Each week throughout the year we will spotlight one Epson Tour player and provide an in depth look into her life - both on and off the course. Up next in "This week is all about..." series is Jaclyn Jansen.
Jansen Hopes to Build off Finish in South Bend
Late June in South Bend, Ind., presented a glorious early summer golf landscape for Jaclyn Jansen. Warm weather, fast greens and the longest days of the year at Blackthorn Country Club for the Four Winds Invitational reminded Jansen of her Midwestern upbringing in the small, central Illinois town of Effingham, about four hours to the south.
To add comfort to the surroundings, there was a gaggle of family, friends and her father Jack serving as a temporary caddie. He is the man who introduced Jaclyn to the game at the relatively old age of 13, a game that took when gymnastics and basketball no longer fit the bill during her high school years.
“It was a little more laid back at Four Winds,” Jansen, 24, said. “My dad was caddying and he really knows my game. My mom was watching and I had a cheering section. It was really fun. I always play better with an audience anyway.”
Jansen showed her fan club quite a Sunday finish. She sank a couple of 30-foot birdie putts en route to a final-round 67 to quickly move up the leaderboard. A career-best tie for third allowed Jansen to think about what could be.
“I hope I can build off that finish in South Bend for the rest of the year,” Jansen said. “If I can go back that far.”
Jansen hasn’t teed it up since that Midwestern success. Her beat friend got married, the Epson Tour took a one-month break and she spent some time with family in Illinois, where her three dogs live as she travels to country. So when Jansen plays again this week at the New England Charity Classic in New Hampshire, it will be her first competitive round in six weeks. She is 38th on the Epson Tour money list, aiming for either the prestigious top 10 that earn a spot on the 2015 LPGA or the top 25 that advance to the final stage of this fall’s LPGA Qualifying Tournament.
However, Jansen seemingly has a penchant for being in the right place at the right time.
Basketball was in her blood as a youngster. Both parents played collegiately, her grandfather was an outstanding player at what is now UNLV and a cousin played at Missouri. As a point guard, she scored more than 1,000 points through her junior year of high school. But that’s about the time that golf became equally important. “I broke 100 for the first time in my first high school match as a freshman,” Jansen said. She also made a double eagle at age 14. At a national amateur event, Jansen was paired with the top amateur in the country and played well, impressing the Baylor coach who “took a chance on me.”
At Baylor, Jansen was a solid player throughout a four-year career and earned a degree in Health Sciences in 2012. It was on to the Epson Tour in 2013.
Residing in Waco, Tx., at Baylor and now in Dallas is also starting to benefit Jansen’s professional game. Last year, in search of a new instructor, a friend referred Jansen to Mike Wright, the longtime head professional and instructor at Shady Oaks Country Club in Fort Worth. Wright spent a lot of time with Ben Hogan at Shady Oaks before Hogan died in 1997, and often uses Hogan stories when giving lessons to Jansen.
“We’ve been working together for about a year,” Jansen said. “It’s not uncommon for him to tell me something about golf that Mr. Hogan told him. When I started working with Mike, I had only one flight pattern – a fade or a cut. We’ve been working on the ability to hit different kinds of shots. That has helped me tremendously.
“And I’m also learning how to play. That is one of my biggest hurdles. I just go out and play. I haven’t had a game plan until now.”
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