Senior Janlynn Ngo represented Annandale in hopes to qualify for states. At this time last year, Janlynn barely missed the cut by only four strokes. Because of this, she “prepared for the regionals tournament by focusing on making her putting consistent because it is the most important part of golf.”

During the tournament she realized that she was having a rough day, but focused on something far more important than score. According to Janlynn “[score] doesn’t tell how much a player struggled and how much they had to overcome those obstacles.” She also had a positive and optimistic mindset even though score may have not gone her way and if she was making mistakes.

From this tournament and two years of golf she learned something incredible that “you cannot force yourself to be 99% perfect nor force others to be. But, you can only guide yourself and also guide others.” Pushing the limit to its maximum only calls for negativity and unnecessary stress when the whole point of golf is to be around others and focus on a rewarding game which challenges mentally and physically.

She also says that golf has helped her during her daily life. According to her “some people do not have the mindset of self-motivation” which has helped her to guide others to help them improve. Finally, she has learned that “Golf is not just a sport. When you’re out there by yourself in the trees, the bushes, next to the water and even in the fairway, and you’re struggling to see the light at the end of the tunnel, amazing things can happen.” Janlynn’s experience shows that there is more than just the result and many things can be learned to help you improve in life no matter what the result was. 

Her overall mindset going into the game is important because things do not always go your way. As Janlynn stated “I wanted to scream and just stop time for a bit throughout the round.” When you have the intention of doing something in life that you have trouble with or or just having an off day, how you think about it can be all you need to power through it and be able to do just about anything that you want.

During Janlynn’s game, she focused on the most important things that would improve her game the most. Intentionally, she was prepared most for the short game like putting, pitching, and chipping because it is the most important part of golf. In the future, for her to keep being successful in her game she said that she needs to have the right mindset and focus on what is at hand. According to her: “a player can have a great and consistent swing and a killer short game, but a poor mental game can ruin it all and bring the player to their lowest point before the round ends.”