August and September update

First, let me apologize for the very long pause in my website updates. Since I last posted, a lot has happened, and frankly, very little of it is what I was hoping would happen. My rookie season is over and I am now sorting through my plan for next year.

First things first: Wildhorse Ladies Classic recap

Wind and friends

When I last posted, I was about to play in the Wildhorse Ladies Classic in Pendleton. I had a large gallery following me: my parents, my uncle and his girlfriend who drove over from Boise, and several other supporters who came all the way from Salem to support me. I also had my brother on my bag and my family dogs back at the AirBNB.

My tee time the first day was in the afternoon, off # 10 and the wind was really up. It blew throughout my round at sustained winds of 30 mph, with gusts of 55mph. I definitely struggled and ended the round with a 79. The players in the afternoon wave that day struggled as well due to the wind increasing the difficulty of the course. You can see and hear the wind in this video my mom took, below. (You can also hear her telling the ball to go in.)

Day 2

The next morning, the weather was much improved and so was my game. I played really well, with 5 birdies and one double bogey for a 69. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough the make the cut with my score from the day before. As it turned out, the fire in Kelowna BC was creating enough smoke in the area that the final round on Sunday was canceled, due to air quality.

Q-School, stage I

Following Wildhorse, I flew back to San Diego. A lot of the field was headed to Circling Raven, the next tournament, which was near C’oeur D’alene. But I wasn’t able to play in that tournament because Stage I of Q-School was the following week and I had to be in Palm Springs for my practice rounds. I also missed playing in the Monday Qualifier for the Portland Classic because of Stage I. I had just a day in San Diego before I left again to drive to Palm Springs.

Q-School, again?

I know, it feels like I just played in Q-School. But it was actually more than a year ago. If you remember from my FAQs about Q-School, you need to play in Q-School to gain status on the LPGA and Epson tours. Status is what determines the priority list for who gets into which tournaments. Once you’re on one of those tours, how well you play also improves your status. In order to avoid going back to Stage I, a player needed to finish in the top 125 players by the end of the Wildhorse tournament. (That’s part of why cancelling the third day was a really big decision. Some players might have been right on the bubble and needed that last round to move them up, but they didn’t get it.) I didn’t finish in the top 125, so if I wanted the opportunity to play on the LPGA or Epson tour next year, I had to go back.

Palm Springs in August is hot

Stage I results

I’m not going to keep you in suspense. Stage I didn’t go my way. It was extremely hot, much worse than last year. It was 114 degrees on the hottest day and I started experiencing symptoms of heat stroke with 4 holes to go in my second round. The area was still recovering from the hurricanes southern California had the week before. I had two balls get stuck in palm trees. My brother, Tim, took the week off work so he could caddie for me and then got food poisoning the day before the tournament started. (He still caddied for me, but was pretty green in the gills most of the week.) These things all made a difference, but the bottom line is that I didn’t play well, and a lot of others did. As a result, I am not going to Stage II and my season is over.

Some good news

In spite of the disappointments in late August, I am still very dedicated to improving my game and I am not giving up on professional golf.

I barely got back to San Diego after Stage I before my roommate and I loaded our moving van and relocated to a condo in North San Diego county. It’s about 30 minutes closer (driving time) to the courses where I practice and play. It’s also about a 10 minute walk to the beach, which is really great when I want to think about something besides golf. For those of you who know me, you know I am happiest when I am in or near the ocean.

I missed out on a family trip to Europe in September because I thought I would still be playing in tournaments, but one of my friends in San Diego offered me the opportunity of a lifetime: join her on an Alaskan cruise. She had a deal where I just had to pay the port taxes. It was good timing for a vacation. Alaska is beautiful! I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Ketchikan, Sitka, Juneau, Glacier Bay and Victoria, BC. We got to see lots of whales, sea otters and sea lions.

I got back to Oregon just in time for some friends and supporters to host a fundraiser for me at Salemtowne.

Salemtowne Fundraiser

My grandparents have lived at Salemtowne for the last 25 years. Many of their friends there have seen my brother and me grow up playing golf. I was honored when Curt and Sharon May said they wanted to host a golf tournament with the proceeds going to fund my second year as a professional golfer.

It was a perfect day for more than 80 golfers to play a 9 hole scramble. They ranged from a 95 year old Salemtowne resident to three members and coach of the Sprague High School girls golf team! My swing coach and perennial supporter, Al Cross, was there offering lessons on the putting green. Members of the Salemtowne Women’s Golf Association made an entire table of goodies for the golfers to enjoy.

It was a blast and I want to thank everyone who came out to support me. I also received gifts from people who couldn’t be there but wanted to be a part of my story. Best of all, my grandma and grandpa were able to hold court on the first tee and welcome everyone before I hit a tee shot for the group. If I drove the green, my grandpa donated $100. (I earned more than a $1000 from him!) The funds raised will help me continue to focus and improve my game. I really appreciate the support.

What’s next

I will be taking some time to evaluate my options over the next few months. I want to get better, and I want to play in as many tournaments as I can fit into my schedule. The Cactus Tour will be something I can play in as early as next month and the Women’s All Pro Tour will most likely be my plan for next season starting in March. It will be a more difficult path to the LPGA or Epson tour this way, but I am still committed. I will continue to post here and keep everyone updated as my tournaments start back up. Thank you to everyone for the continued support!