If you check the title of my blog it’s Walk Through the Journey with Me. It came to me a large part because of my last name, the long walk that golf is and the value I see in each person’s unique journey. So, I’m usually always walking whether it be physically or metaphorically.
But, today I’m going to switch it up because these last two weeks have been less of a walk and more of a dance. Not just any dance, but the Texas Two-Step.
I’ve spent the last two weeks in Texas. Started my journey on April 3rd flying to Dallas and then driving to Abilene. After a week there, I drove up to Wichita Falls for a week and then back to Dallas to fly out to LA. All this on my own… or so I thought (but we’ll get to that in a bit).
This would be the first time I flew out to a tournament, rented a car and stayed in a hotel all by myself. An independent grown up was what I was thinking. I figured this experience would only make me stronger and I wasn’t wrong.
When I turned the key in the rental car and started my journey through the frontier of Texas I thought it was only fitting I put on some old school country music. First artist to come to mind was the great Garth Brooks and his famous song, “The Dance.” I chose this song without any idea of what the next two weeks would hold, just thought it was perfect given my surroundings.
As I drove through the open land and cow pastures found in the middle of Texas, I couldn’t help but to think about the journey I’d just begun. I knew by the end of my time in Texas, there would need to be a blog. When I write, I like to have an idea and let it simmer for a little bit. So, as “The Dance” blasted through the speakers in my car and the cow’s mooed from afar the title of my blog came to me – The Texas Two-Step. I had no idea how it would play out, but I jotted it down and figured I’d come back to it later.
When I got to my hotel, I sat down and googled the Texas Two-Step. The search results were as follows:
“The Texas Two-Step. The two-step is a partner dance, consisting of a “leader” and a “follower.” The leader determines the movements and patterns of the pair as they move around the dance floor. It is a progressive dance that proceeds counterclockwise around the floor.”
From that simple definition I took away two points
- The dance requires two people; a leader and follower.
- It starts counterclockwise.
Once again, I jotted that down and left it alone. On April 6th, I played my first competitive round. The day before, I called my brother as I usually do for a pre tournament talk. I remember telling him, “I’m gonna go out and win this thing, Ryan. I am ready and I know I can do it.” He quickly responded, “That’s great Brynn, but I’ve seen you do this before and place too much expectation and pressure on yourself so be patient.” I quickly responded, “No, no Ryan, this is different. I am confident and it is more of an I can than an I must.”
First round came and the wind was whipping with gusts up to 50 mph. All this wind I’ve been playing in Florida and I hadn’t seen anything like this. I anticipated that scores would be higher and I had to fight through. Before you know it, the day was over and my scorecard read 81. And just like that things were going counterclockwise. Ryan reminded me on the phone after my round that he saw that one coming and I had to let go of control and focus on getting better every day. I grinded my way back the next two days to make the cut and finish T32.
Next stop, Wichita Falls. As I travel I always love finding local restaurants to go to and get a taste of the community culture. Before hitting the road to Wichita I took a quick look on Yelp for what could be for dinner and the first thing that popped up was, Opa’s Schnitzel Haus. I referred to my grandpa and one of my biggest idols in life as Opa. It was a done deal I’d be going there.
Can’t say I’ve ever sat and waited at a restaurant for 30 minutes only to eat by myself. But, something was telling me I just had to stay. I was finally seated and instead of sitting on my phone, I decided to put it away and have dinner with Opa. He wasn’t there physically, but who’s to say he couldn’t be there in spirit. All that hype to eat a sit down dinner alone and I wasn’t actually alone.
Dinner with Opa
There I sat a week into this “lonesome” journey only to learn that I am not alone. Just as the Texas Two-Step requires a partner, so too does the journey that I am on. At dinner with Opa, I decided this week he’d be my partner. The Texas Two-Step has multiple positions and one is called the “shadow”. Side by side, he’d be my shadow.
Explanation of shadow.
I finished the week in Wichita T12 and in no way did I do it alone. I had a good caddy shining from above. I was reminded of that when I saw two F16’s fly over me on the 9th hole during the first round.
One of the biggest lessons I learned from my grandpa was to have faith. To have faith, you have to give up a certain amount of control. A lesson I learned the week prior when things started going counterclockwise. I guess that gets back to where this all started… “The Dance”.
“Our lives are better left to chance
I could have missed the pain
But I’d have had to miss the dance”
I lost my grandpa nine years ago today, but it’s without a doubt that I know he’s still dancing right beside me.