Kvennalandslið Íslands lauk í dag keppni á Heimsmeistaramóti áhugamanna. Mótið fer fram á Írlandi og Jussi Pitkänen afreksstjóri GSÍ er með liðinu á sínum „gamla heimavelli“. Jussi og skrifar ferðasögu frá HM – sem birtar eru hér á golf.is. Hér eru sögur frá tveimur síðustu dögum ferðarinnar.
“Our third round began on Friday with a very solid plan, and the goal was to have 100% clarity, commitment and be comfortable on each shot before pulling the trigger. On the whole, it worked well, and the benefit of having two scores to count was that Saga had an off day, and Ragga and Helga were able to make their scores count for the team. As for myself, it was once again an emotional rollercoaster, living with every shot, putt, birdie and bogey. The worst part of being on the sidelines is the fact that I am powerless to do anything and have had to realise that getting upset at missed putts etc does not help anyone! it is exactly the same principle as for the players, so really highlights the importance of team culture and agreed priorities even more. This is something Jude has helped us out tremendously in the latter part of the week and helped galvanise the players thoughts on the talk at hand more than I alone. He will join us as team advisor for the mens team this coming week for the Eisenhower.
As for day 4 today, we set off with the same goal of having a 10/10 in all the areas (clarity, commitment, comfortable, determination and focus) and leave nothing behind once the round is over. The girls responded well, and in general their scores out of ten in all these areas after the round were near 8-9 so for me the final score is then a little irrelevant; this depends on so many factors. Our final position was 39th, which we will aim to improve on in Hong Kong in two years time. The preparation for the 2020 Espirito Santo Trophy begins tomorrow, once we have reflected on what we need to improve on. This evening it is time to relax, enjoy the prize giving and gala dinner, then prepare for the long trip to the USA and college life on Monday! I am picking up the boys from the airport at 0515 in the morning and begin the process again.
A number of things have really impressed me this week, starting with the winning USA team demolishing the field to win by 10 shots. Having the top three best players in the world on your team is a good start, so I can’t say I am surprised to see them win. The Canadian players arrive late on Tuesday night before the first round, from Palm Springs with a 10 hour time difference to deal with, without having played a round on either course and managed to finish 7th. A really professional performance, and an example of how to get a job done at this level. Elite sport is a brutal business and I think our ladies have learned a great deal this week about what they need to do better and keep improving.
Until next week
