Another strong finish!!

Hi everyone!

I had a great week in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania at the Duramed Futures Tour Gettysburg Championship. I shot rounds of 72-76-81 over a challenging 6,425 yd layout. I made the cut and made a nice check. Making more steps in the right direction! Here are more details about the week...

The skies were dark and the air cool on Monday of tournament week. On this day of travel and rest I decided to take up my host, John Kuntzman, on the offer to take a special Gettysburg battlefield tour. John is a military history buff and former West Point Military history professor so I was glad to take him up on the offer! Being a history major myself I was very interested to learn more about the war and the impact it had upon our country. We drove around the city of Gettysburg and the battlefields, stopping to look at various monuments. We saw the site of the Gettysburg address and Little Roundtop among other interesting locations. What an interesting way to start the week...and only a preview of things to come...

Tuesday morning we woke up to pouring rain so an early morning practice round became a late morning 9 hole practice round. The Links at Gettysburg is over hilly terrain and pretty spread out so the enforced cart path only rule made it a long day. Plugged balls were the norm as were sloppy conditions. At this point we began to monitor the weather and saw that the rain would break by Thursday afternoon of tournament week and then it would get hot...in the 90's for the rest of the weekend. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday we were in long sleeves and by Friday back in shorts trying to hydrate and stay cool.

I teed off Friday morning and had a fast start. I hit my long hybrid club (about a 3 iron) into the #10 hole (I began play on the back nine) to two feet or so. It's nice to start off the round with a birdie! I backed up the birdie with par, bogey, par and then the fun began. I rattled off 4 birdies to finish up the front 9 at 3 under par (33). I was having a blast. My caddy, Matt, and I were reading breaks and picking spots and I was simply trusting the lines and stroking the putter confidently. I backed up the front nine score with a 3 over 39 on the back nine to finish at even par 72.

Saturday afternoon rolled around and it was time to tee off for round two. Standing in a tie for 12th place I had an afternoon tee time. After playing 8 holes we began to hear rumbles of thunder and lightening bolts. The horn sounded and we headed in to allow the storm to pass. It turned into an all day affair and play was called with a 7am completion of round two on Sunday morning followed by the final round in the afternoon.

I completed round two posting a 76 followed by a final round 81 on Sunday afternoon. Sunday was a marathon playing 27 holes in hot weather and a great learning experience for me. I have gained so much confidence from my recent results and feel well equipped and capable to compete in our upcoming Duramed Futures Tour ILOVE NY Championship and in the LPGA Qualifying that follows. Be sure to follow my results on the LPGA and Duramed Futures Tour websites!

Many thanks to my Mom and my Aunt Joann for coming to watch me this past week. My family continues to provide me tremendous support in addition to my swing coach, sport psychologist, club fitter and trainer. I have a great team that I am very thankful for.

After a few days in Orlando with Tom fine tuning my short and long game I am ready to head north to Albany and finish the season strong. Check back for more updates soon. I hope you enjoy the picture of me with the Civil War re-enactors from Gettysburg!

MM

Housing in Palm Desert, California

Hi friends,

Just a quick post to put feelers out for housing. I am traveling west to Palm Desert, CA/Rancho Mirage to play in the LPGA Qualifying tournament from September 12-22nd at Mission Hills Country Club. My FANTASTIC housing from last year has downsized :( so I am in need of finding a place to stay. If anyone has any suggestions for afordable accomodations, housesits or willing hosts for the 10 days please let me know. You can contact me at marymoan@hotmail.com.

Thanks!!!

MM

GREAT NEWS from the Massachusetts Open!!!

Hi everyone,

Well, all the hard work is beginning to pay off!! I finished 4th at the Mass Open this week at Ipswich Country Club in Ipswich, Massachusetts. Check out the results and my hole by hole scores.

Highlights include:

The first round I had 2 birdies including a great up and down on 18 from 70 yds to a blind pin. I hit 12 greens this round and got up and down 4 times in 4 attempts! My 2 over round of 75 put me in the thick of things.

The second round was a round of "resilience." After a solid par on the 1st hole I double bogeyed the 2nd hole. I hung in there and made 3 pars in a row followed by a birdie. The 8th hole ate my lunch and resulted in a double bogey but I rebounded by chipping in for birdie on #9. I played a solid 1 under par on the back nine to finish with a 74!

I feel the difference maker is a combination of things. First of all, my swing work with Tom Garner has allowed me to confidently hit the shots under pressure that I need depending upon the situation. Secondly, my visualization and relaxation work with Dr. Fabbri have helped me deal with the moment and the task at hand. I have an appetite to play and cannot wait for the next opportunity!

I feel like my focus is sharper these days and I am able to put aside the peripheral, the things I cannot control. So many things happen on the road that can distract (including delayed golf clubs on the way to Boston courtesy of Jet Blue!) and I have found myself steadfastly focused on what I can control. Going through these experiences have made me stronger and I believe, more equipped for the events that are ahead including LPGA and Futures Tour qualifying opportunities.

For those of you who follow my results on the Duramed Futures Tour website I wanted to let you know of my withdrawal this week from the event in Queenstown, MD. We returned from Boston late on Wednesday, August 15th and spent Thursday the 16th practicing and getting ready to compete from the 17th-19th. About once a month I get a massage and I definitely needed one after all the driving and traveling so that was in our plan for Thursday afternoon. Well, the massage was great until I woke up the next morning with spasms in my left shoulder and back. I played on Friday but by the 5th and 6th holes I knew something was not right. I am doing fine and treating the symptoms and resting but felt it best to withdraw so to be able to compete this coming week in Gettysburg, PA as well as the rest of the season. It's hard to back down when you're playing well but in this case I knew I had to listen to my body.

Thanks for your support! I will keep you posted on upcoming results.

MM

New Hampshire wrap-up

Hi everyone,

I made the trip from New Haven to Concord, NH to play in this past week's Duramed Futures Tour USI Championship at Beaver Meadow Golf Club. It was a good week played in hot temperatures. I shot rounds of 77-80 over two rounds and was encouraged by my ability to recover from a a few bad shots and my over 50% up and down saves the 1st round. I also had the privelege of playing in the Pro-am this week which paired me up with 4 amateurs. Thanks to Peter, Rich, Stephanie and Vera for a great day!

This week the tour sponsored a trivia contest at a local brew pub, The Barley House. We received vouchers to eat and drink their great fare and we competed in their trivia contest. Do you know who has hosted Saturday Night Live the most times? Hint...he's wild and crazy...Although we didn't win the BIG PRIZE (tickets to the upcoming PGA Tour event in Boston) we did have a lot of fun. I did go back to the Barley House later in the week to use our complimentary gift certificate :)

I also caught up with good friend and former coaching colleague, Gina Yoder. She drove down from Hanover, NH where she is an assistant professional at Hanover CC (the course at Dartmouth College). It was great to see her and spend some time together. I also enjoyed getting to know my host family, the Berger's. Peter, Ellen, JT & Drew made me feel very at home. The meals, conversation and great accomodations made for a very comfortable week.

After a meeting with Dr. Fabbri this morning, assessing my weekend rounds and passing along my stats to Coach Tom Garner, I am prepared for a good week. I truly feel like results are in my grasp (although my focus remains on the process) and I am coming to understand what I need to do to prepare and relax so to play my best. I am off to Morgantown, WV and will be picking up good friend Joanna Whitley on the way as I travel through Harrisburg, PA. Looking forward to traveling with her for the next three weeks and four events ahead.

Hope to see you lining the fairways at any of my upcoming events. Tickets can always be had so please let me know if you would like to attend!

West Virginia, here I come!

MM