State (Pt. 2)

Admittedly, the season started with more of a whimper than a bang. My first real test was in my first national event, the AJGA Preseason Junior in Wisconsin. The first round, I played absolutely horribly. I shot 83. I was in 46^th place out of 60 players. I remember driving back to my hotel in tears. I NEEDED to play well in this event. My entire Summer depended on it. With my confidence in shambles, I went out and shot 75 to move up the board. That was a huge stepping stone in my golf career.

My Summer season turned out much better. I played in my first AJGA Open (one of my goals), the Illinois State Junior (another one of my goals), and had some fantastic finishes. I finished my season in Bloomington, and accidentally almost made the MAJGT all-Midwest team. However, my high school season was soon beginning.

At that point, I had to do a lot of reflecting. Having played High School golf for 2 years behind Varun, I was always known as “The Other Uni golfer”. I never felt like I could just play like DJ Nelson. I went out this season with something to prove. I started the season with a bang, shooting 69 and finishing 2^nd in the first tournament. After that, I started to put too much pressure on myself, and the scores began rising. I credit Jessica’s dad (my golf coach) in helping me overcome this time and go back to playing golf with the joy I experience on the golf course.

As we entered the postseason, I couldn’t help but feel like the pressure was off my back. However, I felt an enormous amount of internal pressure to right the wrongs of the past year. It felt like the season was a crescendo to Sectionals, where I would face my demons head-on.

I won the regional after firing a 73 on the same course I played sectionals at the year prior. I knew on the 18^th hole I needed to make a 4 to win, and I executed. That gave me a jolt of confidence as we approached the Sectional round.

Of all the tournaments I’ve ever played in, 2018 Sectionals may be the most nerve-racking of them all. I remember before the round my hands were shaking, and I could taste the remnants of my egg sandwich I had eaten for breakfast when I bent down to pick the ball out of the hole. My first tee shot of the day was almost an out-of-body experience. I made fantastic contact and sent the ball screaming down the fairway. I flashed a smile. It was on.

That round of golf ended up being a 7 hour mental marathon. I felt an adrenaline rush that carried me through the first 9 holes. I had shot 36 on the front side. All I needed to do was play a not-disaster back 9 and I would be moving on to state. Unfortunately, that intense adrenaline rush led to a massive energy crash, and I spent most of the back 9 searching for energy. I made some mental mistakes, yet I sat on the 18^th tee needing a par to shoot 76. At that point, I knew I was in a fantastic position. I placed the ball on the tee and whacked the ball through the tree-chute and into the fairway. I then hit the next ball 20 feet away from the hole. 2 putts and I’d be moving on. I hit the first putt about 4 feet by the hole, leaving a comeback putt that wasn’t difficult if the entire crowd of people wasn’t watching. Sometimes, the universe works beautifully in parallels. This putt I poured in the middle. As I picked up the flag, my eyes began to water. I had never cried during a golf tournament before. “I did it”, I told myself. As I looked over to see my mom, dad, sister, and grandma (who was instrumental in me starting the game) standing there, I could hardly keep my emotions inside. As we finished I shook hands with the kids I was playing with and dashed off the course to hug my family. I did it. I was moving on to State.

Now admittedly I made the cut for state by about 5 shots (I found out later on). I actually surprisingly finished 2^nd in the Sectional.  State itself wasn’t quite the experience I had hoped for, but I left the course totally at peace. I got to play my final round High School round at State. I kept the ball from that Sectional. It's sitting on my desk, a symbol of me conquering a big demon for the first time.