Mitch Calvert
For Christin Thomson, progression is more important than results right now.
After taking the month of April off from competition to retool and refocus, the Fort Frances native now is more confident in her golf game than she’s been for some time.
“I took April off and just practised, and just played one event before I came home,” Thomson noted.
“I had intended to play a lot more but once I got involved with swing changes, my coach [Pam Cunningham] advised me it would be time better spent to focus solely on practice and really ingrain those changes.
“I still have a long ways to go, but I’m very happy with the progress I’ve made so far,” Thomson added.
Thomson played a tournament on the Cactus Tour at the ASU golf course in Tempe, Ariz. on May 3-5 before coming back to Fort Frances this past week, improving with each round by carding scores of 79, 76, and 72 en route to a 19th-place finish.
“That made me feel pretty good about the way things are going,” Thomson said. “I struggled on the greens [that tournament], and I think it’s got a little to do with the fact that I have been working so hard on my ball striking with my swing changes.”
But she feels like she’s on the right track with things, which was something she wasn’t confident saying much over the last year.
“For the longest time I had been struggling, even going back to last summer, and just trying to work on things, but I didn’t see much progression,” Thomson lamented.
“But the last couple months I’m seeing changes,” she added. “I’m getting more of the ball flight I used to have, and I know things are definitely on track.
“It’s just a matter of working on it every day.
“You know that you are working on the right things, so you just have to keep working on it and the results will come,” she reasoned. “To get muscle memory, it takes so long, especially since I took a lot of time developing bad habits, but it’s coming and I just have to keep at it day after day.”
Thomson now has her sights set on the CN Canadian Tour’s event at Seymour Golf and Country Club in Vancouver, B.C. on May 24-26, and has been busy working on her game at the course over in International Falls in preparation of that event.
“I had practised for a while and played the tournament and played really good, but then it felt weird again when I got back out on the course here after five days without touching a club,” Thomson admitted.
“It’s just a matter of continuing to work on it.
“I’m not going to give myself too crazy of expectations going into Vancouver, but I definitely know if I keep doing what I’m doing, the scores will take care of themselves.”
Thomson’s tournament schedule will heat up now, with an LPGA U.S. Open qualifier next on the docket June 2 in Wayzata, Mn.
She’ll then play two more Canadian Tour events, starting June 7-9 in Guelph, Ont. and one later at the Hillsdale Golf and Country Club in Mirabel, Que. on July 13-15.
All her work to date again is focused on the LPGA’s qualifying school Sept. 17-20 in Palm Springs. Calif.
“That’s the big goal, definitely,” Thomson said.
“No matter how these events go, I know if I focus on my game over these tournaments, I can go into that event [Q-school] more confident and ready,” she vowed.
