The “team” around Shannon Fish is clearly defined: her parents (Jim and Yvonne), her caddy and her entire family at Champions Golf Club in Houston, the club she been part of for some 20 years.
This is where Fish is spending her days preparing for Final Stage of LPGA Qualifying Tournament. Champions Golf Club, which hosted the 1967 Ryder Cup and the 1969 U.S. Open, has the largest collection of single-digit handicaps in the U.S. Fish says it’s a fact.
The two facets of her game she is working on most are putting and the mental part of the game. For putting, she spends time around Mr. Jack Burke, who founded the club and won the 1956 Masters.
“He’s 93 years old and hits balls every Tuesday and Thursday, and he putts everyday” said Fish in amassment. “He’s one of the best known putters ever, he’s up there with Ben Crenshaw. He’s not a technical putter so the majority of time I spend with him we talk about visualization and feel. He works a lot with the feeling in my hand and just seeing the ball go in. I’ve been a feel player my whole life so he is really easy for me to understand.”
On the mental side of the game, Fish spends a lot of time with Steve Elkington, who won ten times on the PGA TOUR in the 1990’s.
“Steve made it through Q-school right after graduating from Houston and kept his card for all those years,” said Fish. “I’ve been talking to him a lot about the mental side and he’s really helped me.”
The biggest difference for Fish now is confidence. This year will be her third trip to Final Stage of LPGA Qualifying Tournament. In 2013, she did not make the 72-hole cut. In 2015, she made the cut but finished T78.
“My first trip, I didn’t have the confidence to compete and I just felt like there were so many LPGA players there and the best Epson Tour players were there and I didn’t have a sense of belonging,” admitted Fish. “Last year, I played better on Epson Tour so I was a little more comfortable. Now, I saw such a significant improvement physically and mentally in my game that it gives me more confidence. This year, I was looking at the top of the leaderboard instead of focusing on the cut line.”
Fish has shown steady improvement over the years and it reached its pinnacle this year. It’s hard to believe that she finished 128th on the Epson Tour money list as a rookie in 2013. In 2014, she climbed to 85th and improved to 65th in 2015. In 2016, she vaulted to 24th with a career high four top 10 finishes and seven top 25’s.
In addition to training, Fish has also taken full advantage of the offseason. She was invited to play in the Weis Cup at Texas, which pits alums against the current team. She went to a Texas football and spent time around Sheri Steinhauer, Charlotta Sorenstam and Lisa Ferrero.
“I got to talk to them about playing professionally and achieving what they did,” said Fish. “It was cool to hang with them, go to the football game and talk golf.”
Fish also went to Vegas for a corporate outing, which happened to be the week of the Shriner’s Cup on the PGA TOUR. She went to the tournament and followed fellow former Texas golfer, Cody Gribble, who picked up his first career victory the week prior.
If not at Champions or with her trainer, Fish can found hanging with Tex, her 9-year-old black labrador, and Blake, her 12-year-old yellow labrador.
“Hanging out with them is seriously my therapy,” said Fish. “They don’t care that I play professional golf. It’s great to be back home.”
She sounds refreshed and as confident as ever headed into Final Stage. Now, it’s all about making the third trip to Final Stage the ticket to the LPGA.
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