316 Days
This is another one of my blogs that I mostly had written back in August, and I dusted off and finished it for y’all.
This past Wednesday, I won the Mary Thayer Farnum Cup hosted by the Women’s Golf Association of Philadelphia (WGAP) at Blue Bell CC. It had been a while since I last won a tournament, 316 days to be exact as my last win was the Shirley Spork Invitational on October 3, 2023.
When I reflect back on what got me in the winner’s circle again, I always ask myself three questions:
What was my lowest point?
What did I learn from my lowest point?
What changes did I make in order to get back on top?
When I think about the past 10 months and what has happened, my lowest point would be at the Mid-American Conference Championship when I walked off the 18th green on the final day after shooting an 87, my highest round in 4 years. I felt that I let not just myself down, but my team down after that round. It was a very hard round for me to get over, and I don’t think I fully got over it until a few weeks later.
So what did I learn from my lowest point? Well, I learned that my head was separating me from the Ava who played well in the fall season compared to the Ava who was not playing as well during the spring season. I learned that my lack of confidence in my game resulted me in second guessing every single decision I made on the golf course, thus resulting in my swing getting worse and ultimately setting myself up for shooting an 87 to end the spring season. .
Now going to my third question, what changes did I make? I realized that I needed to make some major changes when it came to my swing. I was resentful of it at first, but my current swing coach, Rob, thought it would really elevate my game, and it did. I hit the ball so much straighter now that I ever did, and my snap hook miss is gone.
These changes do not happen overnight, and it took a lot of reflection and realization before I made the necessary changes to get me back in the winner’s circle. It is hard to look in the mirror, ask yourself what is wrong, and see what changes you have to make. At the end of the day, golf is an individual sport, so everything pertaining to decision making, execution, and attitude is on you.
