JUNIOR GOLF
JUNIOR GOLF
In 2008, at the age of 13, Ouname Mhotsha qualified for the Junior Botswana National Team. Two years later she was able to qualify for the Senior team as a junior golfer.
She is considered to be the youngest player to dominate the golf ranks in Botswana attaining 16 amateur wins , including 2 international wins.
THE TIMELINE
INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
Golf has positively influenced my personal development and self actualization journey.
Golf provides opportunities for me to learn about myself, to grow and to become a positive influence on others.
My parents introduced me to golf and they supported my journey the best way they could considering the fact that it was a very foreign career path for them.
Yes! I remember a comment that one of the coaches for the local junior golf clinics made about my swing. After we were done, he went and told my father that I had great potential with the sport and for me that was first success moment.
A tangible success moment would be when I won my first golf tournament at 14 years. I didn't realize I won until someone came in to the ladies golf locker room to tell me I won and I just froze out of excitement.
There was a little bit of disbelief because I was not leading the tournament after the first day and I felt like I was still too young to beat the older experienced ladies that were ahead of me in the leaderboard.
Finding my purpose of youth empowerment and directly impacting young people and underserved communities through my journey.
I always push myself to be eager to learn from other people and I make it a point to put in the work to become better everyday.
The toughest part of the experience was being able to confidently show my competitiveness when playing with adults because our culture teaches us to be respectful to elders in anything that we do.
I sometimes felt like playing better than adults was disrespectful.
- I loved receiving mentorship and advice from the Botswana senior team members.
- I got to meet a lot of players that became aunties, sisters , brothers and longtime friends during my Africa national team tournaments.
- I enjoyed learning from other people's experience all over the world in my college golf teams.
I actually love it! The first 3 holes are usually tough but afterwards I usually get myself in a good zone and focus on staying there until the end of the day.
I was inspired by Tiger Woods because of his grit and creativity especially during difficult situations on the golf course.
My current coach, Carlos Brown is such an icon , his holistic approach to life is a lifetime inspiration.
My childhood coach Edwin Madigela helped me develop a strong work ethic. My current coach Carlos Brown is building in me wholesome unconventional athlete.
As a young athlete I didn't reflect much but in the first 8 months of 2022 as I began my training for professional golf I have been heavily reflecting on my past 20 years of playing golf.
This reflection period has been my greatest source of inspiration for my professional golf journey.
Leadership - As a pioneer I have learnt to embrace being a leader and using my journey to inspire other young people.
Service - I enjoy using my gifts and skills to serve others especially underrepresented communities.
Advocacy - My journey is a learning process and an advocacy for living a holistic lifestyle.
I do not compare myself with other athletes so I have no answer to the question.
I believe every athlete is unique and important in their own way.
Preparation usually starts the previous day with a practice round and taking some notes to know my distances and where I wish to place my shots.
Then a goodnight rest followed by a good morning routine to get myself mentally prepared and be ready to execute.
Yes absolutely! I believe an athlete has to take good care of themselves.
I do not believe an athlete has to neglect their true self because of a sports dream.
There is life after sports so one has to keep that in mind.
I think most young athletes are struggling with mental wellness.
I would say they should go for it, be it a professional career or just playing sports for leisure, both ways are beneficial for personal development.
