Writing her own story

When Jess Baker gets down on her game, overwhelmed by the path ahead of her – or just finds herself in need of confidence – she writes her way through it. Getting the words on paper grounds her.
A year ago, struggling through the spring college golf season at the University of Central Florida, journaling got Baker back up and running. She journaled through night-before-the-final-match nerves at the Women’s Amateur Championship in England last June 24, too. The next day, she defeated Louise Rydqvist at Hunstanton Golf Club in England, 4 and 3.
“She does everything right,” UCF head coach Emily Marron said of the off-course work Baker, a 20-year-old from Newcastle, England, puts in to get her mind right in the face of a life-changing amateur golf victory.

Baker’s life changed forever on that summer day at Hunstanton, and the experiences have come through a firehose ever since – the latest one being the Augusta National Women’s Amateur where Baker got to enjoy a practice round at Augusta National the day after missing the 36-hole cut wit...