By Lindsey Boyd
My Leander was given a ball and a club at the ripe age of 10. Since then, she’s swung her way from Sweden to the US, and has climbed to No. 1 on the Mountain West leaderboard.
“My parents got me into golf,” Leander said. “I really liked it because it’s an individual sport so I’m in a lot of control on how well I want to become.”
Averaging 70.71 strokes a round this season, 14 of which were under-par, Leander does seems to take control and often appears near the top of the individual leaderboard.
She’s finished first in two tournaments, earned second place twice and landed third in the Anuenue Spring Break Classic right behind players from No. 4 Arizona state and No. 7 UCLA. She also was the primary reason SJSU conquered No. 1 Stanford by 10 strokes.
Despite the accolades and recognition, Leander said she likes to keep things simple.
“I’ve learned from my mistakes in previous years and now I’m actually doing what I’m supposed to do,” Leander said while reflecting back on her four years playing for SJSU.
One of the biggest adjustments Leander has made to her game is how she practices.
“This year I’m actually toning my practice down a little bit,” Leander said. “It doesn’t need to be perfect during practice. I can just be out there having a good feeling because usually it’s the good feeling that I’ll bring to the tournament.”
The senior realized that her steady performance is not determined by her ability to hit the ball hard every single time, but by her mental capacity to maintain a positive mindset at practice. She correlates athletic consistency on the green with maintaining a happy mood.
“I think the mental game is always what made me play better and perform better,” Leander said. “Before it was more about the physical things like how I swing. How I putt. But now it’s more like how I handle it when I putt and practice.”
Leander mentioned that the opening of San Jose State’s new golf complex has played a large role in motivating her to perform well. Before the complex was constructed, the team was forced to share their practice time on a course with many other golfers. Now, they have their own private facility to themselves.
“We can do these crazy shots that we couldn’t do before because of other members, so now it’s more of a home that we can go to to practice as much as we want,” Leander said.
Some golfers may associate their success with a lucky glove, favorite ball or some sort of superstition, but for Leander, she believes her success comes from the lesser things.
“I kind of want to remove those lucky things because I don’t want to be determined by things,” Leander said.
In other words, her game is not determined by the value she puts into her clubs or glove, but in the value she places in herself. Her strategy is to simplify the game and she believes simplicity is the key to unlocking her invitation to regionals and nationals later this season.
The industrial design major could graduate and head toward a career designing golf clubs, but for now Leander sees herself swinging them on the pro tour.