Warriors Go to State!

Hello again! There's a lot that's happened since my last post, so hopefully I can write a bit on that later, but I want to start with the most recent event.

My brother and his teammates qualified for State in golf! They definitely deserved it. This was their first year as an accredited school (he goes to a private school) so to make it all the way to State in their first year shows a lot of potential!

I come from a golf-oriented background. My dad has played golf for years and introduced me to the game in 6th grade. I played competitively through  my senior year of high school and learned a lot about multiple areas of life that I still pride myself in today. Golf also allowed me to build a relationship with my dad that no one else could understand. It gave us about 8 hours every weekend to just spend time together. Out of about 20 tournaments while in high school, my dad only missed one. He was so dedicated to support me despite the travel, dreadful weather, and everything going on with his job. It built a relationship that will last throughout our lives. Because of this, I understand how important  it was for my brother to start playing golf. As I got older, my dad was able to build that same relationship with my brother, giving him support during tournaments, playing a couple of times each weekend, and making memories together.

Since I understand how important golf is in all of our relationships, I was determined to watch my brother play in his golf tournament.

I felt so blessed to be around my family for such a momentous event! Since my wedding, I haven't seen or talked to my family as much as we're used to, so we had three days of quality time together! Plus, making it to the highest level of ANY competition is rare, so I was ecstatic that my brother got to experience such a neat opportunity! I was also excited that I could give him advice in person. Up until this point, I would text him or chat with him about advice or stories I had, hoping they would leave a positive, lasting effect on his mental game. This time, I got to look him in the eye, put my arm around him, and get him excited about his mission ahead.

Golf is one of the most underestimated sports physically, mentally and emotionally. There is so much pressure because there is nothing one player can do in order to stop another player from doing well. In football, basketball, soccer, tennis, and almost every other sport, the players can make plays or other moves to defeat the other player(s). In golf, you're solely competing against yourself. Getting any advice to help alleviate the pressure you put on yourself is wonderful, especially when it comes from someone who has been in such pressured situations. So I'm glad I finally got to be there.

God is so good to bless me with this trip to watch my brother experience such a rare and exciting opportunity! We definitely made memories on this trip that we will laugh about for years to come!

Until next time,

Kristen