Hey Everyone!
Well once again it has been forever since I have written a blog, but I just wanted to give everyone an update and a quick re-cap of my year.
As you know I was a rookie on the LPGA Tour for 2012. I ended up playing in a total of 5 LPGA Tournaments and also played a full schedule on the Symetra Tour (LPGA Futures Tour).
The 5 LPGA Tournaments I played in did not go the way I would have like them to, but the experience that I gained from those 5 tournaments was priceless. I have a few great memories from LPGA tournaments this year and the first one was getting to play in the inaugural Manulife Financial LPGA Classic which was held in Waterloo Ontario. Not only was I extremely excited just to get into this event, I ended up getting a pairing of a lifetime in the first 2 rounds. I got paired with Stacy Lewis and Ai Mayazato and they are 2 of the best players in the world. Actually Stacy Lewis was the 2012 LPGA Player of the Year and Ai Mayazato finished just behind her in the rankings. They were both extremely nice to play with and wow were they good! My other favourite memory of the year was getting to play in the Canadian Women's Open in Vancouver. I had my brother as my caddy and had a nice little following of about 20 family members and friends who were out there supporting me!
I had an average season on the Symetra Tour, but had a few good tournaments and my best finish was a tied for 4th in the Titan Tire Challenge in Marion, Iowa. It felt great to finally have a good showing and prove to myself that I still have what it takes to play well!
Towards the end of the year I kind of did a re-evaluation of my golf game and decided that I wanted to make a swing change. This was a huge decision for me as I have literally never changed my golf swing since I have started golf. I knew it was going to a very tough and long process but something told me it was now or never.
My brother and I kind of talked about the changes that needed to be made following the Canadian Open, and I ended up going home to my parents house in Penticton for a week. I went up to Predator Ridge to see my friend and former LPGA Star AJ Eathorne. She helped me with the first steps that I needed to take to start making the swing change.
As the season came to an end I had LPGA Q school in my sights. I started working with a guy named Jeff who is out of the Orlando area to try and successfully finish putting the changes to my swing in motion. I also started renting a place with 3 other golfers in Orlando from October until March of the new year. This is the first time in my life that I have truly worked with someone and also the first time that I have had a place to go in the winter where I could work hard on all aspects of my game.
I worked harder on my swing in the month and a half leading up to LPGA Q School then I have probably ever worked in my life! Q school was quickly approaching and I was getting excited and anxious to play. The tournament did not go the way that I had hoped, but there were a lot of great things that I learnt and that I could take away from the week. I had AJ Eathorne come and caddy for me which was great because she knows the course very well. She actually won Q school there a few years ago and also knows a thing or two about caddying! She was extremely helpful and I learnt tons from her!
For the 2013 season I will be back on the Symetra Tour. I am actually more excited about this upcoming year than any other year simply because I have a lot of confidence in the changes that I have made and I believe that this will be my best year yet!
Well once again it has been forever since I have written a blog, but I just wanted to give everyone an update and a quick re-cap of my year.
As you know I was a rookie on the LPGA Tour for 2012. I ended up playing in a total of 5 LPGA Tournaments and also played a full schedule on the Symetra Tour (LPGA Futures Tour).
The 5 LPGA Tournaments I played in did not go the way I would have like them to, but the experience that I gained from those 5 tournaments was priceless. I have a few great memories from LPGA tournaments this year and the first one was getting to play in the inaugural Manulife Financial LPGA Classic which was held in Waterloo Ontario. Not only was I extremely excited just to get into this event, I ended up getting a pairing of a lifetime in the first 2 rounds. I got paired with Stacy Lewis and Ai Mayazato and they are 2 of the best players in the world. Actually Stacy Lewis was the 2012 LPGA Player of the Year and Ai Mayazato finished just behind her in the rankings. They were both extremely nice to play with and wow were they good! My other favourite memory of the year was getting to play in the Canadian Women's Open in Vancouver. I had my brother as my caddy and had a nice little following of about 20 family members and friends who were out there supporting me!
I had an average season on the Symetra Tour, but had a few good tournaments and my best finish was a tied for 4th in the Titan Tire Challenge in Marion, Iowa. It felt great to finally have a good showing and prove to myself that I still have what it takes to play well!
Towards the end of the year I kind of did a re-evaluation of my golf game and decided that I wanted to make a swing change. This was a huge decision for me as I have literally never changed my golf swing since I have started golf. I knew it was going to a very tough and long process but something told me it was now or never.
My brother and I kind of talked about the changes that needed to be made following the Canadian Open, and I ended up going home to my parents house in Penticton for a week. I went up to Predator Ridge to see my friend and former LPGA Star AJ Eathorne. She helped me with the first steps that I needed to take to start making the swing change.
As the season came to an end I had LPGA Q school in my sights. I started working with a guy named Jeff who is out of the Orlando area to try and successfully finish putting the changes to my swing in motion. I also started renting a place with 3 other golfers in Orlando from October until March of the new year. This is the first time in my life that I have truly worked with someone and also the first time that I have had a place to go in the winter where I could work hard on all aspects of my game.
I worked harder on my swing in the month and a half leading up to LPGA Q School then I have probably ever worked in my life! Q school was quickly approaching and I was getting excited and anxious to play. The tournament did not go the way that I had hoped, but there were a lot of great things that I learnt and that I could take away from the week. I had AJ Eathorne come and caddy for me which was great because she knows the course very well. She actually won Q school there a few years ago and also knows a thing or two about caddying! She was extremely helpful and I learnt tons from her!
For the 2013 season I will be back on the Symetra Tour. I am actually more excited about this upcoming year than any other year simply because I have a lot of confidence in the changes that I have made and I believe that this will be my best year yet!
I am now home for the Holidays taking a little break from golf. I will be getting back at it as soon as I head back to Florida for the New Year and everything will be back in the "Full swing of things!" :)
Thanks for the support as always and Happy Holidays!
- Kirby