JKD GOLF

 New Beginnings. Team 43

Sept 2nd, 2019

College golf is upon us. New beginnings. Opportunities are boundless! Pictured here is one of our freshmen, Hailey Borja, putting on the 10th hole at the University of Michigan Golf Course. I love this image because of the vastness of number 10 green along with our beautiful campus in the background. Fitting since classes begin in less than 24 hours. Tomorrow is the first day of school, and we have already completed two rounds of qualifying. There is lots of depth on this team, and I can feel the competitiveness push everyone already. Five rounds of qualifying is 90 holes to establish yourself and make a statement for the first tournament of the season. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. And, the intelligent players will be able to put each round, each nine, each hole, and each swing in perspective. The 10th green is huge, and so are the opportunities this season. I can't wait to see what’s in store this season!

Inverness - Glass City Invitational

Sept 18, 2019

We brought home some hardware at our opening tournament to kick off the 2019-2020 season! In golf, it’s always an accomplishment, even though our ultimate goal is to win. Our team finished second, four strokes behind a very strong Florida Gators team, and beat many teams that have had our number the past two seasons. This is a huge confidence booster for our group. The players know we are a deeper team with loads of talent, but I don’t think they quite realized their capabilities. Furthermore, our team counted an even or under par round from all five players in the lineup. And, to shoot such solid numbers on such a difficult track is another factor that will help our group build more confidence. Inverness has hosted four US Opens, two PGA Championships, two NCAA Championships and the anticipated 2021 Solheim Cup. To say it’s a great test of golf, is an understatement. As a coach, I was proud of how they handled the course conditions (firm and fast with deep rough), and worked hard to keep the ball on the strong side of the pin positions.

Our first road trip together is always revealing of personalities, which is one of my favorite aspects of coaching. It’s really where you learn more about personalities and all our little human intricacies that make us, well, human. We learned that Hailey has never eaten a wrap before (and she liked it!), and apparently we are great content for some solid vlogs (see below!). Lastly, our breakfasts were challenging to say the least. With early start times, sequencing out our morning routine is very important. Our hotel (Courtyard Marriott) bogeyed their breakfast, and we didn’t receive any of our pre-ordered food. The players took it all in stride, and adapted to this unfortunate disruption of our morning routine. They changed their warm up and totally embraced some Chick-Fil-A during warm ups on the practice range. I was impressed!

The players are embracing the fact that our team is deep, and that competitiveness at home in practice every day is assisting them in their development and pushing them to new scoring levels. The word competition comes from the latin word, competere, which means; strive for something together. The results will continue to show, and I can’t wait for our next event in Chicago!

What Would the Farmer Say? The Windy City

Oct 2nd, 2019

Tournament two of the fall was one of our biggest field challenges of the entire season. Many of the perennial top ranked teams in the nation were hosted by Northwestern University at the historic Glen View Club in the north suburbs of Chicago. The teams were all treated to a fabulous evening in downtown Chicago to do some shopping at the Under Armour Brand store off Michigan Avenue. Fitting, I know. But spending time on our namesake street didn’t give us much luck.

Our team finished the last nine holes of the tournament at one under to finish T14th with Augusta. A desperately strong finish that was very much a necessity. Our tie for last place feels a little bit like kissing your sister, but I guess it’s better than solo DFL. It was not our best performance by any means, but we must create a positive narrative to move forward with confidence. Our ball striking wasn’t very good, and although the fairways were very forgiving, if you did happen to miss, you paid a hefty price. I shared the following with the team, which was a podcast I heard from Earn Your Edge. Kramer Hickock, a newly minted PGA Tour player shared a Chinese parable that really helped him re-frame events that happen to him on the course, and dedicates earning his PGA Tour card to what he learned from this ancient story:

https://wellsbaum.blog/alan-watts-story-of-the-chinese-farmer/

My interpretation is that it’s impossible to predict whether events are perceived as “good” or “bad”, or will bring fortune or misfortune in the future. And, labeling events can be a paradox with a slippery slope. Good things turn into bad, and the bad things turn into good. You can’t force outcomes, but you can control how you respond. The greats in any arena are able to create a narrative that allow themselves to move forward without wasting much emotional energy on things they can’t control. I hope this is how are team responds. Our narrative should be that a weakness was exposed with a poor wedge game inside 100 yards. Our ball striking will go awry from week to week, but a solid score can be posted with above average wedge play inside 100 yards and around the green. It was an obvious weakness at Glen View, and has motivated us to put pressure on our short games in practice. We will keep things in perspective and remember to ask; what would the farmer say?

When the Putts Don’t Drop - Ruth’s Chris Tar Heel

Oct 11-13, 2019

This is the time where you have to believe. This is where you lean on your habits as a golfer, athlete and disciplined human being. Do you believe in your work ethic, practice habits and approach to practice and preparation? Or, do you doubt yourself and lose belief?

These are the questions that will rattle around the brain of athletes and coaches after two consecutive tournaments of less than desirable results. From a coaches’ perspective, there was a lot of great golf from our week down in Chapel Hill. As a team, we made 143 pars over 54 holes. That was good enough for 4th of all 18 teams in this particular statistic. The field of teams was quite impressive, so this isn’t easily ignored. Considering we finished tied for 13th, this statistic stood out as a positive. I interpret this high number of pars as great course management, a solid short game and good decision making. But, the putts just wouldn’t drop. We had a few hot streaks, but not nearly enough to catch teams that caught fire. Which, was clearly a requirement on a score-able golf course. The fairways were firm and fast, and the greens soft and smooth. A fun combination and great for going low!

There is a famous article in the coaching world called “The Mundanity of Excellence”, by Daniel Chambliss. The link is here. It’s an excellent journal article on how to develop in swimming specifically, but can be applied to any realm. Who can persevere when faced with adversity? Who decides to keep up their good habits when things aren’t going as planned? Those who commit to specific habits over a sustained period of time achieve excellence. Habits, completed daily, IS excellence over time. It’s simple, but difficult to achieve. The best in the world show up day after day. These brilliant human beings don’t wait for motivation, they chose discipline, over and over again. Tiger’s practice habits are hearsay. But, I have heard that he makes over fifty 8 footers a day with his left hand only, his right hand only and then both hands. That’s 150 putts! Over years and years of training, he has developed tremendous feel and made so many clutch putts. I know that’s an understatement!

One tournament certainly doesn’t define you. And, even two tournaments don’t define you. We must stick to our well formed habits, keep believing, and continue learning. Go Blue!

Back to Carolina - The Landfall Tradition - Oct 25-27, 2019

Oh so close to some really solid golf! Our team finished 13th out of 18 teams at The Landfall Tradition down in Wilmington, NC. This tournament is a favorite among our team. The membership at The Landfall puts on an incredible show throughout the weekend for the collegiate players. It feels like a major championship, and we feel so welcomed to the property. They take great pride in this tournament, have hundreds of volunteers, and the golf course is in immaculate condition. This Pete Dye layout is a great test. We also have designated families that invite our team over for a home cooked meal, and we of course, have die hard Michigan fans as our hosts. Over the past three years, this group have become our friends, and we are grateful.

We are disappointed we couldn’t catch the same fire we ignited at Inverness. We are all desperate to return to that form, but we continue to see flashes of brilliance in our team rounds. On the first day, our team was leading at 5 under through 8 holes. Day two was a bit slow, but we were able to re-focus in the final round and more of our potential shined through in spots. Through 12 holes, we were 5 under yet again, and posted the 4th lowest score of the day. Our group had something to prove on that final day. Mandi and I challenged the team to create a mini goal for the last day. Hannah, our reliable captain, stated a valiant response with a focus on each shot, and giving it their all. The feedback was that each player was way too focused on their score, and therefore, getting ahead of themselves. I loved it. It made me proud that the players realized great golf comes with a singular focus; the current shot. Simple concept, not easily executed. And, this goal was completely in our control.

We had 4 different lineup changes throughout the fall, with only two players competing in all four events. We know we can go low with the hot steaks we’ve had. And, we know we can put together three solid rounds of golf with our 2nd place finish at Inverness. That’s plenty of proof we’ve got what it takes. Our players and coaches will work hard to bridge the gap between our great stretches and when we struggle. We do need to improve, and we will do so by continually competing and being effective in our practice. Our depth is forcing players to make improvements that will help our team. Weaknesses are exposed, but with the right attitude, overcome with focused work. Depth and competition make the cream rise to the top! Our team has lots to look forward to this spring, with an incredible tournament schedule in some great locations. Exciting opportunities lie ahead, and our focus must get back to daily improvement.

Guadalajara — Hola, Spring Season!

February 20, 2020

Hola, Spring Season!!! It feels so great to be back competing with this great group of student athletes. Our trip to Guadalajara was planned almost a year ago, and it was absolutely worth the hard work in preparation of our travel. Guadalajara Country Club, the University of Virginia, and the Mexican Golf Federation organized an experience of a life time for all of the teams and players.

As for the golf, our team got better every day. That is extremely important to note. Before the tournament began, we talked about having “no excuses”. We’ve put in good work, we’ve had a productive training weekend in Florida, and most importantly, we know how to commit to shots and make high percentage course management decisions. That’s what it takes to play high level collegiate golf, and we know we are capable of that. Ashley Kim had a particularly strong weekend. She posted scores of 70-69-74 to finish T8th in a very strong field. Her ball striking and bounce back mentality was impressive. She’s worked hard on her golf swing over the past 8 months. In the fall season, her swing went back and forth from old habits to new, making her ball flight and carry distances unpredictable and therefore, difficult to score consistently. It was really cool to see her hard work pay off and her confidence is soaring! We finished the event with a 291 team score on the final day, which is our 2nd lowest team tally of the season. The final round was highlighted with Hailey Borja’s personal collegiate record score of 70. Over the course of the tournament, our team made 36 birdies and an eagle. Some of that is the layout of the course, but there is a lot of good ball striking and putting happening to post 36 birdies! Again, a big confidence booster as we head into our spring trip where we compete in two tournaments over 8 days.

Like any trip, it’s never just about the golf, and our team really embraced the cultural experience of being in a new country. Language barriers were a challenge for some, but thankfully we had a few proficient Spanish speaking members on our travel squad. There was also some overconfident dinner orders made, that produced 15 tacos for dinner, as opposed to the requested four. But, it was worth every penny in entertainment value when four massive plates of tacos showed up at our table!

Our gracious tournament hosts put on both an opening and closing ceremonies that including speeches from the higher ups in the Mexican Golf Federation and dignitaries. Guadalajara Country Club is steeped in history, with the club establishing in the early 1900s, and the current property that we competed on was designed and built in the early 1940s. They are very proud of this established athletic club, and rightfully so. Each hole has it’s own unique character, and the forest within the property has breathtaking variety. What gives the club such a magical feel is how the city has grown up around the property lines. Skyscrapers peer over the horizon of several holes, creating a feeling of sanctuary in a large and rambunctious city (almost 2 million people in the city center, alone).

Guadalajara Country Club is world renowned for their caddies, which has become a lost art in the modern golf era, and a non existent in the collegiate system. Lucky for us, the University of Virginia received an exemption to allow these famed caddies to help our players. We had a great group that helped our team and it was really heartwarming to witness each player learn to communicate and build a report with their new team member. Ashley Lau worked on her Spanish throughout the week, which seemed relatively easy for her considering she is proficient in three languages already (English, Malay, Chinese). By the last day, she expressed her respect of him by explaining how encouraging he was, and how he knew when to say something and when to be quiet. Isn’t this the Golden Rule in caddying around the world?!?!  Their communication was simple, yet powerful.

Hailey had one of the more veteran members of our caddie squad, Ricardo. It’s worth noting that he proudly worked Monday through Sunday, and he and his father worked at Guadalajara Country Club for 33 and 50 years, respectfully. Ricardo knew every nook and cranny of the course, and was an exceptional presence for Hailey. He also had to wake up at 3:30am every morning to get to GCC for his daily walk around GCC. This unwavering commitment to his craft gained our respect immediately.

Overall, our trip to Guadalajara was an experience of a lifetime. The food, the views, the golf course and the proud Mexican culture all created a world class opportunity for our team. Our momentum is building as we embrace each tournament. We must remain focused on our journey, and how we improve as a team, and individually. Next up, Spring Break 2020 in the Sunshine State!

SBK2020 -- Adventures in the Florida wind, Calzones and Everglade Whips

March 10th, 2020

Two tournaments in eight days, three different hotels, and over 400 miles traveled in two very “sporty” mini vans. A winners trophy, TWO team top four finishes, meeting a baby Gator named Larry, and Calzone eating challenges in the artsy Wynwood district of Miami nicely sums up our Winter Break. The calendar lined up to allow our team to play two outstanding and historic Donald Ross layouts, and a bonus (to some!), without missing any school days. As coaches, March is a big month for our development. Practicing indoors gets stale after being outside playing in tournaments throughout February. To guarantee outdoor golf, we’ve learned to stack our tournament schedule so we are on the road lots in March. It’s hectic, but some rest after this stretch will be useful for recovery and our most important stretch of events in April and May. 

At the Hurricane Invitational, our team found ourselves in the final pairing with host school Miami and TCU. We were led by Ashley Kim’s red hot rounds 74-69-72, which tied her for first and her inaugural collegiate winners trophy! Ashley celebrated with a dive into the historic pool at The Biltmore! And, a private celebration with a very sweaty workout, by herself in the hotel gym the next morning. No one made her do it, and no one woke her up. Super dedication, particularly after such a successful personal week of golf.

Since we didn’t have to rush to the airport to catch a flight back to Ann Arbor, our team took advantage of some free time to enjoy more of the great outdoors. We signed up for an air boat tour through the Everglades National Park to see gators in the wild, along with many beautiful blue herons, purple gallinules, and turtles. The ride through the National Park was fast! And slow turning! It’s hard to explain, but slightly terrifying and very loud. The tour guide was a big ol’ southern boy who enlightened us about python hunting. Since pythons have no predators, they are growing in population and size, threatening native wildlife. He and his buddies hunt several nights (!) a week, wading through the swamp.  They distinguish gators from pythons with the color of their eyes reflecting off their headlamps. Green for python, red for gator. They catch these snakes with their bare hands! Incredible courage, and not something you could pay me a million bucks to do. I could barely hold Larry the Baby Gator, and he had his mouth banded.  The tour ended with a fascinating wildlife show. I was impressed with the curious minds and love of animals from our players. We met a scorpion, a cane toad, and watched our guide feed the rescued gators raw meat from a metal rod. The Gators were surprisingly tame considering he was in the pen with them. Yikes!

We also took a tour through the very artsy Wynwood district of Miami. This area is framed with murals and graffiti painted on abandoned warehouses. It’s a really cool way to revitalize a neighborhood, and it’s become quite popular.  This must have inspired Anika to go big. After ordering a Calzone twice the size of her head, the team activated their competitive juices once again with a challenge to complete her meal, unassisted, of course. I’m still not clear what Anika earned for this feat, but she capped off the evening with an ice cream, completely unfazed. Absolutely brilliant.

On day five of our trip, with the wind howling again, Hailey, a newcomer to Florida golf, inquired “Is it always this windy in Florida?”. Why yes, Hailey. Yes it is. Another day in 30+ mph winds, and this Southern California gal was about ready for a direct flight back to Orange County. But, she is tough, and decided this wind is unavoidable -- so she began to master the very handy knockdown shot. Hailey is a quick learner and used this utility play throughout the Gators Invitational to earn herself a top ten finish, and her first since the Inverness Collegiate.

Once again, our team earned our way into the final pairing on the last day with host school Florida and top 25 ranked Virginia Tech.  We felt like we could really pull off a win, as the host school had a lot of pressure on them. This competitive experience is invaluable to our development as a team, and we are gaining confidence by getting comfortable in this hard to earn position. It’s also making us hungry for more!  In the final round, we posted the 2nd lowest team score of the day, and saved our best round for the last day. This data provides gigantic clues and absolute proof that we rise to the occasion when the opportunity presents itself. Ashley Kim was close to bringing home some more hardware, and a few mental/course management mistakes has left her hungry to perform again next week.

The Corona Virus is threatening to close down schools, and quite possibly our athletic seasons. Here’s hoping the worst predictions don’t come true because these Wolverines are getting hot, and our confidence is soaring!!

COVID - 19 NATIONAL SHUTDOWN

March 17, 2020

Well, the worst case scenario came true. On March 12th at approximately 4pm, the B1G Conference cancelled all conference and non-conference championships including those that compete outside of the academic year. You can read the official statements from both the NCAA and B1G Conference.

Our team was out practicing, at our normal afternoon time. The players were bracing for the bad news, but nothing official had come down the pike. Classes had been cancelled for the 12th and 13th, and they were about to start online classes on March 16th. However, when the B1G Basketball tournament cancelled just minutes prior to tip off (Michigan was about to play Rutgers), we knew this was a strong possibility. We were all hoping the season would just be delayed, not fully cancelled.

Relaying this news to the team, and starting to process what this all means together, as a team, might have been one of the hardest coaching days of my life. For our seniors, Hannah and Alisa, this is especially difficult. Their last few months as a Michigan Wolverine was swept away, in an instant. And, for the rest of the team and coaches; all the hard work (and no, it’s not just the season of hard work), but a culmination of years of effort in recruiting, development, training, learning, growing, building culture together and alone; just ceased unexpectedly.

Perspective helps a lot. We know it’s not for nothing. Sports are the least of our concerns in this unprecedented time. And, sports really don’t matter at ALL, if we and the people we love aren’t healthy. As the days have progressed, we are learning the Corona Virus has the capability of suffocating our medical system and killing hundreds and possibly thousands of people. Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer has signed and released an executive order for the state to close all “places of public accommodation”. You can read this statement here. All of these restrictions are attempting to slow the exponential spread of the virus, and flatten the curve. This, will hopefully allow our medical community to treat the worst cases, identify and test people who are sick, and keep the rest of the public away; all of which will slow down the spread of this very contagious virus. The simplest and best explanation to date, for these definitive decisions by our leaders can be found here.

I very much respect the fact that major sport organizations were the some of first to make difficult decisions to cancel/postpone their seasons. The rest of the USA followed, including our government. The NBA started the trend in sport, with one of their players, Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz testing positive for COVID-19. The B1G Conference quickly followed suit, along with other conferences, and then the NCAA.

I know there are sport haters out there, but these Student Athletes are prepared. We get knocked down constantly, and learn to get right back up. Athletes are diligent self-starters (particularly useful with online classes, working from home, etc), who understand what can be controlled, and what can’t. And, we’ve learned what we can control is how we react and respond to what’s been thrown in our face, both good, bad and indifferent. This is the best advice I’ve read so far about this pandemic, from one of my favorite authors, Ryan Holiday (The Obstacle is the Way, Stillness is the Key and others):

“Use your time wisely: don’t let the possible weeks or months of isolation be for nothing. You can’t control how long you’ll need to engage in social distancing, but you can control if you spend that time productively. The version of you who steps out of quarantine at some future date can be better than the version that entered it, if you try”

The Stoics have taught us many great lessons through the decades of hard times. These are interesting facts and inspiration for the upcoming weeks, and possibly months:

• Isaac Newton worked on his development of calculus and the Theory of Gravity when the University of Cambridge temporarily closed due to the bubonic plague.

• Malcome Little was sentenced to 10 years of prison, and spent every waking free moment reading. This use of time transformed him into Malcolm X - and why he started wearing glasses. He literally wore his eyes out reading in prison.

• Chance the Rapper was suspended in his senior year of high school for possession of marijuana. He used this 10 day break as inspiration for his first album “10 day'‘, which was also his breakout record.

This feels eerily like 9-11, except more like a slow moving train that we can see coming. These upcoming weeks will be critical for the entire planet. Although this is bigger than golf, bigger than sport, bigger than business, this too shall pass. And, our team WILL BE READY when we come out on the other side. This too shall pass. In the meantime, cheers to our seniors, Alisa & captain Hannah. We love you, and grateful for your hard work and dedication to the TEAM. GO BLUE!