Blog

I want to start by saying how much I appreciate all of you who follow my career! I didn't realize the extent of it, until I decided to skip the tournament in Hammond, IN last weekend. That Friday, I got several emails and text messages saying something like, "I can't find your name on the tee sheet...are you sick or hurt?" Well, I can tell all of you that I am neither sick nor hurt.

Since this year's schedule is really hectic right around now (10 tournaments in 11 weeks!), and I got asked to do two different golf outings if I didn't play last week, so I accepted those offers. 

I also didn't want to play five tournaments in a row, so when my golf club here in Sweden asked me (or almost begged me, haha) to come home and play the National Team Championships, I decided to take a little break in the middle of all these Future's tournaments, and make a trip to Sweden!

Right now, it feels great to be back in Sweden. After all, it is the first time in four years that I have been able to go home in the summer time! The only thing that does not feel great, is that my luggage didn't not get here. This is unfortunately not unusual. However, what is unusual is that my bags right now are on their way to Sydney!!!

Don't ask me how it happened, but somehow I got the wrong bag tags and at this point I'm just hoping that I will get my clothes and my golf bag back at some point soon! I'll keep you updated on that adventure... :)

The last couple of weeks, my host family has not had wireless internet...that combined with that my website got hacked into for a period of time made it hard for me to do any updates. 

This week, my room mate and I are staying with a older man (about 80), and we were happily surprised when we got here and noticed that he has several HD tvs, blu-ray, wireless internet, etc etc! Cool dude!! :)

So far, our road trip has gone really well! We started by driving from Orlando to Cedar Rapids, IA, from there to Cincinnati, OH, and right now we are in Decatur, IL. Talk about putting miles on your car, hahaha... When you get bored, you figure out something to do, like here, talking a picture of my feet, lol! :)

This weeks is the Tyte&Lyle Players Championship, the only four day tournament all year. It is also one of the largest purses, and therefore a great tournament to bring your A game! :)

I like this course, and have played well here in the past, so I'm looking forward to the tournament this week. I've already played in two pro-ams this week and they were both great! (We couldn't finish either one of them, bacause of weather, but we still had a lot of fun!) Now I'm getting ready to head to the golf course and play in a third pro-am this week, and I already know who I'm playing with so I'll have an awesome time in this one as well! 

...and not just any road trip! Before I went to check that everything was fine with my car this week, I added up the amount of miles my roommate and I will be driving over the next several weeks. I figured out that it is going to be approximately 6000 miles!! (Don't worry, I did change both the belts and front brakes in my car...lol!)

Our first trip is going to be from Orlando to Iowa. It's about a 20 hour drive, so we're going to do it in two days, starting tomorrow morning. Believe it or not, but I'm kind of excited about it! :)

 Here's me and my partner in crime... :)

After Iowa, we have a few tournaments up around Chicago. It's going to feel great to "only" have to drive 7 hours or so to the next tournament! After that, I'm taking a couple of tournaments off, both because I think it's going to be too much to play five tournaments in a row, only have one week off, and then play five more tournaments in a row, but also because it's then a great opportunity for me to go back to Sweden and play in the Swedish National Team Championship!

Now it's time for me to finish packing! It might take a while, because when I leave tomorrow, I'm not coming back to Orlando for almost 3 months! I'll keep you updated on how the road trips and tournaments go. Keep on smiling! :) 

Now I've got something exciting to tell you... Instead of going back to Orlando during my last off week, I flew from San Antonio to Sweden to visit my family and friends!! It's the first time in 4 years that I've been home during the spring or summer!

It's always nice to be home and spend time with friends and family and eat some Swedish food (and candy, lol!) but this time it was also nice to be in Sweden when it wasn't freezing and 3 feet of snow.  

When I was home, I realized how much I love the spring! It was still a little bit too cold for me to really love it, but it's beautiful when all the trees and flowers start to bloom! Just look at this picture from downtown Stockholm and you'll know what I mean...

  (I represented the tour well with this vest, haha! Since I came straight from almost 100 degree weather in Texas I couldn't pack too much warm clothes, so this golf vest worked great!)

The whole week, I made sure to eat all the Swedish food that I miss and can't get over here. I also loaded up on some Swedish candy that I'll share with the Swedes on tour. I know they'll get as excited as I got when I had my first bite! If you haven't tried it, you'll have to take my world for it...Swedish candy really is the best candy in the world!! (I might just be slightly biased..haha.)

  After a great week in Stockholm, I am now in Kansas for the tournament this upcoming weekend. I'm feeling good about my game. I'm used to a bit chilly weather after the week in Sweden and I'm going to be more excited than anyone to be on a golf course that's in good shape. I played 9 holes with my dad one day and only 5 of the greens were open so the other 4 had provisional greens. Needless to say, the snow had pretty much just melted and there were quite a few bumps and bare spots all over the course.   

Now it's time for me to book a tee time for my practice round tomorrow! Take care and I'll write more soon! :)

Wow. I have now lived in Florida for almost 8 years. After these years, I thought I had learned how to stay hydrated during the hot and humid summer days. Well, I was wrong. This past Friday was one of those really hot and humid days here in south Texas, with almost no breeze. It literally felt like you walked into a sauna when you stepped outside, so what did I do? I drank water. 

My problem as you might think was not that I didn't drink enough water - I actually ended up drinking too much! I felt fine all day Friday, but ended up with a little head ace that night, which I didn't think much of. When I woke up Saturday I was pretty tired and I started feeling nauseous when I walked out in the sun. On the golf course I still didn't think much of it, more than that it was weird that I had a hard time eating and drinking. 

When I get home at night after a tournament round I'm usually hungry. My host family had dinner ready for me, but just the thought of food made me sick. I ended up taking a shower, had one bite of food, and then went to bed at 9 pm. After the worst night of my life, where I was freezing, sweating, and throwing up, I woke up feeling like my head was going to explode. About two hours later, I had finally been able to finish a coke and a banana and I felt better again. 

My host family told me today that I probably drank too much water! I did some research and I'm pretty sure I had water intoxication. By drinking that much water, I caused an imbalance in the electrolytes in my body, making me sick. 

From now on, I'll make sure to drink some powerade or similar, and not just water during my rounds! You learn something every day! :)  

This weeks tournament is in Rancho Viejo, TX. What I remembered from last year was first, that my host family was super nice and made delicious mango smoothies, haha....and second, that it was really windy during the entire tournament! 

When we first got here this week, I was surprised to see that it was almost no wind the first couple of days. Finally today, I recognized the Texas wind. A couple of times I had to focus on my balance so that I wouldn't fall over! 

It seems like the wind is going to keep going tomorrow, not quite as much as today, but it'll definitely be some wind out there. This course is flat, but has several doglegs and the fairways are pretty narrow, so I think the wind makes the course more fun! I like the it and I'm up for the challenge! :)

Unfortunately the greens are bumpy, due to the cold winter. Despite that, I love this tournament because there are plenty of volunteers, we feel really welcome, and everybody are super nice! I'll just have to make sure that the putts jump my way... ;)

 Ps. This picture is taken in Florida and not on this weeks greens...lol! :)

Yeah!!! I finally had a tournament where I hit the ball well! :) I think I've been focusing on my swing so much that I have almost forgotten the whole concept of just seeing your target and hitting the ball there. Therefore, that's what I started doing in Daytona Beach, FL.

I had told myself that I was going to have more fun on the course, be less hard on myself, and focus on my target instead of my swing. This seemed to be a great plan because I hit the ball better than I have all year. The first day of the tournament I hit a lot of greens, but didn't make that many putts. The second day I had to scramble a little bit more, and then finally the third day I got most of it together. I ended up shooting 72-72-69 and was three under par for the week. 

Another fun thing about last week was that my parents were here! They came along with another couple that they traveled with and it was awesome to see all of them and speak some Swedish. I asked my dad to caddy for me and we had a great time! :)

 I also had a photo shoot last week and that's where these pictures are from. I have gotten a lot of really cute clothes from Quagmire so that's what I'm wearing this year. I'm also wearing Roxor sunglasses, which are great! They make my eyes relaxed and they are also awesome while reading the greens. You should all check them out! 

One way I'm reminding myself to have more fun on the golf course is by having a monkey butt as a head cover for my putter, haha. It's really cute and when looking at it, you really can't be mad. During last week's pro-am, I got a new nickname - "Monkey butt!" :) Keep on smiling and you'll all play better golf and have more fun!! 

So this has definitely been an interesting week to say the least. Yesterday I had a late tee time, so I woke up early and had breakfast at the hotel and then again when I got to the golf course around 10.30. After that, I couldn't eat again until after my round at 6 pm. I don't know if I ate something bad or what happened, but I was sick to my stomach and literally felt like shit. 

Never before have I not finished a hole because I had to run to the bathroom, but that happened a couple of times during my round yesterday. It was therefore hard to really focus and care as much whether or not a 3-footer went in when you didn't know if you were going to make it to the next restroom. It was water and powerade for me all day...

I ended up with an 81 and all I can do is laugh about it and be happy that I'm feeling better today! I had a much better day today, both with my stomach and with golf, but unfortunately not good enough to make up for yesterday.  

To look at it from the bright side, I never gave up even for a second and I didn't let it bother me (at least not mentally) that I was starving but couldn't eat. I did my best both yesterday and today, and even though I wasn't under par like planned today, I kept on fighting!

When I had 6 holes left, I thought to myself that I probably had to birdie every hole coming in to make the cut. At this point I had a par 5 in front of me and I figured I'd make it easier on myself and hole out a wedge for an eagle. I hit my wedge exactly the way I wanted to, landed a little less than a foot from the hole and ended up about 3 feet from the hole. Birdie. The hole after that was another par 5 so I had the same plan for that hole. There was a backstop behind that hole on the right and I landed my wedge just about where I wanted to but spun back a couple of feet too much left instead of back. Birdie. 

At this point I was on a roll and I knew that I could still make it. Then it was the island green par 3 where they had put the pin way in the front of the green and the wind was coming from behind. I was thinking hole-in-one. I hit my 6-iron right over the pin, but it carried it maybe 10 feet too far (I was going to be aggressive, but not stupid) and it rolled out a little bit. Par. 

It wasn't until a buried lie in the bunker on the following par 4 that made me realize that it would be hard to make the cut. At least I tried and now I'm about to head back to the hotel and take a stroll on the beach! I guess it's not the worst place to get stuck on after missing a cut... The thing that I'm mostly mad about is that I was determined to tame the tiger and beat the course, but I was eaten alive! There is always next tournament...for now, I'm going to enjoy a one day's vacation!! :) 

That is the question this week. We are in Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico this week for the next Duramed Future's event and the course we are playing is called "El Tigre." The crazy thing is that just outside the course they have cages with live, huge tigers!!! (The pictures does not make justice...they are HUGE!)

  We're staying at the hotel right by the golf course and everything has been fantastic since the day we got here. It helps that the sun is shining, it's about 85 degrees, we get great food at the golf course, the hotel is right by the beach...and last but not least, the golf course is great! :)

  I just played the golf course, went in for some great lunch in the club house, emailed my parents, and now it's time to go out and practice! It feels like it should be illegal to sit inside on a beautiful day like today...and I have a feeling that the weather is going to be like this all week long! :) Check out www.duramedfuturestour.com for some more info about the tournament and results later on this week. I might not be great with updating my results...and can you blame me when I can practice on a perfect driving range or putting green, or take a swim in the pool or ocean!?! :)

Yeah, now is the time that we've all been waiting for...it's the first week of the Duramed Future's Tour!! :) This week we're in Winter Haven, Florida. Unfortunately, the course is not in the best shape, mainly due to a bad winter here in Florida and I just found out today that it's not going to be lift-clean-and-place. I am surprised at that decision, but since there's nothing I can do about it, I'll just try to go out there with a better attitude than most of the other 143 girls, be patient with the crappy lies, the mud on the ball, and the bumps on the greens. Even though it's not always fun to play in conditions like that, it is the same for everybody! :)

I have to admit that coming from an off season with both new clubs, with both different shafts and new grooves,  and a new swing coach that I haven't been able to see as much as I would have liked, my expectations at this point are pretty low. This does not mean that I don't feel good about my game or that I don't think I can win, because I do! However, I know that trying to get used to some different swing thoughts as well as my new clubs takes some time. I'm therefore not going to be upset if my game is a bit more inconsistent than I would like, because I know that my swing is really close to where I want it and when I do hit it well it feels great! 

Tomorrow is the first day of the tournament and my attitude at this point is really that I've got nothing to loose! I know that both my mental game and my short game are great and that's a huge chunk of what golf is all about. In a couple of weeks when I'm hitting the ball more consistent, I'll be more consistent, and that's when you're really going to have to watch out!!! :)

For now, patience is going to be the key word for me and by having that attitude, I hope there will be plenty of pars and birdies for me out on the course!