5439
What happened
It was my first competition, and we were at the end of the season. It was raining. All my clubs were wet, my glove soaked, there was a thunderstorm. It was at Cholet, in stunning surroundings — but I didn't know the course at all. For my first competition, I'd put myself in the position of playing a course I didn't know with completely soaked clubs.
On paper, it was a bad start. I was discovering each hole as I walked onto it, the grip was slipping in my hand, I had no reference points. But that was the deal I'd made with myself: throw myself at competition right away, without waiting until I was ready.
Luckily, I met a huge number of people there. Everyone was really nice, the club atmosphere was excellent. I made some exceptional connections and I genuinely had a blast. Even though I messed up the course, even though I blew holes, I still pulled off some interesting things.
It was a first experience for me. My goal was to throw myself into competition fast — the course, the pressure of a scorecard you actually have to hand in. Even if I couldn't really play yet, that didn't matter: I wanted to know what it felt like, so I could use the experience in the competitions that came after, which were going to get a bit more serious.
On the way out, the index had dropped from 54 to 39.