I kicked off my trip by celebrating with some friends Friday night at Malia, my favorite restaurant in Santa Monica. After a few hours of sleep, I caught my 8am flight to Las Vegas to have some fun for a few days and to participate in a Corporate Invitational for my Tour Sponsor.
For four days, I saw two spectacular shows, Cirque du Soleil’s Le Rêve (The Dream) at the Wynn and the new Bluetopia by Blue Man Group at the Venetian. Wow! Breathtaking. The acrobat dancers of Cirque du Soleil were beyond amazing. And the three Blue Men from Bluetopia had such a great energy and music going throughout the show, you can hardly stay still in your seat.
Oh, and I forgot the food. Since my hosts knew I love Thai food, they took me to the hot and trendy Tao restaurant at the Venetian. Delicioso! During the weekend and during the invitational, I played Reflection Bay and The Falls at Lake Las Vegas. Great courses. High elevations, lots of water hazards, and 10-30mph winds from 1pm on. You can see Celine Dion’s mansion off the 18th green at Reflection Bay.
After sleeping through the entire red eye flight on Tuesday from Las Vegas to Lafayette, Louisiana, I checked into my hotel and headed for the golf course for my first practice round. I played great that day and really liked how the course was set up. It fit my eye very well. I started to get a little more excited to play on Friday.
I played in the Pro-Am scramble Thursday morning where I was paired with a great group of guys, one of them the CEO of a large safety engineering company in Louisiana and the sponsor of the Pro-Am. We wound up tying for first place scoring 15 under par! “Way to go guys!” I was very proud of my team. They were not only my team but quickly becoming friends
Before I knew it, it was Friday morning and I’m standing on the tee box getting ready for my 9:12am tee time. It had been awhile since I felt so nervous. I just made sure that I stuck with my routine and took lots of deep breaths to try to calm myself down. I blocked my first drive way to the right and watched it head for the out of bounds fence.
I got the best kick of my life off that fence, back into the fairway and almost made birdie on the hole, so I took advantage of my break and shot 72 for the day, placed tied for 13th. Sometimes you just have to believe that those great breaks are deserved.
The wind picked up a little more for the next two days making the course a little more challenging. The secret to playing in the wind is to make every swing the same. Short and sweet.
Sometimes when I am hitting into the wind I tend to over swing and get quick, thinking that I will hit it farther. It’s simply the opposite. That was my goal for the weekend. And, I can proudly say that I achieved it all three days. I really felt like I played well and I am still focusing on all the great shots.
Overall, I had a blast in Louisiana. I met some wonderful people who welcomed me into their loving families, which I will always appreciate. They also introduced me to some true authentic Cajun food which I surprisingly enjoyed! It was my first time eating crawfish…and I will admit, I finished 3 pounds. I learned how to peel them and everything. Wow! Were they ever spicy too!
I feel myself getting into a groove and I am ready for my 3 weeks in Texas. I learned a lot about the importance of consistency from playing in the wind and will keep that with me for the future. I did make a couple of mistakes over the weekend but I remember a friend once told me, “Life has no rearview mirror, so don’t bother looking back.”
Enjoy!
Megan Heckeroth, Tour Pro
HOGWire – Golf Industry News
