"Down the middle, down the middle, chip one putt." That was the mantra Phylly sang in her head throughout her breakthrough club championship win at Durand Eastman, Rochester's notoriously difficult municipal course.

After years of close calls, including a tough shank into the water on the 16th hole during a Florida club championship, Phylly finally broke through. She entered day two tied for third, grouped with three-time defending champion Deb Wood, who had just dominated at Wanakah Country Club days earlier with a 76.

The mental game nearly derailed her before she started. Coming off a brutal 92 at Wanakah (where Wood won), Phylly arrived with zero expectations. She didn't even warm up or practice putting. Instead, she treated it like any other league day rather than the championship finale.

While Wood and the other leaders shot 44s on the front nine, Phylly fired a smooth 40. Her strategy was pure consistency: "I can't get on par fours in two 'cause I only hit my drive like 160, 170." So she chipped and one-putted her way to pars and bogeys while others chased birdies.

The 18th hole loomed as her "arch nemesis": a par five so treacherous it was featured in Golf Magazine. "I thought, oh, second place isn't so bad," she admitted, already accepting potential defeat. But when Wood failed to reach the green in three, Phylly knew she had it.

The celebration was subdued. She didn't even realize she'd won until others confirmed no one ahead had caught her. After decades of trying, her 82 delivered the breakthrough, proving that sometimes the best strategy is simply playing your own game!

For more information on our 2025/2026 Women’s Golf Event Schedule, please visit: CompeteConfidenceGolf.com.

Subscribe to our FREE Female Golfer Facebook Group: First T Crew [Behind the Scenes of Women’s Golf]

Get in touch! Instagram: @tori_totlis TikTok: @tori_totlis YouTube: @tori.totlis Website: CompeteConfidenceGolf.com

Be sure you are subscribed to our podcast to automatically receive the NEW episodes weekly!!!

"You wake up at 5:20, you put your tee in the ground, you hit your shot, and then the four of you walk off to the ball and you hit it again, and you keep on going. It's very simplistic. You go left foot, right foot until you're finished. 72 holes."

Jason has tackled one of golf's most brutal endurance tests 13 times: the Bandon Solstice. This isn't your casual weekend round. Participants play 72 holes of walking-only golf in a single day, starting at 5:20 AM on the longest day of the year at Bandon Dunes Resort in Oregon. What makes this particularly nasty? Try 50,000+ steps across four championship courses with no carts allowed. Jason learned the hard way when his caddie bailed after 36 holes during his first attempt, forcing him to carry his own bag the rest of the way. The preparation is serious business: "You need to eat a lot of food the night before. You should be uncomfortable when you leave the dinner table" because you'll burn around 10,000 calories during the challenge! Weather can be absolutely brutal. Jason recalls 60-mph winds so fierce that "the sand looked like water" flowing across the beach below the clifftop courses. Getting in requires either legacy status (like Jason earned by pestering the original GM into making it official) or winning what's essentially a lottery that sells out within minutes. The waiting list is rumored to be 10 years deep.

"It's absolutely doable to such a broad range of fitness levels," Jason insists, though surviving involves equal parts physical endurance and mental fortitude. Expect rewards in the form of gift bags, stories at McKees Pub, and bragging rights for completing golf's ultimate marathon!

For more information about the Bandon Dunes Solstice, please visit: https://bandondunesgolf.com/golf/golf-events/

For more information on our 2026 Desert Classic Tournament, please visit: DesertClassicTournament.com

Subscribe to our FREE Female Golfer Facebook Group: First T
Crew [Behind the Scenes of Women’s Golf]

Get in touch!
Instagram: @tori_totlis
TikTok: @tori_totlis
YouTube: @tori.totlis
Website: CompeteConfidenceGolf.com

Be sure you are subscribed to our podcast to automatically receive the NEW episodes weekly!!!

Justin Klemballa tackled one of the most grueling endurance challenges out there – the 29029 Everting event at Jackson Hole. For those unfamiliar, this isn't your typical weekend hike. Participants climb a mountain 19 times in 36 hours to reach the equivalent height of Mount Everest (29,029 feet). You read that right – 19 times up the same brutal mountain. It's steep as hell and requires the most ascents of any 29029 location. Only two-thirds of participants actually finish and earn the coveted red hat. The experience has Justin buzzing about hosting his own golf instruction trips, combining bucket-list destinations with on-course coaching. Because apparently, surviving 29029 gives you ideas about doing more impossible things.

Connect with Justin Klemballa: Instagram, Youtube, Breaking Bogeys Program

For more information on our 2026 Desert Classic Tournament, please visit: DesertClassicTournament.com

Subscribe to our FREE Female Golfer Facebook Group: First T Crew [Behind the Scenes of Women’s Golf]

Get in touch! Instagram: @tori_totlis , TikTok: @tori_totlis , YouTube: @tori.totlis Website: CompeteConfidenceGolf.com