Golf Tip Tuesday--The Check-up from the Neck Up!

Winter time isn't always ideal for playing golf. During those extreme cold days when you'd rather stay inside under a blanket, the best thing that you can do for your golf game is to work on your mental game. Get your "Check-up from the Neck Up" by catching up on some recommended reading!!

Here are some of the golf mental game books that I highly recommend:

Extraordinary Golf by Fred Shoemaker
Zen Golf by Dr. Joseph Parent
Your 15th Club by Dr. Bob Rotella
Every Shot Must Have a Purpose by Pia Nilsson and Lynn Marriot
The Game Before the Game by Pia Nilsson and Lynn Marriot

They are also books that my players have read over and over again and love!!

Happy Reading!! Here's to a healthy mental game :)!!

Witnessing History is a New Theme in My Life!!

I have had many great experiences here in Akron. Many experiences that are once in a lifetime. The first and main thing, is starting my own golf program from scratch! There wasn't even a desk in my office when I arrived that's how new the Women's Golf Program was to the University of Akron!! Starting a program has been a very rewarding experience. Seeing my ideas come to life and watching my very own recruits achieve success, has been unbelievable!! I would recommend starting a program to any coach. It's fun to have something so close to heart!

This past Fall, everyone in Zips Athletics was a part of the opening of our brand new, on campus Football stadium. Infocision Stadium is a beautiful facility and a great place to watch a football game. You can't beat having a stadium like that on your campus. It was awesome to tailgate at the golf facility and then walk to a game. I loved seeing all the fans walk through campus too. The campus has made many face lifts and many people got to see those changes for the first time this fall and it was all due to our new football stadium!! This was another moment in Zips history that I was happy to see happen!!

Another great moment that happened this past Fall semester was the great play of our Men's Soccer team! They made a great run deep into post season play. Ended up runner-up in the NCAA Championship game. They broke many school records and tied the national record for number of consecutive wins. They have a very successful record under Head Coach Caleb Porter. Such a fun team to watch too!! It was so hard to believe how close they were to winning the whole thing. Of course you feel disappointed for them because they worked so hard all year long and was undefeated forever and then lose the last game, the Championship game!! But still, it was another moment that I was proud to be a Zip and proud to witness history :)!

Another moment that I was happy to watch, was another sports moment from my Alma mater, the University of Kentucky. Just last week, I was able to watch them win their 2,000th game to become the first team in the nation to reach the coveted 2,000th victory! The Cats won the game by more than 40 points and afterwards had a nice little ceremony to start the celebration of the milestone. It was neat to see all the fans stick around the whole game (even though it was a blowout) and watch the confetti fall to the floor!!

History was never my favorite subject in school, but history is a wonderful thing. I've really enjoyed being a Zip and writing my own chapter in Zips Athletics History and proud my players get that chance as well :)!!

Golf Tip Tuesday--Let's Leave Tiger Alone

There's no doubt in my mind you've talked about it too. Tiger has been in the news a lot lately and not for his golf accomplishments. Is it fair for us to be constantly judging a situation or a person that we do not know or even have all the facts on?

When I'm asked about it, which is almost everyday, I only say that I hope that Tiger and his family can work things out privately behind closed doors. How many families go through this type of event publicly?...Not very many families at all!! For the sake of their kids, I say let's cut this topic out of our everyday conversation.

Gossip is not healthy. Besides...there are WAY more important things out there that we should pay attention to and talk about with our friends, family, and co-workers.

Another Fall Semester in the Books!!

Last week was our finals week for this past Fall semester. I really can't believe how fast everything flies by!!

When October came to close, we completed our Fall tournament schedule and officially went into the off-season practice mode. Overall, we had a great Fall on the course and continue to improve.

Off the course and in the classroom was another great success! We acheived a team overall GPA above 3.0...for our 3rd semester in a row. Please note our program has only been in existance for 3 semesters :)!!!

I'm very proud of our young ladies for being all around successful student-athletes!!

National Golf Coaches Association 2009 Annual Meeting

It's so hard to believe that 2009 is almost coming to a close and that we have already had our annual coaches convention!!

This year our convention was yet again in Las Vegas. Although, I wasn't much into the Vegas scene, it was a great way to catch up with all my coaching friends and see what the latest was in the Women's College Golf world.

One of our speakers encouraged us coaches to get a blog started to help promote our programs, so here I am!! Please check back here from time to time to see what the latest is with Akron Women's Golf, Akron Athletics, and even get a Golf Tip!!

I will have some guest bloggers throughout our Spring season, so that could be very entertaining as well!!

Thanks for reading...Always Birdies...