DIRKSEN’S NEW SPIN
From the ice to the links
When Hannah Dirksen’s dreams of figure skating in the Olympics were dashed due to back problems as a teenager, she eventually switched sports, trading in the ice and toepick skates for the green of the fairways and a set of clubs.
The impact of too many falls in figure skating forced Dirksen, then around the age of 15, to take a year off. She said she had the option of surgery, but instead decided to wear a brace to help build the strength in her back.
“For a year, I couldn’t even go for a run,” she said.
Having played or participated in a wide range of sports growing up, from gymnastics and volleyball to motocross, Dirksen’s time on the golf course had been limited as a youngster. She said she would go to the driving range with her father, Mark, maybe once a month as a kid before trips to the range increased in frequency to once a week beginning around Grade 9.
Having a local course — Mission Golf and Country Club — right across the street from her house was a big help in getting Dirksen more involved in the game. And as she recovered from her back injury, her parents encouraged her to get into golf.
“You would think golf and this bad back — not a good mix. But I’ve never had back problems with golf,” she said.
It wasn’t until her first year at the University of the Fraser Valley, however, when Dirksen began to really dedicate herself to the sport. At first, she was shooting in the 80s and low-90s. Nothing spectacular. But over the winter after that first fall semester, she began golfing every day to improve her game.
Now a third-year kinesiology student, Dirksen has become a PacWest individual champion and a Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association all-Canadian following her 2015-16 campaign.
Her success is the product of hours and hours … and then even more hours of practice at Chilliwack Golf Club, now her home course.
“I remember last summer, if I missed one day of golf, I was like, ‘You just screwed up your entire season.’ I was on the range — I’d spend the entire day practising and playing,” she said. “I think I missed maybe three days last summer. This summer was a little different. I took some more time off because I was like, ‘You’re taking this too seriously.’ I was a little aggressive.”
A typical practice day for Dirksen last summer would have consisted of “a couple hours” on the driving range working on various shots like the fade and draw. Trying to hit her targets. She would then stop at the practice green, followed by some practice on her short game. Again, for “a couple hours.”
If she felt up to it, she would then play a round. In total, Dirksen says she would, on occasion but not every day, spend up to 12 hours at the golf course working on her game.
“Not all the time, but I definitely had those days,” she says. “It’s fun. It was a drive to get better. You look at the pros and they’re all practising like eight hours a day, at least. I just looked at them and was like, ‘They’re practising this much, I need to be practising this much.’
“You have to be practising effectively, too. It’s using that time wisely and making sure you’re not just hitting balls.”
The goal for Dirksen is to turn professional once school is done. One option to start could be the Cactus Tour, which runs tournaments predominantly in Arizona, but in Nevada and Texas as well.
“She’s not afraid to put in those long days,” said UFV golf coach Chris Bertram, who adds that Dirksen’s goal of playing professionally is realistic, based on how hard she works to improve.
“She has that same look in her eyes you see in really good players.
“That look that shows a total belief in their game and zero tolerance for anything but winning.”
Indeed, Dirksen agrees this has been a challenge, though she has seen a “night-and-day” improvement in turning negative energy into positive energy over the past two years.
There was a time when getting easily frustrated after a bad shot or bad hole would snowball to the point where it affected her overall score. Age, experience and practice have helped her mature.
“If I hit one or two bad shots in a row, I was just like, ‘Screw it. I’m done.’ But you can’t think that way,” she said. “If I get angry, it’s not going to help.”
That concept was tested last weekend, as Dirksen fought her way back into contention in the second and final round of the UFV Invitational at Ledgeview Golf Club in Abbotsford, only to three-putt on the tricky green of the par-5 18th hole when she needed to make birdie. She finished second after a final round of 2-over-par 73, ultimately one stroke behind Surrey’s Sharon Park.
“I just keep thinking of every different shot, how I could’ve been doing it better,” she said. “What I take from it is a learning experience and taking it into this weekend, just knowing what I can do better.”
She has that same look in her eyes you see in really good players. That look that shows a total belief in their game.