The new Ladies European Tour class of 2011  – Congtatulations!

Hello,

Back in Los Angeles after a fun week in San Francisco where I year after year seems to play well, I finished 10th today @ 8 under par.

It was an exiting tournament for me and loads of energy were spent keeping the game together and concentrating on each and every shot for the 4 days. At Blackhawk CC you have to keep your mind focused at all times especially with the hills, up and downs and the super fast greens. If you are on the wrong side of the pin it is pretty much an automatic bogie. I like courses that way and I always seem to play much better then the field when I have to plan my game around the course to my strengths.

I am now sick with a cold, it started after the 3rd round and got worse once I relaxed after finishing the tournament. with a birdie on the 18th. After back to back birdies on 17 and 18 my fever went up and I been in bed since. It is interesting how the body works once you relax from anything that has been very intense, if you have any kind of virus in your body it will for sure break out when vacation or relaxation is around the corner.

I was going to tell you some about what goes on in your head when you compete at this level that I am part of each week. I am so driven because I want to develop myself each and every week and learn more about how I work under pressure as a person. Pressure is a hard beast to handle and you have to play head games with your self to be able to preform to your ability. If you think you made some thing too good to be true you can almost bet on the next hole you will make a bogie to even it out, but if you made something too good to be true and you tell yourself that it was nothing special and that I belong here and should be making 5 more birdies, then suddenly the next hole might be a birdie. It’s so interesting but it’s so true. It’s not the most exiting deal to be out on the golf course during those pressure moments but once you conquer the pressure it’s the best feeling in the world!

I have learned to deal with pressure in many different ways, one way for me personally is too look at the leader on the scoreboard and know it’s the goal to beat that number and be at the top of the list. Also if you see your own name all over the scoreboard and you feel you belong there, once you and your unconscious mind has excepted that you will be ready to win if you get the opportunity.

Until next time,

Mikaela

Zingo checking out the golf balls

The tee box on hole 16 is on the top of a hill that golf carts can barley get up to, then there is a 35 yeard drop to the green. Its a fun hole espesially if you add some wind in the afternoon.

Hole 17

Greens are amazing and fast!

Life On Tour!

I am writing to you from Prattville Alabama where the LPGA stops this week. The south in America is so different from where I grew up in Sweden and from LA where I live, although I really appreciate being able to travel around the country and experience all different way of living and culture. Me and my boyfriend usually stay with families when we travel. This week we got the fortune to get to know Tray and Stephanie Godwin. They are both very nice and I have to say that Americans sure know how to invite strangers to their house and treat them like family. I love to learn from others and see their perspective in life. This couple both work in the air force and the funny part is that Tray has been in the air force for the last 20 years and do not like to fly, its kind of ironic.

To the golf course it is a great link style golf course, where placing the ball on the greens is important. This is my 3rd year on this course so I feel quite comfortable with the golf course. Will see how my game holds up this week but I feel confident about my game even if it was a few weeks ago I was competing.

Mikaela

I’m looking for a new car I like this one but I think a Prius gets slightly better gas mileage!

Canada eh!

I’m now in Winnipeg Canada and are waiting for the 2nd round results to be finalized and find out if I made the cut or not. I’m at 5 and right now the projected cut is at 4 so I hope the wind kicks up a notch here in the afternoon

It has been a interesting week starting with a missed connection from Portland/Vancouver that sent me all the way to Montreal (on the east coast of Canada) throughout the night, before getting to Winnipeg. Its tough to get any quality sleep on airplanes and airports. We are playing at St. Charles Country Club and the course is beautiful and in great shape. The greens are firm and rolls extremely fast, making it fun to put but difficult to get the ball close to the pins. It has also been quite windy every day witch takes a lot more energy out of you.

Well keep your fingers crossed
Mikaela

I am now sitting in Portland Oregon just missed the cut at the LPGA event but played some of my best golf in my life. I took some risks that did not pay off, it was the water hazards that did it to me this week although my game is amazing. I changed my grip a bit and that made the biggest difference. I am encouraged and I know I can compete with the best now. I can be aggressive on my putts and still be very calm making 3-4 footers coming back, it is a fun game when u have that much confidence.
I played with Paula Creamer yesterday and of course a bunch of small children followed us in their pink outfits. She is such a great role model for all these little girls that need someone to look up to.

I am heading to Canada tonight to play great golf next week. I am really looking forward to it.

Mikaela

I am now sitting at my summer house outside Stockholm in Sweden. I have had a great time resting up after my 5 weeks road trip in the US. I finished the Jamie Farr on a good note by shooting a 65 my 2nd round. When I got back to Sweden I entered in to a Swedish mini tour event and finished 2nd. I love to compete in Sweden and give back to the junior system that have gotten me to the LPGA tour. I will play 1 more event in Sweden before I return to the US.

Right now I will relax and enjoy the sun and swimming in the warm ocean, today it was 23°C/73°F in the water and about 28°C/82°F in the air.
Summer in Sweden is among my favorite things in the whole world!

Zingo sunrise in Viken

Mikaela & Zingo swimming in Blidö

Calle diving

Söder in Stockholm

Ice Cream and Strawberries

Stenstrand Torö

No doubt he is a retriever!

Dirt road

Sunset

World Cup final on a laptop in Blidö

Calle & Zingo

Engine problems

Zingo loves the ocean

Just got back home to the family summer house in Torö Sweden, it is about 45min south of Stockholm.
Nordea Tour is a Swedish professional tour that just happened to have a tournament round the corner from here and I thought it be fun to play while I was here. It was really fun playing with all the Swedish girls and it brought back memories from when I was a junior.

I had a rough 1st day because of jetlag and the difference in greens from the US, although the last 2 days I started to play better golf again. I ended up in 2nd place and it was really awesome having my family following we around for 3 days.

Nynäshamns GK is a beautiful course by the water and in the woods

Warm up from the carpets, old school!

Last year I shot a 62 here and that brings back good memories.

Nice writeup in the local paper

this is what we call a 3 body trunk

Playing with the kids, making golf a fun game.

First one to hit the football wins!

and the big little kid

Minni making her 1st Hole In One ever during the practice round

Thanks guys! This made my day!

The annual Caddy Tournament
Team Sweden: Calle, Gurra & Andy

Sylvania CC is a beautiful course but after 3 holes the skies opened up and lightning and thunder was everywhere. After an hour in the clubhouse watching the finish of the PGA the weather cleared up and we got to play 9 holes before darkness.

Finally the thunderstorm blew over

Oh dear!

It was fun to get together and chit chat and we even got to dance around in a circle around the “midsommar stång” to some traditional songs. Mimmi Hjort’s little girl really enjoyed the dancing part. One of the favorite dance and song is “små grodorna” (little frogs) and everybody loves to sing along.

Mikaela


mini midsommar stång


Små Grodorna

Övre raden: Gustaf Rosdahl, Andy Danewid, L. Stahle, Marianne Skarpnord, K. Sjödin, M. Parmlid, Azahara Munoz, P. Lindberg, A. Nordqvist, Calle Mörck, Katarina Vangdal.
Nedre raden: L. Friberg, Cecilia Ekelundh, Emelie & M. Hjorth, S. Gustafson.

So frustrated to say the least. I was playing well these two days with everything but my driver. I was chipping the ball great as well as putting very well, if I missed the putts it was a mental mistake that I did not believe it was breaking as much as it did. These greens in Rochester are so good and fast that even the smallest brake will impact the ball a lot. It was a while ago since I was putting a 3 footer and starting the ball way outside the hole but it happened here several times.

I am heading to the driving range this weekend to work on my swing and build some confidence. If you were in the fairway this week you could go really low. I should be a fun weekend in Rochester and I am hoping one of the Swedish girls gets in the top.

After the round I went to get Orthotic insoles for my shoes the Foot Performance Center. My feet have been hurting so bad the last few weeks that I have been taping them before every round to be able to walk. At the center they really know what they are doing, they took a print of the bottom of my foot to see where I put pressure, then they hooked me up to a machine that measured my foot arches and transferred it to a computer. They took a blank insole and milled it to match the computer image and I ended up with my new customized insoles, cool! It feels a bit strange now in the beginning but I can tell it will feel much better when I get used to it.

Today is also Swedish Midsummer, we are heading over to Louise Fribergs house for dinner and celebrations. All the swedes on tour for will be there and we will eat traditional swedish food. Its so good I can’t wait!

Mikaela

Inpints (mine on the left, Calle on the right)

Hundreds of small pegs pushing up under my foot

This was Calles arch, one of the biggest they have ever seen here…

Computer image

Blank insole that is going in to be milled

Some adjustments

The new soles

Mikaela