my high school golf team back in Maryland, and plan on playing two more events this season, a WAPT event in Oklahoma in September and the Maryland Open in October. I will post an update after those events and will talk about my plans for this offseason.
04 Aug, 2022
The conclusion of the WAPT events was in Beaumont, Texas with the WAPT Tour Championship. The weather was hot and humid, but luckily I had my dad on the bag for the week. This event was the toughest field of the year, and the largest purse of the season with $75,000. This event was going to be a good test of competition leading up to Q-School, competing with the best girls on tour. The week started off with a hitch off the course. My check engine light came on while I was going down to Houston to pick my dad up from the airport. After arriving safely in Beaumont, my dad took it to get looked at, where long story short I needed to get a few items replaced costing almost $1,500. I can’t complain as this is the first real issue after I have put on almost 115,000 miles in 6 years. After a great pro-am on Tuesday, I was feeling good about this last event. The course was in great condition with the greens rolling super fast and pure. I teed off Wednesday morning as the first tee time, and got off to shaky start. With a bogey on 2 and a double on three from a poor tee shot, I bounced back with three birdies and one more bogey making the turn at 1-over. The back was followed up with more bogeys on holes 13, 15, and 18, and a bride on 14 to shoot a round of 3-over 75, placing me at T28/82. With a few hiccups the first round, I put a good round together the second day, starting the back nine off with two birdies and two bogeys making the turn at even par before making 8 pars and one birdie coming down the stretch to shoot 1-under 71 and putting me inside the cut line. Really happy that I made the final event's cut, I went out with the mentality that I now had nothing to lose and that I didn't have to play conservatively. I started the third round with three straight pars before a birdie on the fourth, a bogey on the sixth from a three-putt, and then a bounce back with birdies on 7 and 8. Making the turn at 2-under, I was feeling good, but then a storm rolled in and we had a lightning delay while we were on hole 10. After waiting around for a few hours, we went back out and continued play, where I birdied 11, 15, and 16. I made two really good par saves from 8 feet on holes 17 and 18 to shoot my best round as a professional, 5-under 67. This round gave me a lot of confidence in my ability to finish a good round without getting nervous and falling apart. Coming off that great round, I headed into the last day with the same mentality that I had nothing to lose, so I wanted to try and hit the shots I was less comfortable with under pressure to gain confidence in them. The round started slow with two bogeys in the first 8 holes before making a birdie on the ninth to shoot 1-over on the front nine. Again on hole 10, a storm came through so we had to go inside and wait for 45 minutes. After going back out I made a bogey on 10 and 13 before making a long sloping putt for birdie on 15. While on 16 another lightning strike was detected close by so we had to go inside again for about an hour and a half. Going back out I made three pars to finish out my final round of 2-over 74 and placing me in a tie for 1 th for the WAPT Tour Championship. Having to start and stop your round is quite difficult, so I was happy with how I handled that both mentally and physically. Looking back on the week, I am really happy with how my game held up under the pressure. I think the best mental boost for me is that I felt very comfortable and felt like I was just “playing” golf. I had my best finish and made the largest paycheck to date, and in the biggest toughest tournament I have played since turning pro. This is a great boost going into Q-School which is my next event. I will be leaving for Palm Springs on August 13, and the event is August 18-21. I will post a link to live scoring when it gets closer to the event. As always thank you for following along.
04 Aug, 2022
The second to last event for WAPT was held in Texarkana, where we played one course in Texas and one course in Arkansas. The weather was extremely hot and humid, with temperatures feeling like 110 every day. The course in Arkansas was very nice and in great condition, but the course in Texas was a little rougher. The greens were sandy and burned out, and we only played 17 holes because one of the greens was unplayable. The girls were split into two different groups, with half the field playing one course and half playing the other course and then switching the next day. The first day I played Texarkana CC, the course in Arkansas. The day started off strong, I started on the back 9 and had 4 straight pars before a bogey on the 14th hole which was the hardest hole on the course. I bounced back with 4 more pars to make the turn at 1-over. After the turn, I made another 3 pars before making bogeys on holes 4 and 5 from a missed 4 footer and a three putt. I bounced back with another 2 pars before finishing the round with birdies on 8 and 9 to shoot 73, 1-over. This was the second lowest round of the day on that golf course, which I felt really happy about. The second day I played Northridge CC, the course in Texas, which I thought was a lot harder of a golf course. I started off the front nine strong, with 7 pars and a birdie (and a given par on hole 6 which was unplayable) and made the turn at -1. Feeling really confident about where my game was, I made the turn and hit a tee shot on hole 10 in the fairway which rolled all the way through the fairway almost onto the next hole behind some trees which I had to punch out. I ended up with a bogey. On 11, I had a bad swing off the tee that got amplified by hitting the cart path twice and going into the hazard. After a bad drop and a poor punch shot out, I proceeded to three putt and walked away with a triple. The next hole I hit a good tee shot that hit the fairway and kicked 20 yards left behind some trees where I had no shot to the green. At this point the frustration was hitting hard. After settling down, I made some pars coming in but also missed two putts under 5 feet that horseshoed back to me. Finishing this round at +7, I was very upset with how the round took such a big turn on the back nine. I ended up missing the cut by one which was even more frustrating for me since I played a lot of good golf and just got some bad breaks. But I would have rather had good golf and a bad score, than poor golf and a good score – especially coming into the homestretch and preparing for Q-School. The game felt really good and one big takeaway I had from this event was my chipping. I chipped it really well both days, holing out one chip and lipping out 4 more throughout the two days. Having struggled with the soft delicate chips and being able to pull off those shots a number of times under pressure really helped my confidence this week and going forward. After taking two days off I head to Beaumont, Texas for the WAPT Tour Championship, the last event I will play before going to Q-School. I am excited for this event because my dad is going to come down and caddy for me, making this the third tournament that he will get to watch me play as a professional. It will be nice to have him on the bag for the week and not have to carry it myself!
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