Before I write about the process and reasons for my college CHOICES I wanted to give a little history of my golf game. I needed to put into context some of the reasons I do what I do …

When I was 5…..

I hit my first golf ball, and at 6 I competed in and won my first ever golf tournament.  Since that time I have won over 150 times  and I still care more about the process then my score ….

My dad and I carefully laid out : where to hit the ball, why the ball should be placed there, how high to tee the ball on the with my driver custom driver …  how to check driver tee height…where to walk … why I should walk there …. how to write down each yardage to the flag …how and why  to write  both the club choice and result . My dad wrote the carry yardages on the back of each club so that when I used the yardage book my ever watchful dad gave me I could keep track of each shot. That homemade yardage book (I still have it) he had spent a late evening putting together I used that first event to chart my shots.  My dad had even attached a list of “rules / etiquette” for play on the back of that yardage so I wouldn’t distract the other players. That first event at Los Positas Golf Course was in some ways a test run for how I play today. I was taught to not worry about winning or score, but taught in order to score well you must worry about why each shot should be made, then the how  takes care of itself. Its about the process.  For the record the 3 years I spent playing in their events I always finished ***First*** while paying against the older kids. (***Except one time a grandfather of a player actually told his granddaughter what my score was and had her write down one less**** )   To date I have won over 150 times in 2 countries, so I think I did pretty well

My dad helped built for me a library of golf experience that combined has over 200 years of combined knowledge. I go to the library of golf every time I speak to one of my instructors

 

 

 

 

 

College choices how, when, why… its all about the process when they are awesome

In my freshman year of high school I contacted five colleges expressing an interest in their programs. The first school and coach I contacted was  Oklahoma State, and  Coach Young. OSU was the second program to send me an introduction package with the first being Indiana State. The school last of the five was Texas, with the rest of the list including UCLA, The University of Arizona and USC.

First a good karma story that kind of goes with the school choice issue.

In February of 2011 I attended an event in Murrieta California. I needed a place to hit balls off grass after an event and the place I just happened to find was the place Ricky Fowler made famous. The picture on the left was taken after I had had all my grips changed…

 

 

 

You try and see what your mentors saw 

Having never seen Texas, I went on a visit that amazing campus and coach in March of 2011. A very low pressure visit, and having had never seen anything like that campus and facility before, I was very impressed. I wanted to help ‘light up the tower” I decided I should play at the same place as my friend Ben Crenshaw did if I could make that work. Lighting that Tower became my long term goal and that seemed very cool.

 

After September 1^st 2011 I had some great conversations with both with UCLA and USC.  I decided with input from both USC & UCLA (a kick ass team)  coaches  those schools might not be  great long term fit for me.  The conversations I had with both coach’s was just great really informative and honest.  So my list of schools was temporarily down to 2,  Texas and Oklahoma State. I thought I needed a PAC 12 option, so, after receiving some interest from Coach Melissa at Arizona State during an event we decided to take an unplanned trip to Phoenix. That trip to Phoenix required an overnight drive, a drive my dad was not too pleased about. So after scheduling, and cancelling, and scheduling again, we decided to go on a road trip to ASU. Arizona State funny enough had not even been on my first list. At the time we put the list together they only had 2 players on their roster and we decided  we didn’t want much to do with that. So to make a long story really short…my visit with Coach Mellissa went great.

It’s funny the emotional havoc these trips play on both player and parent. This mental “theater” is just amazing. From the trip up the tunnel at a meaningless football game, to meeting with an athletic director or academic coach’s its all pure theater. This recruiting theater is meant to garner an emotional response, and make no mistake the ASU trip did just that. Although ASU has an amazing coach in Coach Mellissa, who has both an amazing track record and family lineage in coaching (her mom even has an NCAA tournament named after her) it’s her ability to recruit that has few equals.  Coach Mellissa has the ability to make a recruit feel like she is the only kid in the room. She is very honest about her passion for her program and its ability to change your life, but plain and simple she is one of the best recruiters we ever saw.  So if only for about 24 hours, it’s true the kid that wanted to go to other schools, never even thinking about ASU was seriously thinking about being a Sun Devil…REALLY no, not really

So here we are today committed to Oklahoma State. How did that happen?

After finding UT the better of what I had seen I really didn’t need another college option I thought. But a funny thing happened while debating with my dad about the need to travel to Oklahoma after verbally committing to Texas. I was asked by 2 of my coaches to look a OSU again if I could. They were both impressed with the process OSU used in finding student athletes and were more impressed with coach Bratton and that amazing facility. It was their opinion a culture of success going back a decade or more would help me reach a bit higher and that culture was something missing in any of the choices I made so far.   So, I  asked my dad to reach out to coach Bratton and see if he would meet with us if we went to Stillwater.  Having agreed  to meet we went off to see Stillwater Oklahoma,  or as my dad says ” 2 plane flights and an hour drive away”  we got to see what all the fuss was about.

While on the flight to Stillwater I remembered reading an email after I had made my commitment to Texas public from coach Bratton.  He had congratulated me on my choice of Texas and wished me well. That email stuck in the back of my head because it was the only unsolicited note I got about my choice from a coach.  Although the Ole Miss coach wrote me an awesome email  after finding out from me I wasn’t going to go there,  and both the coaches at UCLA and USC sent me great notes,  coach Bratton’s email was  a little different. It’s  funny though, I remember one coach who  shall remain nameless  that during my process told me  ” don’t worry if they were your friends before this process they will be your friends after  if they are “real friends” so don’t feel  bad about coming to our school”  Well except for coach Bratton  the rest of the coaches just deleted me from Twitter and Facebook, stopped returning calls  and  moved on. So much for the friend theory its all about perception .   I also reminded my dad that at the PGA Junior, and the US Junior Girls,  coach Bratton watched me a lot, even  going so far as to fly  to Indiana after a trip to Europe (I asked around)  His email messages were always positive, and in fact required I respond with any question I might have. He kept me engaged and interested in what he sent. He wanted me involved in the process of what ever  he was sending , not a parent or coach. More importantly he responded to my calls  and questions with an small email note without delay. He could write a book with a Blackberry, those thumbs move at lightning speed.  If he missed my call he made sure to let me know when to contact him by email. So  I felt I owed coach Bratton at least a conversation if not a serious look at his program. My dad happily made contact and we decided to visit.

 WHAT I SAW AND FELT

While we walked the OSU  facilities at both Karsten Creek and OSU,  you could really see that coach Bratton was showing me what they could do to make me a better player, not what I could do for them.  When I visited  with his players you could see they cared about winning, but cared about each other getting better as well. They spoke of how their games had improved since getting to Stillwater and  how coach Bratton had helped change how they “thought” about their own play. Those players  felt coach Bratton in combination with  the facilities would make them better players and better people.  When  one of my coaches visited Oklahoma State and coach Bratton, he came away with a feeling that his program was simply built to help its players succeed.  Don’t get me wrong,  other programs do some of the same things,  just this one gave you the resources and opportunities if you want to play golf at a very high level. They took away all the excuses . OK .. so enough said its an awesome place

One more thing about coach Bratton … He took the time to meet with my local coach Rick Rhoads for few hours so he could see firsthand who had played a role in shaping my golf game.  He did that during an event in the bay area in which his  team was playing,  so I am sure it was not the easiest thing to do.

Ok  so why did I write all this stuff. Why did I let people see inside my choice?  Partially because I could,  I love to write. But I also did this because others were starting to control a narrative that was less then helpful.  Was this about what someone didn’t do… no it was defiantly not. It was about what some people did do and its about the process that has many many rules.  Who can call who, when you can be emailed, twittered, facebooked and even talked to. I  let people see why I changed my mind about schools, really  because changing your mind for the right reasons is ok. I wanted to let people know the guilt trip you get from SOME coaches about changing your mind is only there to stop you from doing just that. I spoke to some awesome coaches who believed in their programs and saw some great schools.  There are some who think that a change of heart shows you as a bit stupid or naive,  I was called both as was my dad. (I have a long memory about that kind of thing,  I’m still young)   Still others  think once you verbally commit that’s it no more looking, not true either for some. Here is a truth, over 140 girls changed schools as either freshman, sophomores  or juniors last year alone in Division I Women’s golf. Cal as an example has 3 girls who were transfers  from other schools including their top 2 players.  All those 4 year opportunities  are 1 year at a time  and don’t have to be renewed.  So before somebody goes a bit overboard I would suggest changing now is a lot better than changing later, and changing to a place you just loved is better then staying at a place you like. Its not about who might help you do laundry, its about a passion for doing what you love where you love to do it.   Its for me about  maybe graduating.  WE WILL GET THIS DONE …

 AHHH I feel better already

 

GO POKES IT’S SOON MY TIME !!!!!!!