The Little Moments
We were at the Redbird Invitational this past September hosted by Illinois State. It was my first tournament playing for BG, and I was super excited and nervous to play. In my mind, I was excited to play for this new team I am on, but I was nervous about how I would measure up against other DI golfers, something I never thought would happen.
I started on hole 5 at Weibring GC. I hit this georgous tee shot down the left side of the fairway and set myself up with a wedge in. I hit it to about 5 feet, but missed the putt for birdie. I started out with par. The next few holes, I was up and down making mostly pars with a few bogeys. I remember thinking about if I was even capable of playing DI golf during the first round.
I arrive at hole 18, which is a short par 5. I hit my tee shot just left into the rough, and was left with about 170 to the pin. Coach is standing at my ball when I arrive, and we discuss the shot. I hit a 7 iron on the green to about 15 feet. I was proud of the shot, but it was more the moment that came after that shot that I cherish.
After the ball landed on the green, Coach starts to walk back to her cart to drive up. On her way back, she puts out her left hand to give me a high-five. We exchange the high-five and she drives up to the green to give me a read on my putt. I remember putting my 7 iron back in my bag and saying to myself “That was the coolest thing ever” and it had nothing to do with the shot itself.
A few holes later, I was on hole 2’s green with Coach waiting to putt my 20 footer for birdie. She helped me read the putt, and I drained it. The rest of the players in my group putted out, and as I was walking off the green with Coach, she pats me on the shoulder and said, “Welcome back kid”. She knew I had not felt like myself on the course in months, so when I drained my second birdie putt of that round, I knew and she knew that Ava was back.
The next day, we played the third round of the tournament. On the last hole I had a 12 footer for birdie to shoot -1 for the round. Coach helped me read my putt, and I drained it. Sammie Dolce, my teammate and our lone freshman last year, ran over to me after the round and gave me a big hug. She herself had also just shot -1 for the round.
I feel that the little moments are super easy to take for granted. They seem so small and meaningless at the time of occurrence, but they mean so much if they are moments you never thought you would have. I didn’t get the little moments my freshman year, and I remember feeling a little jealous when I would watch players on other teams get those moments.
Smiling and waving at your teammates while playing, Coach walking off the green at Tennessee Tech’s tournament with her hands up celebrating because we just won, Sammie and Mallory running over to me after I won the Shirley Spork Invitational to give me a big hug - the list goes on and on from this past year. I could write all day about all the little moments I cherish from this past year alone. It’s what makes college golf fun.
These are the moments I will never take for granted.
