Lessons Learned

Hello Family & Friends!
      As some of you may have heard, I had a successful tournament last week at Wigwam. I shot 68 69 72 (-7) and took 2nd place!! It was a whole new experience for me, as I was leading after the first two days. I did my best to stay calm and play the course the exact way I had the previous days. Although I ended up shooting par, it wasn't quite good enough to hold on to first place. Perhaps my nerves, excitement and allowing my thoughts to get ahead of myself, played a role in the end result. Here is just a little bit of how my final round unfolded.....
       I stood on the first tee excited and confident to get the day started. However, I didn't start as well as I hoped, and made a few bogies in the opening holes. A little frustrated, I pulled it together and made some birdies. From there, my day was up and down, compiled of missed fairways, good punch shots, great putts and a lot of boring pars. When I showed up at the treacherous 18th hole I was one over par but ahead of the other two leaders in my group.  I thought if I birdied the last hole, the way I had both days previous, I would have the win in the bag. I stood up on that tee box and striped the ball down the "alternate route" hole #1 fairway, while I watched my competitors tee off with irons down the skinny 18th surrounded by water. As I walked to my ball, having avoided all chances of water, my heart rate picked up thinking, "I may have won my first professional event". Arriving at the ball I had 210 yards over the trees to reach
the big par-5 in two shots. I took a few deep breathes and stuck it on the green for the third day in a row. When no one else was looking, I jumped up and down in excitement. Before I got out of control, I was reminded by my trusty caddy that I still had to putt and that someone already in the clubhouse may have had me beat. He was right...like always. I two putted for birdie and drove nervously to the scoring tent. As soon as I arrived, I saw the red numbers on the scoreboard, and saw that my competitor fired a 68 to beat me by a single shot. For many minutes I was angry, angry knowing I had lost and knowing I had hit only four fairways that day. After cooling off, a fellow competitor reminded me how grateful I should be because with the way I drove the ball that day, I could have easily ended up in 6th place. She was exactly right. Although the tournament didn't end how I anticipated, I am grateful for the loss. I learned how to lead, how to scramble for pars, how to stay in the moment, and how to act when you lose.
        With a week of rest, I take on Ahwatukee CC starting on Monday! Wish me luck!