Paying it Forward

Hi all! Sorry I haven't posted in awhile. It has been a busy ending to a great season! I will update you all soon with a blog on the end of my season. As many of you know, I played and made the cut in the 2013 US Women's Open. Before I played, I reached out to supporters in both Lakeland and Vero to help me financially play in one of the most prestigious tournaments I will ever get to play in. I was overwhelmed with how many of you reached out and hopefully you got your pictures and hat in the mail! It was an amazing experience and it really helped me play freely knowing I could afford to be there. Once I made a nice paycheck, I knew I had to pay it forward. You all helped me, so why not help those communities who have continually supported me in my career. I decided to give 10% of my earnings from the Open to the Indian River Golf Foundation and The First Tee of Lakeland. Both of these groups have been so supportive in my golf career. I spent many hours at The First Tee of Lakeland while in college and I believe their values are great for kids to play golf who many not be able to afford it. Indian River Golf Foundation has been a very successful program for the Treasure Coast in developing junior golfers. I only wish I had this foundation around when I was a kid to be able to enhance my golf as a Junior golfer. Roger Van Dyke and his team are really building not only great golfers, but polite and determined future pros. I presented checks of $390 to each programs in September. I hope that as my career grows, these are the first checks of many more to come. To all of those who sent me money, please know that I returned your favor and can't thank you enough. Hopefully those checks help out another young golfer play in a golf tournament who otherwise wouldn't have been able to.

Albany, NY

Last week I played in Albany, NY. This tournament feels like a home tournament as I have family and close friends here as well as an awesome sponsor for the week, Albany Advisor Group. I started my week with a cocktail party put on by Lori Murphy, who is a part of Albany Advisor Group. I enjoyed meeting a lot of people as well as being a part of a chipping contest. Albany Advisor Group has sponsored me here for the past 3 years and is my first corporate sponsor. I was also lucky enough to play with Lori, a client of hers, and Lori's friend in the Pro-Am. We had such a great time and held our own! On Wednesday night, I spent some time helping kids with disabilities at a clinic. It was with a group called SAFE. It was a wonderful time and definitely puts my life into perspective! It made me remember that golf is not a life or death matter and that I am lucky enough to be living a dream. It was a wonderful night with a great turnout! My Dad flew in to caddie and we had a great time out there. The first round was a rollercoaster where I shot 75. I was up and down all day and never really got anything going, except a 4 putt. After the round I worked on my putting and realized I was gripping the putter too tight. I told my Dad to remind me to have soft hands when I putt and that did the trick! On Saturday, I shot 68 to make the cut and moved up about 50 spots. The final round was brutally hot, around 95 with no breeze. I was really struggling with the heat and wasn't quite myself. I managed to shoot even par, 71 to finish in a tie for 37th. Overall, it was a solid week for me and I feel like I'm going to have another great tournament coming up! I just need to put everything together for 3 rounds and I know I can win! I want to thank all of my family and friends in Albany last week for coming out to support me. And of course, thanks again to Albany Advisor Group for being a wonderful support system to help me on my path to playing on the LPGA!

Indiana and US Open

A few weeks ago I played in our biggest purse on tour in South Bend, Indiana. I was coming off of a great week in Decatur and felt good going into the week. Unfortunately, my putter seemed to have gone cold and I never really made any birdie putts. I played solid all week and shot 71-73-73. I played so much better than what the scores say but it's always a good thing when 73 seems like a high score. After the tournament, I flew to Long Island, New York for the US Women's Open. I finally got to see Travis after 3 weeks of being on the road. It's definitely been hard being married and not at home but my husband wouldn't have it any other way to be able to chase my dream. I married a good one :) Anyways, the week at the Open was one we will never forget. We were greeted at the airport with a nice complimentary Lexus SUV for the week that only had 300 miles on it. Once I got to the course, I received golf balls and gloves from Titleist, a new staff bag from Ping, my own locker, family dining passes, and much more. Not to mention we got to bypass all of the police stops to drive up to the clubhouse and have a valet service everyday. It was quite the life I lived that week with getting to choose what golf balls to use on the range to having a stand bearer during a practice round. To my surprise I was never nervous. I felt like I deserved to be there and belonged there. It was more surreal than anything to be eating lunch in a cottage next to Juli Inkster and Paula Creamer. It was even more surreal putting next to my childhood idol, Karie Webb who I had written a letter for a school project in 7th grade. She had responded with a lengthy letter and picture and I was now playing next to her in the biggest tournament on the LPGA. This week was definitely a dream come true. As far as the course, Sebonack goes, it was by far the longest and toughest course I have ever played. TV did not do the greens justice as there were many times I had hit the green in regulation and then watch it run off into a low spot. I played incredibly solid the first two days to make the cut. I was ecstatic and that confirmed to me that if I can get my card to play on the LPGA, I can compete with the best and make cuts! It definitely gives me that much more motivation to get in the top 10 at the end of the Symetra Tour season. The weekend was a little rough for me as I hit it in spots that are impossible to make par from. They stretched the course out to 6800 yards and my biggest weakness is my length. So having a lot of 3 woods in my hand found it hard to have birdie putts let alone hold a green. It was an awesome learning experience and I can't wait for more in the future! I had quite a support system there and can't thank my family and friends enough for coming to cheer me on. Also, a special thank you to Send Out Cards who sponsored me to help pay the expenses for the week. Also, thank you to the many of you who donated to buy a hat. I was overwhelmed with how many people donated and I can't thank you enough!! It covered my costs for the week and helped me play with ease knowing I wasn't struggling financially to be there. I'll be sending your hats out this week while I'm in Albany for my next event. On another note, I had a week off so I flew back to Chicago to pick up my car and face reality with having to drive it up to NY. I faced a lot of construction, traffic, and buying two new tires. I finally reunited with my travel buddy, Alex and we took a train down to NYC for two days. We are on the train back to Albany as I write this. We had a great time shopping, people watching, and saw Matilda. It was nice to get away from golf and do something fun. We travel week to week out of our and it was nice to have a break. Although, now I'm ready to settle down in one location as I have slept in 6 different cities in the last 7 days. I'm excited to return to Albany, NY as my parents grew up here and with my adopted Grandparents as my housing, it is a home away from home. I also have an awesome sponsor this week, Albany Advisor Group. This is their 3rd year sponsoring me and they were my first corporate sponsor. I'm very grateful for their support and excited to kick the week off tomorrow at their cocktail party. Well hopefully you haven't fallen asleep now and made it through this blog. I could go on and on about the Open but I don't want to exhaust you. Thanks for all of your support!

Tied for 3rd

I just finished up a tournament in Decatur, Illinois where I finished tied for 3rd and only one shot off of a playoff to win. I played really solid all weekend and shot rounds of 69-66-72. I went into the final round with a 2 stroke lead and tried to hang on but a few costly swings found me 3 back with 4 holes to play. The winner shot a final round of 9 under to finish at 10 under total. Once I saw that I was 3 back I knew I had to start hitting aggressive shots. I birdied 2 of my final 4 holes to fall one shot short. It was a great learning experience yet somewhat heartbreaking. However, it is my second best finish out here and I feel so much closer to winning. I want to thank my caddie for the week, Kent who did an awesome job of keeping me calm, laughing, and helped me choose solid targets and clubs to hit. He really kept me in the moment and I couldn't have done it without him!

So far this year we have played in 6 tournaments and I have had 3 top 10s. I moved up to 12th on the money list where the top 10 get their LPGA card at the end of the year. Still lots of golf to be played but I feel confident that this is my year! I am currently in South Bend, Indiana playing in the tournament that has the biggest purse of the season. A solid finish here will give me lots of confidence going into the Open next week. I fly on Monday to Long Island where I finally get to see my husband! Not too many people get married and then have to part for weeks right after :) I can't wait to have Travis up there to caddie for me. He knows my game the best and I really feel like I can shine when he is on the bag.

A huge thank you to those who have donated to help my expenses at the Open! Look in your mailbox a few weeks after the Open for a package. There is still time to donate if you haven't already! Please know that I greatly appreciate your support and encouraging words! I have the best fans out there: Jacko's Wackos!!

US Women's Open

I have had quite a month in May! On May 4th, I married my best friend, caddie, instructor, and love of my life Travis Stoetling! We had such an awesome day and couldn't have asked for anything more. The week before, I played in Sarasota where I finished 10th place. Then 2 days after our wedding, I drove to Charlotte, NC to play in a tournament. I played ok there and made the cut but was exhausted from the wedding week and it all caught up to me on the last day. From there, I played in beautiful Asheville, NC where Travis flew up to caddie. We had another 10th place finish and then preceded to Myrtle Beach for a honeymoon. Three days after coming home I played in the US Women's Open qualifier in West Palm where we played through wind and off and on pouring rain. At 8:15 we called it a night and I had to wake up the next morning to play 4 holes. It was worse conditions in the morning and I boggied my last 2 holes to shoot 72-74. I was extremely frustrated because I played so solid and seemed to give it away. I had to sit an hour and a half and wait for girls to finish before finally finding out I got one of four spots to the US Open! I am so estatic to play my first Open of hopefully many to come! It is the last week of June in South Hampton, NY at Sebonack Golf Club. I am staying with a good friend from college but traveling up there isn't cheap! I am looking for any sponsors or any extra money to help cover my expenses for the week. If you donate $100 or more, I will gladly mail you a 2013 US Women's Open autographed hat. There is a link at the top right of my blog page to donate. Thank you for your continuous support and don't forget to watch live scoring!! By the way, I am now playing under my married name, Jackie Stoelting :)

Update

It has been a while since I have updated my blog but had a few minutes to fill you in on my year so far! I'm about half way through the season and have played fairly steady golf. I've had one top 10 finished (tied for 6th) in Fishers, Indiana at the beginning of June. I have made 5 out of 7 cuts so far. I struggled in 2 tournaments but learned from my mistakes. I just had 2 weeks home and worked a lot on my game with Travis. By the way, we are engaged! :) I'm feeling very confident going into a 6 week stretch in the North East. I have new clubs this year that I love! I'm playing with all Ping clubs and I just put in the new Nome putter in my bag. I'll do my best to keep this updated more often! Thanks to everyone who has encouraged, supported me both financially and mentally so far this year. I wouldn't be able to play with out your support!! Follow live scoring this weekend at http://www.symetratour.com/ I start tomororw at 12:45 here in Concord, New Hampshire.

Looking back...

After looking back, I'm very proud of my year out on tour. I exceeded my expectations of myself and could not be more excited for the future. I had 4 top 10s this year including a 2nd, 4th, and two 6th places. I finished 12th on the money list and got a by-pass to final stage of LPGA Q-School. I just got back from that week. It didn't work out how I wanted it to but I learned a lot. I finished at 15 over and had 13 3-putts. I really struggled with distance control and know that this is something that I will definitely be working on this off season! It was a 5 day event and after 4 days, they cut half of the field. I ended up birding my last hole on the 4th day to make the cut on the dot. So regardless of the outcome, I'm proud of myself for hanging in there and fighting back. Of course I would have liked to get my card but another year on the Futures Tour will only help me to reach my goal of the LPGA next year! I'll be setting my goals high this year and expect great things! For now, I'm working at Golf Roundup a few days a week primarily selling women's clubs. So if your in the area come see me! I also will be out at Pointe West practicing, playing, giving lessons, and working a few dinner parties here and there. The schedule comes out in January and I'll be sure to keep up with my blog more often this off season! Thank you to all of you who have encouraged and supported me this year. Its been the best one yet and I couldn't have done it without your help!! Also, I got a new email so if you need to contact me its: jackiebgolfin@gmail.com Check out some of my favorite pictures at the end of my season: