2009 U.S. Kids World Championships
BirdieSisters Erica Jackson and Myah Jackson played in their second US Kids Golf World Championships. There were over 30 countries represented and over 1300 participants in this tournament, which some say is the best junior golf tournament in the world. The weather was hot and so was the play.
First, lets talk about Erica Jackson’s tournament. She played from a distance of 5083 yards at “Talamore Resort Course.” Going into the World Championships Erica was predicted to play well. The Southen Pines “Pilot” had good things to say on pages 7 and 14. See: http://www.thepilot.com/media/US_Kids_Golf_2009.pdf . After receiving the Peggy Kirk-Bell award, meeting Ms. Bell, and becoming aware of the the high performance expectations, Erica was overwhelmed with the pressure to do well. The pressure was a bit much for Erica and she did not play her best golf. However, this is all a part of learning to win. Interestingly, the more difficult Erica’s shot, the better she hit her ball. As a matter of fact, Erica had some spectacular shots from some very difficult positions and she did not miss one. It was the shots she had to make that killed her, for example, putts from 5 feet and in and approach shots from 100 yards and in. After each great shot Erica made it appeared she would turn her game around, but it didn’t happen until the final hole. As Erica entered the tee box on 18, a 267 yard par 4, she could see the crowd at the club watching her so she proceeded to hit her best drive, approach and putt of the day for birdie. The next day’s finish was two shots better and Erica finished the third day 9 shots lower than the first. Unfortunately for Erica, her slow start on the first two days hurt her overall score. Nonetheless, I would be remissed if I didn’t mentioned that on the day after the championships Erica played 18 holes at Pine Needles Golf Course in Pinehurst, NC (where the 2007 Women’s Open was played) and she made par on 8 of the front 9 holes. Thus, we have concluded that Erica needs to build up her response to pressure so that her finish will accurately reflect her level of play. For more info see : http://www.uskidsgolf.com/uskgTournaments/redirect.cfm?locationID=results&type=WC&year=2009&age_group_id=4 .
Now, how about BirdieSister Myah Jackson coming up “On Top of the World,” it may have been for only a day this time but watch out world here she comes. Myah’s opening day can be summed up as steady. One birdie, one bogey and a lot of good ups and downs. She played at “Longleaf Golf Resort,” playing the back 9 from 2100 yards. The second and third rounds for all the leaders can be summed up as pressure and more pressure as the field tightened and the pin placements were more difficult. The leaders’ scores went up. Myah tied for the low round of the tournament with a first day even par 36 and finished in 7th place after day 3 – higher than any other Illinois player. Keep up the good work Myah! For more info see : http://www.uskidsgolf.com/uskgTournaments/redirect.cfm?locationID=results&type=WC&year=2009&age_group_id=4.
Tags: BirdieSisters, Erica Jackson, Haniya Ghazi, Longleaf Country Club, Myah Jackson, NC, Pilot News, Pinrhurst North Carolina, Reese Wilson, Southern Pines, Talamore Country Club, U S Kids World Chamionship
