Q School

This will be a quick update because I am a tired, tired girl! This week has been a good one so far! I started off Tuesday on the Dinah Shore Course at Mission Hills in Palm Springs, CA for the LPGA Sectional Qualifier. It was a pretty solid day and finished at one over par. I didn’t shoot myself out of it on the first day, which was nice. I knew I had work to do in order to make the two-day cut.

Yesterday we switched courses and played on the Palmer Course. I got off to a nice start with a bunch of pars before I found my first few birdies. My ball striking was on and I had plenty of opportunities to make birdies. I finished the round at three under, two under for the two rounds. I sat in 11th place and made the cut with two more days guaranteed.

Today was the third round back on the Dinah Shore Course. I started off with a dumb bogey from 100 yards out. Not the way I wanted to start but thankfully stole a birdie back on the next hole with a long putt made. A gift! I haven’t been making a whole lot of long putts but it was nice to see one barely fall in. I found another bogey on the third but found back-to-back birdies on five and six. Made a dumb bogey on the par 3 eighth and another stupid one on the par 5 ninth from 75 yards out. I wasn't too extremely happy at the turn... I found a quick birdie on the tenth and thankfully calmed down my round with five straight pars. I had a few close calls at making them for birdie but I also had some great par putt saves. I put myself in jail on the fifteenth hole and took my medicine with a bogey but knew that I had three holes left and wanted to finish the day at even par at worst. Thankfully I didn’t have to wait long and made a great birdie putt on sixteen. I had popped in a blue jolly rancher before I made that birdie on sixteen and told my caddy Paulie that it was for good luck. They’ve been giving us candy on the first tee every morning and I’m a sucker for candy. I can’t help myself. I’ve been taking handfuls and it’s kept me entertained throughout the round. Well, the blue jolly rancher worked for one birdie so on the next tee, I popped in another blue one and missed the green just by 2 feet. I told Paulie that I was due to make one from off the green. It went in for birdie! I told him it was the candy, not the caddy or player. I popped in one more blue jolly rancher for the eighteenth hole but tapped in for par for a one under round of 71.

I’m currently -3 for the three rounds, tied for 9th. I have to finish in the top 30 in order to qualify for the Final Stage of Q School in December. I believe I have 6 shots to spare tomorrow but that’s not my plan. I’m going to stick to my game plan and hopefully continue to find a lot of greens and try to make the birdies when they become available. The heat is strong here in the desert but I’ve had a really good week with my family being here. My aunt and uncle from San Diego came over a few nights ago so we’ve been at the pool every afternoon at our resort, relaxing and catching up. It’s kind of nice to just be at the course to warm up, play, and leave immediately. We were laughing today at how my preparation was so different this year than last. I was in NYC last week and didn’t touch my clubs for almost a week before heading over here for two days of practice. It seemed to work out all right so far. I’ve always been a big believer in quality over quantity. Get your crap done then get outta there. Ha!!! I really appreciate everyone’s encouraging words this week. I’ve been on my phone constantly but it’s because I love hearing from you guys! I couldn’t do it without a lot of people in my life. I’m blessed.