My 2019 season changed my entire golf life. I had thought about taking the game less serious, enjoying a balance in life, not worry about turning professional, and just enjoy golf. This was the mindset I had after not turning pro post-college, and going to work with a regular schedule.
I stopped enjoying golf in college, and sort of turned the game into what felt like work. When I wasn’t getting what I wanted out of it, it was frustrating, rather than enjoyable to work on my game. Stepping back a bit, playing a lot of golf still, but not quite worrying about the results changed things for me mentally.
Taking pressure off of my game to turn professional or try and be the best, I started to play more of my natural golf game, worry less about perfection, and try to have fun. It allowed me to play freely, enjoy the game more, and what ended up happening changed my game forever.
It was my second year into my career, started really hitting my stride with schedule and comfort with the new phase in my life, when my game really started taking a turn for the better. Got an early win in back to back pro am events at Centennial and Banbury in the spring, and that gave me some confidence for the start of the regular season.
Coming off of a great spring, US Open local qualifying was in May. I was playing awesome going into the qualifying and really thought I had a chance to make it into sectionals for the first time. I started off poorly, believe I was 2 over through the first three holes, battled back to shoot two under par 70 and miss by a shot. I really hit the ball poorly, and made up for it with my short game and chipping. Was a major confidence boost to pull myself into a score when I really was not playing my game. Short game has always kept me in it, and it will hopefully continue to remain a key part of my golf identity.
Fortunately, I had planned for a pretty full summer in 2019 and got a ton of great tournament experience throughout the rest of the summer/fall. Was able to get wins in two Idaho State Championships as well, which are still two of my best wins of my career. One was a match play championship, where I came from behind to win three out of the four matches to earn the victory in the tournament. Once I felt the taste of that victory in what felt to me, like a bigger event, it truly catapulted me into a place that I had never really imagined being before. I worked hard everyday on my game, but needed to really see myself belonging in that winners circle and once I did, it propelled a great deal more success.
These are the events I ended up participating in:
March 12- Centennial Pro Am (66) WIN
March 18- Banbury Pro Am (66) WIN
May 8- US Open Local at Timberstone (70) T5
May 18-19 Puget Sound Am (72-79) T21
June 27-29 Idaho State Match Play (4-0) WIN
July 18-20 Idaho State AM (74-72-68) 8th
August 14 USGA Mid Am Qualifying (75) 7th
Aug 31- Sept 2nd Caldwell Amateur (71-68-69) WIN
September 5-7th Idaho Mid Amateur (73-72-70) WIN
September 10-12 Pacific Northwest Mid Amateur (76-71-71) T9
Just writing that up, made me feel proud of what I accomplished that summer as an amateur season. It was beyond what I thought I could do for a summer, and was what gave me the confidence to pursue golf at the next level. It was more fun than I had ever imagined having while competing, and continues to drive me forward to play against the best players.
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