Off the fringe: Kristin Walla
April 22, 2009
Howdy golf fans! This is an exciting week. On Monday, we had the Academic Awards Banquet and this weekend we will be playing in the Big 12 Championship. The banquet was great. I love to see and hear about all of my fellow student-athletes that achieve off the field as well as they do on it. It is easy, at times, to neglect the schoolwork when competing in a Division I sport, so this event is always a good reminder of what matters most, in the long run. Personally, I have always had high expectations for myself, academically, so I’m proud of what I have accomplished in my (almost) four years here. I hope I can be a good role-model for my teammates and inspire them to make the most of their education. I feel that students do better when they are surrounded by others who study hard and believe in the importance of academics, so I have my teammates to thank for breeding that culture on our team. This year was the first time they had separated the academics from the athletics, and they changed the format of the evening quite a bit. I was happy with the change. It was good to have the opportunity to see the men’s side of things as well. We also got to hear from some very entertaining and inspirational guest speakers. My favorite was Roy Spence of GSD&M, a local and leading national advertising agency. He talked about “making a stand” to be whatever you want in life. He said if you make a stand to be a good student, you will become one, and if you make a stand to be a good athlete, you will as well. I thought he spoke well and truly earned the respect of me and the rest of the crowd. You can check out a photo gallery from everything at the event here. On the athletic side of things, I’m just about to leave with the team for Lubbock this morning to embark on the beginning of our post season play. I know everyone on the team is as excited as I am to have fun and play well.
We expect to see some pretty stiff “West Texas” breezes up in Lubbock, so we have been working hard on our wind games. Yesterday we practiced hitting four different clubs to the same distance. It was a fun challenge. I’m looking forward to a true test of patience this week, as it is sure to be a major factor when playing in 55 mile per hour wind gusts. The competition will be stiff from some of our conference rivals, but ultimately, our focus is just to play our personal best for all three rounds. We know that if we accomplish that, the rest will take care of itself. It will be important to stay in the moment this week and truly enjoy the pleasure and the challenge of competitive golf. Coach is always saying, “It’s not over until you hole out on the 54th green. Until then, just keep hitting the shot that comes next.” We’ll be keeping that in mind. Be sure to cheer us on via live scoring at golfstat.com. Hook ‘em! |
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