SE: Gandon Focused on ‘The Process’ Heading into NCAA Regional
May 13, 2018 | Men's Golf, Sports Extra
By Corbin McGuire
K-State men's golfer Jeremy Gandon likes to be good at everything. Golf, school, Ping-Pong, you name it.
Gandon's head coach, Grant Robbins, describes him as a perfectionist. Gandon, who will begin the three-day, 54-hole NCAA Stockton Regional in California on Monday, prefers the word competitor.
"I'm very competitive in everything I do," said the junior, a two-time Academic All-Big 12 pick majoring in finance. "Everything."
Gandon said he developed this trait always competing against his older brother, Sebastien.
"I always wanted to beat him," added the standout K-State golfer, now aware his inner competitiveness and drive toward perfection has its drawbacks.
The French native experienced plenty of those frustrations on the golf course this season. He has been playing well and scoring low in practices nearly all year. Yet when he teed off for tournaments, it was as if he was a different golfer.
At one point this season, Gandon posted 10 rounds in a row at or above par. It's not a streak someone as talented as Gandon, who made the All-Big 12 Tournament Team as a freshman, likes to think about. It's also a stretch someone as competitive as Gandon could not get out of his mind.
"It was kind of a weight. It was very frustrating to play very good in practice and shooting (low) scores, and whenever I got into tournaments, I was feeling good but I couldn't really score," he said. "I was out of the process and thinking about scoring all the time."
Then came the first round of the Missouri Invitational on April 9.
Gandon posted a 4-under par 68 that day, setting him up to finish tied for ninth. It marked his first round under par in a team event since September 26 and his first top-10 finish in a team event since the fall of his sophomore season.
"The weight was off my shoulder," he said. "I was just kind of waiting for it and that was probably why I wasn't playing good before. Once I got it, I just kept rolling."
Rolling is one way to put it. Gandon, who earned Big 12 Golfer of the Month honors for his play in April, as well being receiving All-Big 12 recognition, rewrote K-State history in the final weeks of this season.
To start, he won the weather-shorted Hawkeye Invitational by four strokes at 8-under par. This was the same tournament and course Gandon finished tied for 68that 14-over par last season.
"He's always expected to play well. He's really hard on himself and is quite the perfectionist. We've really been working on with him just trying to relax a little bit on the golf course and just play," Robbins said. "It got to the point where he's been playing really well in practice and it just, for some reason, wasn't translating into the tournaments, and I think that he was putting so much pressure on himself. I think toward the end of the spring he just tried to relax a little bit and trust his preparation and just went out and played golf, and then started to see the results.
"Obviously after the couple of rounds at Missouri he started to get some confidence and that fed into Iowa, where he won, and then he had a lot of confidence and momentum going into Big 12. Confidence is such a huge factor in this game, as you can see, but he's been playing well all along. He works hard at it. He's very competitive. He loves the big stage."
Gandon followed up his second career victory with something even better. He tied for the Big 12 individual championship to become K-State's first conference champion since 1951 and the first Wildcat ever to finish in first place in consecutive tournaments.
The difference down the stretch, Gandon said, has been between his ears.
"I'm kind of hard on myself. I'm trying not to be that way anymore," Gandon said, laughing. "I definitely feel better, especially after two wins. I'm just trying to play the best I can."
Gandon feels like he's found a mental recipe for success. The rest of it, the talent and work ethic, has always been there.
"I'm just going to go in (to Regionals) the same way I went to Big 12s, just try to stay focused on the process, do my best and see what happens. It worked out pretty well for Big 12s, so why not there?" Gandon said. "I know I can win, so there's not really any expectations. If I do all the things well, I might be pretty close at the end."
K-State men's golfer Jeremy Gandon likes to be good at everything. Golf, school, Ping-Pong, you name it.
Gandon's head coach, Grant Robbins, describes him as a perfectionist. Gandon, who will begin the three-day, 54-hole NCAA Stockton Regional in California on Monday, prefers the word competitor.
"I'm very competitive in everything I do," said the junior, a two-time Academic All-Big 12 pick majoring in finance. "Everything."
Gandon said he developed this trait always competing against his older brother, Sebastien.
"I always wanted to beat him," added the standout K-State golfer, now aware his inner competitiveness and drive toward perfection has its drawbacks.
The French native experienced plenty of those frustrations on the golf course this season. He has been playing well and scoring low in practices nearly all year. Yet when he teed off for tournaments, it was as if he was a different golfer.
At one point this season, Gandon posted 10 rounds in a row at or above par. It's not a streak someone as talented as Gandon, who made the All-Big 12 Tournament Team as a freshman, likes to think about. It's also a stretch someone as competitive as Gandon could not get out of his mind.
"It was kind of a weight. It was very frustrating to play very good in practice and shooting (low) scores, and whenever I got into tournaments, I was feeling good but I couldn't really score," he said. "I was out of the process and thinking about scoring all the time."
Then came the first round of the Missouri Invitational on April 9.
Gandon posted a 4-under par 68 that day, setting him up to finish tied for ninth. It marked his first round under par in a team event since September 26 and his first top-10 finish in a team event since the fall of his sophomore season.
"The weight was off my shoulder," he said. "I was just kind of waiting for it and that was probably why I wasn't playing good before. Once I got it, I just kept rolling."
Rolling is one way to put it. Gandon, who earned Big 12 Golfer of the Month honors for his play in April, as well being receiving All-Big 12 recognition, rewrote K-State history in the final weeks of this season.
To start, he won the weather-shorted Hawkeye Invitational by four strokes at 8-under par. This was the same tournament and course Gandon finished tied for 68that 14-over par last season.
"He's always expected to play well. He's really hard on himself and is quite the perfectionist. We've really been working on with him just trying to relax a little bit on the golf course and just play," Robbins said. "It got to the point where he's been playing really well in practice and it just, for some reason, wasn't translating into the tournaments, and I think that he was putting so much pressure on himself. I think toward the end of the spring he just tried to relax a little bit and trust his preparation and just went out and played golf, and then started to see the results.
"Obviously after the couple of rounds at Missouri he started to get some confidence and that fed into Iowa, where he won, and then he had a lot of confidence and momentum going into Big 12. Confidence is such a huge factor in this game, as you can see, but he's been playing well all along. He works hard at it. He's very competitive. He loves the big stage."
Gandon followed up his second career victory with something even better. He tied for the Big 12 individual championship to become K-State's first conference champion since 1951 and the first Wildcat ever to finish in first place in consecutive tournaments.
The difference down the stretch, Gandon said, has been between his ears.
"I'm kind of hard on myself. I'm trying not to be that way anymore," Gandon said, laughing. "I definitely feel better, especially after two wins. I'm just trying to play the best I can."
Gandon feels like he's found a mental recipe for success. The rest of it, the talent and work ethic, has always been there.
"I'm just going to go in (to Regionals) the same way I went to Big 12s, just try to stay focused on the process, do my best and see what happens. It worked out pretty well for Big 12s, so why not there?" Gandon said. "I know I can win, so there's not really any expectations. If I do all the things well, I might be pretty close at the end."
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