It’s been a busy summer, as usual, for Geneva golfer Danielle Nicholson.
In May, Nicholson qualified for the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship. She went on to compete in the event at Neshanic Valley Golf Course in Neshanic Valley, N.J., falling in match play in the third round of the tournament in a tight battle to Pailin Ruttanasupagid of Thailand, 2 and 1.
This past week Nicholson returned to Penn State, where she qualified for the Pub Links Championship, to compete in the PGA Junior Series, finishing fourth overall with a total score of 224.
“I hit the ball very well,” she said. “I was striking it the best I have been, I just had a little difficulty putting. My lag putts were pretty good, but I struggled with some of the shorter putts.”
The 2011 Division I state champion actually finished second in the 13-15 age bracket and survived some brutal weather during the second round of the three-round tournament to shoot a 78.
Always tough on herself, Nicholson said she could’ve driven the ball a little better despite the brutal wind conditions.
“It was a very windy day, but I wasn’t striking the ball as well,” she said. “I had errant drives and that cost me a few strokes.”
Nicholson bounced back from the second round 78 with a 72 in the third round.
While she struck the ball better she had 36 putts on the round, but it was the short misses that really bothered her.
“On the last day, I really felt like I should’ve shot 68,” she said. “I missed two one-footers. I just went to tap them in and the ball just snapped off to the right. It was just one of those days.”
Nicholson said she enjoys the PGA Junior Series because of the travel and different players she gets to compete with.
“It is nice to play on the junior series because I get to go to a lot of different areas and play new courses,” she said. “Playing here in Ohio I see a lot of the same players, but on the junior series I get to play with people from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, all over the place. I enjoy playing with new players.”
The daughter of David and Linda Nicholson said she enjoys playing at Penn State, a course she has seen plenty of success on this year.
With her length off the tee, Nicholson said she would’ve like to have seen the course play at its full length of 6,400 yards rather than the 6,100-yard set up of the past week.
“I really like the layout and the green speeds are very similar to Hemlock, they’re not very undulated and there’s a slight slope,” she said. “When I played the pub links it played at 6,400, but they shortened it to 6,100 this week.
“I was hoping they would play it a little longer.”
Despite a few missed putts on Wednesday, Nicholson feels her game is in a much better state than it was at this time last year.
“Overall I think I’m playing a lot better, especially with my ball striking,” she said. “Last year I had the pull hooks really bad, but I fixed that and I’m hitting the ball with a nice little draw. I realized that I had the ball set up too far forward in my stance so I moved it back and now I’m hitting it much more solid.”
After some of the putting mishaps this past week, Nicholson said she plans to move the focus from her swing back to her short game.
“I think I’m going to start trying to make an effort to put in an hour of practice on the long range and an hour putting and chipping,” she said. “Really, 36 putts is too much; out of 72 shots, that’s half of the game.”
Nicholson closes out her summer season with the Northcost Tour Championship at Quail Hallow on Monday and Tuesday of this week.
“I have played in that the last three years and I play a lot of rounds there, it’s one of my favorite courses,” she said.
After that, Nicholson turns her attention to defending her state championship and joining the rest of the Geneva girls golf squad for the 2012 season, which begins on Aug. 13.
While she transitions from individual golf to team play, Nicholson said not much changes for her personally.
She just hopes the team can build of last season’s success.
“It’s still golf so when you’re out there you’re the only one playing your game so you can’t worry about what your teammates are doing,” she said. “But I’m excited for the season to start. We just had a meeting at the school and all the girls have been playing. Hopefully we can be as good as we were last year. We lost three seniors, but we have some girls coming back. I think it should be a good year.”
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