2013 Season In The Books!

The 2013 Symetra Tour season is in the books! I’m currently on a flight heading home to Phoenix after being in Florida for the last two weeks. I am so ready for a break of travel, practice rounds, and grinding. This season has been a success in many ways. It was my best professional season result wise for starters. I grew as a player and a person this year. I’ve met some fantastic people over the years and this year was no different. My knowledge for the game has grown exponentially and I hope that I will be able to help not only myself in the future but also many others who are looking to perfect this game we call golf. My “team” has grown in number this year and these vital people are a direct reflection of my success on and off the golf course.  As you often hear, I would not be where I am today if it were not for my dear companions in life.  

Life is great! I have such a different perspective today than I did three years ago. It’s taken me a ton of heartache, sleepless nights, and countless counseling sessions with my preciousbest friends and professionals to get a better grasp of how truly blessed I am. I wouldn’t trade my life or my story with anyone. I am a much stronger person than I ever thought could be possible.  I have been heavy weight to so many friends in my life and I hope to be able to pay it forward one day. I am indebted to you all!  

I did not know what 2013 had in store for me but as it’s coming to an end, I’m turning the page with a huge smile on my face.  With the slow start I had, I wouldn’t have predicted this feeling of pride and accomplishment.  My first event of the year was held in my backyard of Arizona and I kicked the year off with a missed cut.  A couple of more tournaments came and went with me making cuts but finishing near the bottom of the totem pole. I remember vividly a conversation I had with my host-housing mom Debbie in her kitchen in Charlotte, NC after I received another meaningless paycheck. I was sick and tired of not seeing my work pay off. It was a turning point. I’m either done playing golf or I’m going to change things up. What isthe definition of insanity? Something like doing the same things over and over and expecting a different result?

I began traveling and staying in hotels by myself. I would show up at the course during practice round days with no one in particular to play with. It was the luck of the draw. Sometimes I’d play the entire round by myself or sometimes I’d play with girls I’d never played with before.  That allowed me to not only meet new friends but also see how my competitors played their golf. Prior to that I was in the same old routine and practice rounds felt like Groundhog’s Day to me, playing with the same people over and over on courses we have seen for four years in a row. Those people were and are still my best friends but it was good for all of us to change the scenery.  I needed to freshen things up and that was one way of doing it.  

I never knew coming in to professional golf that I would be on the Symetra Tour for four years.  I didn’t think it would take me this long. But it has. I used to be bitter about it and not enjoy the moment.  That is one more thing that I made a conscious decision to change. Enjoy the moment. Enjoy the process. Enjoy the people around you.  Why be unhappy with where your life is at the moment if you’re always looking ahead to something that hasn’t happened yet?

After playing on the Ladies European Tour in 2012 I realized that their membership and staff were one big happy family.  I felt like that was something that was missing on the Symetra Tour up until this year. We have a revamped staff and I truly believe that has changed the personality of the Tour, from a player’s point of view. For the most part, the professional female golfers all get along and enjoy each other’s company.  We have had so much fun year. This Tour is getting better and better and it is because of the people who are putting in the hard work to put on our tournaments week in and week out.  

I don’t feel the need to go into nitty gritty details about my golf results other than I had a great second half to the season. After my Charlotte tournament I had two runner-up finishes as well as a sixth place finish. A hole-in-one was made in June and a few other highlights I’m sure. Being happy and whole in my life is one large contributor to my personal success and confidence. I sometimes reflect back to college when I didn’t come on that strong until my last two years as an upperclassman.  I got my feet wet and I saw how things were done and once I put myself into contention a few times I understood it and I liked it.  I’m attaching my professional career to that. I’ve gotten my feet wet. I understand how things are done and after putting myself into contention a few times, I like it and I want to be there every week.  Confidence and self-belief is the recipe for that.  

I found out this morning that I finished 19th on the season ending Symetra Tour money list so that means I will be sent directly to Final Stage of LPGA Q School. That’ll save me some money by not having to go to LPGA 2nd Stage Q School and I get to go home and actually have a longer off-season! I need it, as does everyone else after this long year.  I thank you for being my support, my friends, and my family as I go through this journey of a dream.  

Boomer.

Kendall

Hole-In-One!

If you can imagine it, you can achieve it. If you can dream it, you can become it.

William Arthur Ward

I had my second hole-in-one yesterday, June 19, 2013 at approximately 7:45am EST :)

I waited 3178 days since my first one.  I was patient.  The funny thing is I have been announcing it the past two weeks that I was feeling a hole-in-one in my bones. 

I'll give you a recap of how it all went down:

It was a beautiful Wednesday morning in South Bend, Indiana.  I was planning on playing a practice round with my good friend Tara Goedeken Morris.  She got to the course first and grabbed the only cart available which was labeled "3B." It was a shotgun practice round...

We headed out to number 3...played 3...got to 4. The longest par 3 on the course. I got to the tee box first and shot the flag with my Bushnell. 192 yards playing 189...slightly downhill.  I grabbed my Ping i20 23 degree hybrid (4 iron) and hit it solid with a baby draw.  We saw it bounce short right of the green with a firm bounce forward and to the left...towards the hole.  I'm blind but I kept looking at the shot waiting for the ball to appear from the shade into the sunlight. I never saw it roll but assumed it'd be handy somewhere near the hole.  Tara starts jumping up and down shaking me yelling "it went in! It went in!" I just stood there with no emotion and no belief in what she was telling me.  I grabbed my Bushnell and looked into it to get a better look at the surroundings of the flag. No ball. Hmm. "Okay Tara maybe you're right but I don't know, there's just no way." She was shaking and wanted to hit her tee shot real quick so we could race down to the green in our cart.  We almost ran over a huge chipmunk on the way down but that's besides the point.  I called my boyfriend Billy as we are driving down just so he could experience the moment as it was happening. He's been playing this golf game for quite some time and still does not have an ace. Poor guy.  It was 4:45am in Phoenix but as always, he picked up and I was so thankful that he did!  I began screaming in the phone yelling "I think I got a hole-in-one! I think it went in!" His voice went from groggy to "WHAT?! NO WAY!" 

I sprinted to the hole and there it was laying in the cup!  I began screaming and jumping up and down and running all over the green.  Billy was still on the phone so he heard it happen live which was really cool.  He was on the bag for me here last year when I made a double eagle on hole 16.  This place is good to me...

Tara jumped up and down with me in excitement and I finally got off the phone so we could start taking video and pictures.  It was such a cool feeling to see that ball in the cup.  

I get so excited in other sports when their are 3 pointers made and touchdowns scored but I don't normally get that crazy, exciting feeling in me over a golf shot.  But this one...it was different.  

Since it was a shotgun practice round before the afternoon pro am began we had to be off the course by a certain time so we didn't get to complete the 18 holes.  It was also a practice round with lots of shots hit so I don't have an official scorecard but I might need to make one up for a shadow box I'll make with the ball!  Bloody Mary's were ordered at the turn since drinks were on me and I was glad to have the opportunity.  I did get lucky because my normal practice round group would've emptied my wallet at the bar!  I'm so thankful my friend Tara was there with me!

I'm liking South Bend...I'm hoping the tournament goes even better for me this weekend!

Poop.

Poop.

As you can see, I haven’t updated this blog in 10 months. Yikes. My poor blog has missed out on tons!

I’M AN AUNT. That’s all that really matters. I became an aunt August 20 to the coolest, most beautiful baby girl named Ella. I saw her every month for the first 6 months of her life until my travels kicked back up and I’m counting down the days until I get to hold and kiss her little face and head again.  She is by far my pride and joy.

Just a quick recap of 2012: I came home from Europe in June after being out of the country for 6 weeks and sat on the couch for a good week and just watched TV and slept and ate like a pig. I’m sure I gained all the weight I lost in Europe but I was THRILLED to be back in Phoenix and watch American TV and hear American accents.  Europe was fantastic and 2012 was a year I will NEVER forget. Learning experiences, life experiences, and golf experiences that I’ll take with me for the rest of my life.

I finished the golfing season by playing in the States on the Symetra Tour. Competed in Q School for my 4th time and for the first time ever, I didn’t qualify on for Final Stage. Heart breaking but I took a good, long break off from golf.  I now know that I need to say no to some commitments and try not to be everywhere all the time. Overwhelmed. Overworked. I simply wore myself out and didn’t have a good sense of balance. It was golf, travel, golf, travel and there’s more to life than that.

Fast forward to 2013 and I’m playing full time on the Symetra Tour. I am working on fundraising and hopefully representing some great companies in the future.

We’ve played three events so far in Mesa, AZ, Winter Haven, FL and most recently, Sarasota, FL. So far it’s going pretty good with 2 of 3 made cuts. I’m still living in Phoenix and absolutely love it. I joined a golf course down the street from my house called Raven Golf Club. It’s getting me to pound tons more balls on the backside of their range so I’m becoming more of a “practice player” than I’ve normally been.  I still prefer playing more than hitting balls on the range but practice makes perfect, right?

I’m currently flying back to Phoenix for the week to rest up and get some things done. I’ll be flying back to the east coast by the end of the week to play two weeks in a row in North Carolina. I’m really looking forward to those tournaments because I love to be around my Southern folk.

I plan to keep this dang blog more up-to-date from here on out!

Thunder UP!


Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.