Reviewing 2016

Hello all and Happy Holidays!

Can you believe it’s almost 2017!? I feel like it was just yesterday that I started my first season as a professional golfer and now I’m headed into my second season! It’s crazy how quickly time can get away from us! But since we have nearly reached the end of 2016 I thought it would be a good time to reflect on this past year and look forward to a new year!

Lately I’ve been seeing a ton of memes and articles about how horrible of a year 2016 has been, and it makes me kinda sad…personally my 2016 was not that bad, sure I didn’t play great as far as golf goes, but I got to play professional golf and tell people that that’s my occupation! And sure there were things that happened in the world and we had to vote for a new president, but at the end of the day if you’re still living and breathing, I don’t see what’s not to love? For me, I live in the United States of America where I am free, I have a roof over my head, I have food on my table, and I have a family that loves me. Now I know some people don’t have one or two or even any of those things, so for me to have all of those plus so many other great things, I feel so blessed and thankful for another year.

My year in review goes something like this:

• January-April I moved to Florida to play on a mini tour for my first season as a professional golfer
• May-November I came back home to Michigan to work and play in more tournaments for the summer
• August I went out to California for my second crack at Stage 1 of LPGA Qualifying School and just missed the cut
• November I came back down to Florida to start preparations for the 2017 season!

I learned a lot this year too. Going from college golf to professional golf is not an easy transition so this year included a long adjusting period for me. I had to learn how to practice by myself and learn what works best for me, and what works for me might not work for someone else. I'm still learning how to find a good balance between work and leisure and how to stay focused during practice. Golf has a lot of components attached to it: full swing, pitching, short game, bunker play, putting, mentality, etc. It can be a struggle trying to figure out how to deal with all of those and then play well during tournaments, but I'm learning and hopefully it'll all come together this upcoming season. I've also learned a lot about myself as a person. I have become more in tune with my faith and have been wanting to learn more about my Lord and Savior. It's been an incredible year filled with twists and turns, and lows and highs, but that's what makes a life worth living.

Now looking ahead I get both excited and scared for this upcoming year. But as part of one of my new year’s resolutions I am going to do my best to not get worried or anxious or fearful because I’m going to give all of that to God, He knows better than me what’s coming ☺ I’m still thinking about my other 2017 New Year’s Resolutions, as I’m sure most people are, but I hope that this year brings a lot of peace to people in America and around the world!

I just want to quickly thank everyone who has supported me both financially and emotionally during this year! We’re going to make 2017 a great year! #TeamElsholz

Xoxo Jen

Blessed

Hello :) Lindsey and I are back home in Sarasota after being over in Daytona Beach for a tournament earlier this week. Our 2016 campaign is now over and that concludes my first year as a professional golfer! Hard to believe this golf season has gone by so quickly, but now it's time to start preparing for 2017!

We played at LPGA International- the Jones course this week. I hadn't been playing very well recently so I was really using this event to gain some momentum and confidence as I start preparing for next season. I was pleasantly surprised when I shot 74 the first day and intended to keep it going the next two days; however, I seemed to struggle more the following two rounds shooting 76 and 80. I have to say I learned quite a bit this week though. I am really learning that a lot of what I need to work on is mental for me. Going from college to professional is a HUGE leap and I wasn't as prepared for it as I thought I was going to be and I didn't work as much as I needed to this year so now I have put together a plan (with the help of my Dad) and we are going to stick to the plan!

A quick thank you to Mary and Dave Caracci for meeting up with us and taking us out to dinner! :) You two are the best!

With that being said, I am really excited for the rest of the year. I am excited to get working on my golf game and I'm excited to just live every day to the fullest! I try to spend as much time with God as possible, but I make sure I spend a little bit of time every day with Him alone no matter what, and the more I've been doing that, the more I begin to realize what matters most. He has me right where I need to be and I simply need to embrace that and enjoy every moment I have.

Although golf can be hard and frustrating and annoying, what else would I want to be doing? I am so blessed! So if you're always complaining or whining about your job or about life in general, I challenge you to look at your life and look at those around you and look at the world around you...are you alive and breathing? Do you have a roof over your head and food on your table? Do you have people who love you and are willing to support you no matter what you're doing? If you have any of those things, then you are blessed beyond belief! Remind yourself every day that you are blessed, put a smile on, and be kind to everyone you see today :)

This world could use a little more kindness :)

xo, JAE

Honorary Florida Girl

Hello Hello Hello!

Well I am back in Florida, and let me tell you...I am so happy! Don't get me wrong, I love Michigan. It's home. But I have always felt a pull to go somewhere else and I loved being in Florida last winter and now I'm back! Lindsey (my roommate) and I drove all day to get here and we are just starting to get back into a routine. So far the weather has been beyond perfect...80+ degrees and sunny :) And I think it's supposed to stay like this for a while, so I'm not complaining! We will have this upcoming week to practice and prepare before we head to our final tournament of 2016.

After Stage 1 of Q-school I did a major evaluation of my life. I reflected on this past year of golf and have come up with a bigger and better game plan than last year. I have nothing holding me back at this point so I'm really going to dedicate my time to becoming a better player. As for the rest of my life, God has really moved within me. I've always known what I need to do to become more like Jesus, but thinking about it and actually putting it into action are two different things. Recently I have also decided to dedicate my life to living for God and trusting His plan and timing for my life. It's not going to be easy, but it will be worth it.

I am really looking forward to getting back on the grind and seeing what happens this upcoming season, but I'm focusing on staying in the present and being grateful for the blessings God has given me :)

Thanks for all the support and I will continue to keep everyone posted!

Anger Management

So, does anyone else get angry for no reason? Or at first thought it seems like it's because of no reason, but there's usually always an underlying reason for the way we feel and for how we act. Recently I've just been getting angry. And my mood changes within a blink of an eye. After some thoughtful alone time I think I've come up with a few answers.

Rather than telling you about my issues I'll just share the few things I'm trying to do to become more of the happy person I want to be known for.

1. Spending time with God. It seems simple enough but I haven't been doing it enough lately. I've been going through a breakup recently as well and there's nothing like a broken heart to remind you that God will NEVER break your heart. He will always be there; so it's my turn to always be within His presence.
2. Yoga. I love yoga. I will admit that I love following different yogis on Instagram. I love watching the fun and amazing things they're able to do with their bodies and it inspires me to get to that point! But what I love about yoga as well is that in order to get into a difficult pose you have to be patient and practice every day. It's kind of like golf :)
3. Planning. I like having a plan and I like having a schedule. I also enjoy the process of planning and scheduling so before I head down to Florida I am taking action and creating a plan for every aspect of my life. Granted, some plans don't work out like you had planned, but the more I'm prepared the better!

These are just a few of  the things that I am working on right now to become a happier, healthier person :)

In other news, I'll be setting my 2017 golf schedule sometime in November :) I'm really excited to get back to warmer weather and practicing every day! If you have any questions or comments or advice for me feel free to contact me!

xo, Jen

Thoughts

Hello everyone! Sorry that I have been MIA for a while. After California I took a break from golf and from blogging. The break from blogging was slightly unintentional, but I guess I didn't really have much to say or if I had something to say I didn't want to post it on here for everyone to read; I kept it all to myself, but now I have some thoughts to share and an update about golf!

So a few weeks ago Lindsey (my roommate) asked me to drive down to Florida with her and then play in a tournament. It's a long drive from Michigan to Florida and it's always better with a friend. We did the drive in one day...yes one day! But we were so happy to be back to warm and sunny weather! We were back for about two days before we headed off to Eustis, Florida for our tournament! I didn't play great and therefore missed the cut, but Lindsey played well the first two rounds, making the cut, and allowing me to be her caddie for the third round :) We had a lot of fun today, but we are thankful to be back in Sarasota especially since Hurricane Matthew is making it's way up Florida's east coast!

I am headed back home to Michigan tomorrow morning...although I don't want to go back I will be back down here soon enough!

In other news I have been reflecting a lot on my life recently. I sometimes think I'm not allowed to start over, but who says that that's true? You can always start over. With recent events that have been happening in my life I have decided to do a complete revamping of who I want to be and how I want to live life. There is a lot going on in the world right now; a lot of hate being spread around. I think the most important thing that I and any other person can do right now is to love. 

I have always been a lover and I tend to wear my heart on my sleeve which usually leads me to getting my heart broken, like recently. And recently I have again been having thoughts about shutting down and becoming cold; putting up my wall and just not letting anyone in, and then I think about that and realize that's not who I am, and that's not who God is calling me to be. I always say that I think I care too much, but I think that is exactly who I am supposed to be. I care and I love so much that when other people stop caring or stop loving it breaks my heart.

So here's to new adventures and to doing things that make me a better person :)

One Last Update from Cali :)

Happy Q-School Week!

Hello all! It's Q-school week! Today was the first day of registration and practice rounds. I am all signed in and ready to go! I have my tee times for the next couple of days and a game plan of what to work on before the tournament begins! It's been a few days since I last updated so I'll give you the run down of what we've been doing here in Cali :)

Friday- We played the Palmer course and my parents got to play along too! We belong to a course that allows us to play other courses around the country for a cheap price and they give us rental clubs to use so they were able to play which was a lot of fun for me! We also got to play along with one of the members out at Mission Hills and he had some good advice for me during the round so I'm hoping to use that to my advantage this week! When we got back to the hotel I got a quick workout in before Lindsey (you guys remember my best friend!) and I went to our friend's condo for dinner! It was nice to hang out with other golfers and just relax! This week is high stress enough so if you can find a few good people that can distract you from golf, you're going to do just fine :)

Saturday- We got to go to Disneyland!!!!!! You guys have no idea how excited I was about this day. If you have been keeping up with my blogs you know I am a HUGE Disney fan and I had never been to Disneyland before so my excitement was off the charts. We decided we were going to take a mental break from golf for a day and allow our inner child to run wild and it was an amazing day! We got there right when it opened and explored every nook and cranny of Walt's design. Although it is smaller than Disney World, it was still amazing to experience another Disney resort. I'm pretty sure I cried a few tears when I saw Sleeping Beauty's castle, but don't worry they were tears of joy! We stayed for most of the day before heading back to Palm Springs.

Sunday- I went to play and practice at the Gary Player course which is the third course we will be playing for this year's qualifying tournament. My parents went and played another round of golf so we both did our own golf thing for the day before they came back to pick me up. I got a short workout in then we did some laundry! Okay fine, MOM did the laundry, but I did get her some quarters :) I then sat in the lobby and did some of my Bible study and Lindsey joined me!

Now I sit here, again in the lobby with Lindsey, typing my short update :) We are ready to go for Thursday and looking forward to whatever comes our way!