Learning experience on the European Tour
I’m back home after 5 days in Italy where I played the Ladies Italian Open on the Ladies European Tour. I got an invitation late on the Thursday and sat on the plane on Monday towards Milan and Golf Club Margara in the Piemonte Region, Italy and I was in for an amazing and very developing experience.
I got to my bed and breakfast late on Monday night and went to the golf course early on Tuesday. I met some familiar faces on the putting green and had a good practice session before having lunch in the player’s lounge and then headed out for my practice round. The course was in great shape. Lots of elevation changes on the course, narrow fairways, and some fast greens if you left yourself a putt on the wrong side of the hole. However, I had a great feeling during the practice round; I struck the ball very solid and putts were dropping.
They had a pro-am on Wednesday, which meant a full day of practice and final preparations. Once again, I had a great feeling out there. I began the day with a 2 hour putting session before going over to the range where I focused on shaping the ball, doing some target practice, and a driver test. After a couple of hours of practice I decided to workout at the gym at the golf club before eating lunch. The rest of the day consisted of another putting session, a little up-and-down challenge and short game practice, and then going back to the bed and breakfast and relaxing.
I had the last tee time of the early wave the first day. I was nervous in a good way and got off to a fairly good start where I gave myself some opportunities. After a few holes we got the refs coming up to us because our group played slow and we were falling out of place. With me already being pumped up and then feeling a little extra rushed, I made some very poor swings that cost me a lot during those 4 holes where the referees were with us. I started to do some mental mistakes but am trying to stay in it and keep fighting throughout the entire round. Nothing really falls even though I give myself plenty of looks. Bummed after the first round of course, but eager to play another round of golf at this level and an opportunity to play at my capability.
I had the final tee time the second day which meant I had lots of time in the morning that I had to do something with to not get all anxious before the round. I went for a morning run in the little village I lived in and read a good book. It felt really good during warmup again and I was very calm at the beginning of the round. I struck the ball well and once again, had great looks for birdies even though I also made some smaller mistakes early in the round with my irons. The only issue was that my mental focus had shifted, I felt like I was doing something technically wrong in my swing and it was almost like I was picking the best misses instead of being very aggressive and visualizing the shots as I usually do. I got tense and started missing with short irons and wedges from the middle of the fairway. This has never happened to me and I couldn’t get out of it during the round. I made lots of mistakes and the strokes ran away for me.
Even though the scores were not there this week at all, I learned incredibly much about myself and got to practice being in this new situation. I am so thankful for this invitation that allowed me practice at this level before Q-School. Now I will have a week of practicing, shifting my focus, and prepping for my next event in Denmark next week on LETAS. Last time I played in Denmark I finished 2nd in Danish International Amateur Championship but at another golf course. So to say the least, I’m super excited to play some good golf in Denmark again!