From Amsterdam to Buckinghamshire

A disappointing end to a good 2.5 weeks…

So, Amsterdam was the next tournament after the break in the schedule.

I played at The International last year in the same tournament and was looking forward to going back there. I arrived on Monday and spent a few hours as a tourist with my parents in the City that afternoon which was really nice.

I was going to be playing in one of the pro ams on Wednesday afternoon so I only played 12 holes on Tuesday just to familiarise myself again with the course.
Eric was on caddying duties for the second tournament and on Wednesday, we set off with a lovely team in the pro am. It was a fun afternoon!

All was feeling good and after two rounds of level par, scores I was happy with, I had made the cut in a decent position and was to play in the final round on Sunday. (It was a 3 day tournament). It’s probably one of the toughest courses we play on tour all year, you get punished for just missing the green in the wrong places and can be made to look silly. It requires 100% concentration on every shot.
In the final round, the above happened to me so I didn’t have the best of starts (3 over after 2) but as always, I knew there were plenty of holes left and was pleased with how I played the remaining 16. I finished up 3 over and tied 37th.

After arriving back home late Sunday night, I set off to Worthing GC early Monday morning for Counties Week. I’m Team Manager for the Sussex Ladies 1st team and the week ahead was a big one! We had been working for that week for a good few months and had a great team with a mix of youth and experience. It was a tense, exciting, nerve wracking week but a successful one. We were undefeated against the four other Counties and so progress through to the County Finals in September at Frilford Heath! Support welcome, wearing Yellow of course!!

The team were awesome in every way and it was inspiring to watch them out there.

I was hoping some of the success would rub off on to me for the upcoming Ladies European Masters at The Buckinghamshire Golf Club. It’s the ‘home’ tournament and a great one at that and I was feeling confident having made the cut in Turkey and Amsterdam.

I played a good practice round in hot conditions and was looking forward to starting on Thursday. The greens were surprisingly fast on the practice day and they got quicker every day, mainly due to the heatwave we were having! The condition of the course was great, the greens definitely the best we’ve played on so far this year.

Round 1 was good and unbeknown to me, I was 2 under playing the tricky par 3 18th. Unfortunately, my tee shot found the bunker and unlike the others I had previously been in, there was a tonne of sand!! I made a double there which was disappointing but I was still pleased overall.

I never know what my score is, as you may remember from other blogs, and I don’t like knowing where I am positioned after the first round. So, I set off in round 2 with the same aim as always – to focus on my own game. It’s too raw at the moment of writing this to go in to what happened in the second round but I didn’t feel like I played 5 over (apart from the 2nd hole). Needless to say, I missed the cut… To miss a cut at any tournament is horrible but to miss it at your home tournament is so much worse.
As all golfers say and know, it’s such a fine line and not through a lack of trying, it obviously wasn’t meant to be this week…

I have written down all the good stuff from the second round and will digest it more thoroughly once I’ve gotten over the disappointment. I hit a lot of good shots, putted well and had good feedback from my Uncle (also a Pro) who watched me for 9 holes.

The biggest thing I’ve realised is that I think I’m now capable of knowing what position I am in going in to the second round or even the weekend. In the past, it’s affected my game but I believe because I’m not so outcome focused these days, I can handle it better. So, in Scotland after round 1 I shall look at the leaderboard and go out knowing what I need to do in round 2.
You learn so much every tournament and above all else, it makes me want to work harder and keep improving all areas of my game.

I must say a HUGE thank you to all of my good friends and my Dad who came up to The Buckinghamshire to watch me. To see them all there cheering me on was lovely and motivating. It means a lot and I’m grateful to have such good support.

Up next in a couple of weeks is Scotland…

For now, onwards and upwards… Silly game!!