Tight calls in golf can be heartbreaking, especially when it comes to a shot here or a missed putt there. But they’re even more agonizing when the game is your career. For Allie White (Lancaster, Ohio) last week at the Symetra Tour Championship felt like a missed opportunity, despite a tie in 14th place in the season finale. After running 65-66-71 in the first three laps, the 31-year-old ended her week with a disappointing 1-over 73, a lap that put her 36th in the Symetra Tour’s Race to the Card. which ultimately costs them an exception for the LPGA Q series.
“My main goal this season was to get into the top 35, so once I got off the green I knew I just felt, oh my god, you’re going to be a shot short,” White said of her performance in the last lap. “I was really stunned for a couple of days but all you have to do is change your mind and I think I learned a lot last week. I was probably in the best position I ever had to win a golf tournament and I didn’t have a great last day, but I learned a lot from that last day. “
Anyone else would be bitter about the result and complain about where they should have done better or what they could have done differently. However, White has just turned the page and set his sights on the second phase of Q-School at Plantation Golf and Country Club, is looking forward to another opportunity to turn it up and is looking forward to having her long-time friend and professional colleague Vicky Hurst with her Bag for the week.
“I’ve been working hard on my mental game trying to remember all the good things I’ve done because the season has a lot more to offer than just last week,” said White. “I had a lot of friends who came up and said, Hey dude, you got this, you play great golf, just do it. I’ve done caddy for my friend Vicky at the Q series in the past and she called me pretty quickly because I had no plan for Stage II and she said, ‘I’m going out and caddy for you. ‘We’ve been friends since we were 16 years old. It will be nice to have someone who is so knowledgeable about golf and whom I can talk to and have fun with. “
Q-School can be one of the toughest experiences a professional golfer can have, fraught with stress and nerves and worries about the future, with many being pressured by their own expectations. But Weiß doesn’t see it that way, instead concentrating on “controlling what is controllable” and remembers that Phase II is important, but still has a lot of golf ahead of her.
“I expect myself to do my best and focus, and that’s about it,” said White. “You can’t control how everyone plays in the field and how it ricochets like you’re going to hit it this week. Regardless, I’ve played the best golf I’ve ever played this year, so no matter how Phase II goes, I’ll be playing more golf next year because I play so well and have so much fun. Whatever happens, there will be another golf tournament. “