You may have been wondering where i have been and what i have been up to, well I have been quietly working hard at my fitness, and golf game to get back on track after having all of last year out of action because of surgeries due to injury and illness. Throughout the winter months i worked full time as Assistant Manager at Fulford GC in the office alongside some bar work and actually really enjoyed the challenge and new experience. However, knowing that i have not been able to accomplish all i would like to with my golf i was quite happy to do the role temporarily and know i could come back out to compete this year. I'm still currently working 2 part-time/casual/flexible jobs alongside my golf, not ideal but i need to get money together to be able to play somehow! Women's professional golf on the Ladies European Tour is not exactly as strong as we would like it to be and the main tour schedule has been quite sparse in events up to now. The LET Access Series has consequently been oversubscribed in nearly every event and because of my lower category I have not been able to get into the events and so have not had many chances to play competitively. But...Last week i got into the Lavaux Ladies Championship in Switzerland, an event on the LET Access Series organised and sponsored by Team Pitch & Play, who are great supporters of the Women's game. Obviously, i was quite nervous/anxious but also excited to get out there, especially after the great recent training sessions i have had. One of my biggest challenges recently has been performing the awesome golf shots that i can produce on the range, under testing pressure out on the golf course under tournament conditions. My main goal for the week was to enjoy the experience, and to test my game again to see how it held up under tournament pressures after having a few weeks of a different approach to working on my game, and I am pleased to say it was a really enjoyable week. I had plenty of laughs with my roommates Keely & Chloe and it was great to catch up with friends that i have known for a long time on the golfing circuit. I loved being out on tour again! 😊 Our bedroom window looked out over Lake Geneva, stunning scenes, i could've sat there for hours taking it all in. To say my legs were burning from trekking up the hills each day would be an understatement....pictures do not do the steepness of the slopes justice!! After a couple of good days practice it was time to play. Wednesday 9.06 from the 10th tee, a 367 yard downhill hole, out of bounds all the way down the left side. It only required a 4 iron from the tee to get it down into play. Really quite nervous/anxious but also excited to get underway I clipped my ball down the right hand side just catching an adjoining fairway bunker with the 18th hole. Okay, fine, we’re down there and in play I thought to myself, smiled and walked on. A good recovery, reasonable pitch and I was on the green but 3 putted for a double bogey, not the end of the world, move onto the next, we’ve started. 11th tee, time for the driver to come out of the bag, 3 tee shots later and I was down the fairway, the first 2 I actually hit reasonably well but I turned them over a little too much long left and into some deep rough never to be seen again. I made a par with my 3rd ball but unfortunately on my card it was an 8, sadly no mulligans in this game!! 8 over through 3 holes, not the start I was hoping for but I was actually very calm, I stuck to my routine and focused on being relaxed, smiling and continuing progressing forward. 11 over through 9 holes and still calm, I moved onto the front 9 and played some pretty steady golf, 5 pars and 4 bogies, nothing dramatically happened, just a 3 putt here and there a missed green and not getting up and down. Having finished +15 yes of course I was disappointed with the final score but I didn’t really think about the number so much I was proud of myself for sticking in there and not being defeated. They have a rule on the tour that if you shoot +19 in the first round you are automatically withdrawn, i was glad that I had kept it below that number so I could play, learn, and build confidence in the second round. We had a little trip into a local town Vevey, a wonder around some shops before heading down towards the lake and were mesmerised by the stunning scenes! Day 2 14.06 tee time from hole 1. A bit of a lie in before getting up to the club with plenty of time for a bit of putting practice before some lunch and then my pre round warm up, music playing on the range making it a relaxing atmosphere. Time to head out, again somewhat nervous but looking forward to playing, and one of my key thoughts was to continue on the flow I was on for this 9 yesterday. First tee shot a pushy right one down onto the adjoining 9th semi rough....not quite where I wanted to be but actually I could see the green from there, it was a blind second shot downhill from our fairway. Pw onto the green and drained a 25 footer for my birdie. 😃 A few bogies and a couple more birdies I made the turn in +1, 3 shots improvement on that 9 already, great! A few people watching us on the 10th tee and I was a little nervous again but I had just hit some great shots so I kept focusing on them and blocking out the negatives. I hit a lovely shot down the middle of the fairway, and made a solid par. 11th tee, obviously, after yesterday’s fiasco I wasn’t going to go left was I....I pushed it up the right and into the fairway bunker, absolutely fine, another solid par made. The only annoyance of my second round was on the 12th hole, an odd par 5, 5 iron from the tee, another iron shot up then a short iron onto the green, I made a silly clubbing choice and clipped a tree with my second shot and went out of bounds, doh! Walked off with a double, the only blemish on my scorecard on the back 9, 8 pars other than that and several birdie putt chances. A +3 2nd round and I was grinning from ear to ear! My game felt steady all day, I hit some great shots, I hit some poor shots but didn’t freak out, I stuck to my routines and ground it out. My best round of golf in competition in ages! Having not competed for more than a year I knew coming back out to compete would be tough but after a challenging time i feel that I have finally made a nice step in the right direction!! ☺️🏌🏻♀️⛳️ My next event is the LETAS in Spain in a couple of weeks. In other news I have also qualified for the final of the American golf Long Drive Championships 🏌🏻♀️😃⛳️ Thank you for having a read and having an interest in my journey. I hope you're enjoying this lovely weather and happy golfing!
If anyone reading this could offer me any sort of sponsorship or assistance, to help me on my golfing journey it would be greatly appreciated. Please get in touch! 😊🏌🏻♀️⛳️
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