Joining Jackson atop the leaderboard is Jackson State University alumna Shasta Averyhardt (Flint, Michigan), who used seven birdies and one bogey get to 6-under par. In her last two starts on the Epson Tour, Averyhardt has missed the cut. With two weeks off before the Guardian Championship she took the time to best prepare herself for the final stretch of the season.
“After my performance in Idaho, I was really upset with just ball striking and emotional instability; I was just really fragile. I decided I’m not going to take any days off and I got with my coach, and I said, ‘I need you to help me,” said Averyhardt. “I worked really hard on my ball striking and my short game. And then more so I’ve been reading a book that’s been helping me understand ‘flow.’ And it’s hard. It’s easy to describe but it’s hard to do consistently, so the book is explaining like how the process to get into flow. Does it always happen? Maybe not but I want it to happen more often. So, I was trying it out this week and just more calm state of mind. And being positive. Even with these lovebugs that are so irritating to just like let it go. Deal with it.”
Beyond educating herself on her mental and physical golf game, this week Averyhardt and a few additional Epson Tour members took a local trip to learn more about their ancestry at the Rosa Parks Museum.
“There’s so much history down here and so we decided first to go to the Civil Rights Museum, but they were closed. So, we were like ‘Plan B, Rosa Parks Museum.’ We were really happy we went because we got the details of the Rosa Parks boycott that we didn’t really learn about in school,” said Averyhardt. “At least for myself, it helped me appreciate my ancestors and how hard or how determined they were for fairness and for equality. It made me very conscience, even more conscience than I am. Just very mindful and very appreciative.”
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