Tournament Takeaways - We're So Back

I'm fresh off my first tournament victory of the 2026 golf season. I played in a 3 day, 2 person flighted best ball match play series at my home club. It was full days of sunshine, bonus barefoot holes after each round, and too many mimosas and birdie shots to count.

Sunday, the final day – was one of those days where it's hard not to be romantic about golf. My stellar teammate (seriously, she is a dawg and a big reason I'm inspired to work on my golf game again) and I won our flight, which meant we got to play in a horse race with the other 5 flight winning teams.

For anyone who hasn't played in a horse race, they're stressful. It's alternate shot and you usually have a crowd spectating (and sometimes heckling). Teams are usually cut after each hole. Being the weaker of the two person team and a nervous golfer already, I mostly wanted to avoid making critical errors. But saying "don't mess up" doesn't usually help, does it?

What helped was sticking with the same pre-shot routine I always have. One practice swing (two only if something feels weird), stand behind the ball, pick a distant target, look down and find a patch of grass or something else to align with, address the ball, one takeaway waggle, then say to myself "smooth swing" and swing.

We made the cut the first hole with a bogey, I teed off on the second hole with a solid tee shot and well-paced lag putt to keep us in for hole 18, our final hole. It's a nemesis hole for me – OB right – my nightmare as a leftie with a pull miss. It's a hole I very rarely par even without an external pressure. I made solid contact off the tee but was almost certain I took a bounce into a fairway bunker right. Turns out, the ball stayed in the rough and was in a good spot for my teammate to stick the green in regulation (I never had a doubt). I lagged the putt up, she had a short putt for par, and we were able to secure the victory. I have to say it felt pretty good to beat a bunch of men. 

Winning is great, but having that glimmer of hope and trust in myself was the real victory from the weekend. I had a lot of bad holes, but that's one thing I love about match play. Every golfer will tell you to leave the bad shots behind, but that's easier said than done. In match play, once the hole is over, it's really over. I worked all weekend on forgetting the bad shots, forgetting the bad holes, and staying focused on the opportunity ahead of me on every shot.

If you're a real golf sicko like I am, you've probably experienced that feeling down about your golf game can trickle into other parts of your life. I've certainly felt that way recently. On top of watching my handicap climb two strokes, I've struggled with how long launching apparel is taking, balancing a 9-5 with this business, and keeping that glimmer of hope alive.

But this weekend's tournament was a good reminder that you're always one good shot away from being able to say, "We're so back." If you trust your process and trust your practice, your brain and body really can lock in even when the external noise creeps up. Plus – it never hurts to have someone in your corner who inspires you to perform during high pressure situations.