American rookie Megan Heckeroth, 26, hails from Dallas, Oregon and after playing on the US Duramed Futures Tour since 2003, at last year’s Tour School she earned her rights to compete on the Ladies European Tour. Megan, whose hobbies and interests include bikram yoga, art and kickboxing, also played on the West Coast Ladies Golf Tour in 2004. Here, as part of a series of diary entries coming throughout the year, Megan talk about life as a touring pro.

Megan Heckeroth: Journal Entry # 1

We shape our own reality through positive thinking

Megan Heckeroth

I got my first two tournaments on the Futures Tour under my belt and I have to say that I am pleased with the results. I learned a lot about myself and my game over the last two weeks. I am excited to build on that for the rest of the year.

It's a challenge playing out there on tour because you have to have the mental toughness week after week. It is a grind to play and practice all day, everyday.

After talking with my mental coach, Dr Joseph Parent, during both tournaments, I discovered that I was thinking way too much about my score which really determined how I played the last few holes of each round. In the next couple of weeks that I have off, I will be practicing the techniques that Doc suggested so that I will be even more prepared for my next event in Louisiana.

I was much more focused the first week at Cleveland Heights than I was at Summerfield the following week. I stayed in the present more often and felt like I was more aggressive. And the scores obviously proved it. After playing scared last week especially after making a 7 on the par-three 15th, I felt like I fought and bounced back; but I know that it had an affect on me the next day.

This is why I need to learn how to immediately forget about the negative and focus only on the positive. And by the positive, I mean all the great drives I had, the pure iron shots I hit to only a few feet from the pin, those special chip-ins for birdie or those par saves that get you excited and rev up your adrenaline a bit.

I have learned a lot about the mechanics of the golf swing.
I have learned even more about the mental approach over the last few years and, I can't emphasize enough how important it is to stay mentally tough and be consistent week after week.

I am definitely up for the challenge and I am excited for my first year on tour. I have learned more than I thought I ever would in the last two weeks. Just think of how much I will have learned at the end of the year.

I'm going to end this blog entry with a quote from my favorite author from a book that I actually just finished reading. A quote that I will never forget: "I believe we shape our own reality through positive thinking."