Hello and welcome back to my website, and most importantly Happy Good Friday!!
After every tournament I have played in this semester, I have walked away with more understanding of myself and my golf game. This week was a difficult one and unveiled a lot of uncomfortable truths that needed to be heard and experienced.
We traveled to Beaumont, Texas to play in our last 54-hole tournament before our SWAC conference coming up in Mississippi. During the practice round playing with my teammates, I noticed that one of them was starting to struggle a bit. I understood that as her demeanor started to dip and her emotions started to spiral, so did her golf game. I could not help but think, wow if she would just recognize that her emotions were getting in the way, she would be playing so much better, and most importantly having more fun.
Fast forward to the first day of the tournament, and wow. As a golfer, it is hard to accept that you may not have your best stuff that day and that is completely normal, we are human. As athletes, it is easy to feed into expectations and wants because we know that we are more than capable. However, it can be dangerous once those expectations consume you and diminish your confidence when you cannot perform.
It hurts admitting to yourself where you are falling short, especially when it derives from your ego and expectations. For example, while playing in this tournament, I could not help but recall where my shots were last year on this course and compare how much my game has changed. I was diminishing my confidence by living in the past, and upsetting myself because my drives were not as far or my woods do not go the yardage it did a year or 2 ago.
In reality, none of that matters. In a world full of trying to get the maximum yardage, golf has not strayed from still being a mental game.
I had to swallow my pride, my ego, and the reality that I am not who I was a year or two ago. During my round I realized that I need to take my own advice, I need to worry about myself, and I had to be honest that I was judging my teammate for the same thing that I struggle with. To all my golfers out there, I promise you that one bad round does not mean that you do not know how to golf. You are not defined by a round unless you make the decision to base your worth on that. You always have a choice.
The golf world is very aware that The Master’s tournament is happening this week and while watching players play, I notice that they too struggle at the game of golf. Nothing is separating these amazing golfers from each other besides the mentality that they have. If they are confident, if they believe, and if they trust in their preparation, their game and scorecard will reflect that.
My advice to myself and to others if they are willing to hear is this; while on the golf course, nothing matters but you. With golf being an individual sport, it is up to us as individuals to hype ourselves when we’re down, and to realize that we are not the number on our scorecard. It can be easy to correlate our worth with how we play as golfers, but we are so much more than that. Although I did not perform at this last tournament, I can choose to either believe I am not good at golf, or I can choose to learn and get better. We all have a choice, and lucky for us we have a Heavenly Father that loves us despite our performances and despite our imperfections.
This verse has been living in my head rent-free and is a reminder to everyone;
Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brothers eye, but considereth not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brothers eye.
Matthew 7:1-5
When I tell you God read me to bits with this verse… yeah uh, a ha ha.
With that said, enjoy Good Friday and The Masters!
As always I love you, but God loves you more
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