Delaney Shah
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.