andrew scott jensen

It’s the eve of my first round on the Canadian Tour and I am very nervous.

First things first: I go into Modesto safely on Monday night, and arrived at the amazing house of the great people I am staying with for the week.  Private housing is a true blessing.  I am so grateful for their hospitality and understanding that this is a million times greater than a hotel room all alone.

I woke up from a great sleep Tuesday morning and tackled my first tournament week out here on the Canadian Tour.

What has taken place from Tuesday morning until now is the cause for the many nerves that are trying to take me down.  I’ve played 27 holes of practice, getting used to the course, and I have spent a good bit of time on the range and I am really struggling to get anything that resembles a golf game together.

This is forcing me to want to spend this entire afternoon working on things and trying to get it all figured out. Herein lies the problem, force and want.  I am forcing things out there too much, and I am wanting them to get right so badly, instead of trusting the months of preparation for this day.  In all reality, I am thinking too much, and I am trying to ignore rather than embrace my nerves.

I am really trying to change my thought process and accept and embrace the nerves I’m feeling.  I’m so damn nervous, it’s crazy.  The atmosphere at the tournament course is like nothing I have ever experienced in my golfing career.  It is so professional, it’s really a completely new world for me.  This atmosphere is the main cause for my nerves, and those nerves are affecting my golf game for the time being.

My nerves are coming from the fact that I am really out here!  No more wishing, hoping, dreaming.  This is it.  Trying to deal with these nerves will be a challenge, but once they are overcome it will be great for my game.

Thankfully, I ran into a player I played amateur and university golf against, so I have tagged along with him to make this experience less difficult.  Through him, I have met and played all of my practice round golf with Craig Matthew.  This is a great pair of guys to follow around; and believe me, I am bothering them with a thousand questions.

As I said earlier, my nerves are making my golf game crumble.  Nerves cause thoughts, too many thoughts.  Thoughts are the first killer of the game.  All these thoughts are trying to shake the confidence I have built up since January.  I am hitting weak shots to the right, when my usual shot is a strong, slight draw.  This is doing a number on my mind.

I am trying so hard to acknowledge that the main cause is my nerves, and understand that it will pass, and things will get better as I better deal with them.

Typically, Wednesday is a day to get some work done in the morning and then relax for the rest of the day until your tee time on Thursday.  That is what I’m trying to do right now, RELAX.  It is very hard because my mind is moving so fast.  I am trying to relax, put it all in perspective and truly embrace the nerves I have.

Hopefully, the rest of this afternoon will allow me to calm down and be in a better state for tomorrow morning.

I tee off at 8:25 pacific time.  I’m so excited for tomorrow, I feel that I will get over the nerves; much like I did at Q School, and I will have a great week.

I play at 1:25 on friday, so a 36 hole report on the blog might be overlooked that evening.

Off to the couch and the endless Master’s programming on the Golf Channel.