私のストーリー

Golfer Mini のウェブサイトとブログにようこそ。

すべてが始まった場所

私の最初のブログ体験は、2014年にカンザス大学（KU）のゴルフチームがアイルランドに10日間ゴルフ合宿をしたときに始まり、私はチームの公式ブロガーでした（他に誰もやりたがらなかったため）。毎日のブログはKU運動部のウェブサイトにアップロードされ、私は実際に私たちの冒険を記録し、私たちがプレイすることができた素晴らしいコースを紹介することを楽しみました。

I ended up pursuing Journalism, but after graduating KU in 2016, I felt burned out from writing so many articles under tight deadlines that I decided to give writing a break and just focus on my golf career for the next four years. It wasn’t until 2020 during the stay-at-home order (thanks COVID-19) that I decided to revisit my passion for writing and share my experiences as a professional golfer.

さて、このブログのビジョンについて話す前に、私自身についてもう少し共有する必要があります。

私という人間

The name “Minami” was difficult for my American friends to say and I was tired of being called “Mini-me” from Austin Powers (to this day, I refuse to watch the movies haha) so my teammates in college started nicknaming me Mini, hence Golfer Mini. I’ve also marketed myself as Anna Minami because I thought that it would be easier to remember and say universally than my real name which is Minami (Ann) Levonowich.

Golf has always been a part of my life, literally! I started when I was three years old and I don’t even remember swinging my first club. I just remember that I would play golf with my parents all the time. I grew up playing golf in Europe (London, Moscow, and Geneva to be exact) and maybe that’s why I love the links and enjoy hitting low shots.

ゴルフに真剣に取り組み始めた後、家族はスイスからアメリカに引っ越しました。私は当時13歳で、サウスカロライナ州ヒルトンヘッドアイランドにあるIJGAゴルフアカデミーに通いました。そこで、私は今でも連絡を取り合い、プロとしてプレーしている生涯の友人の何人かに会いました。

I went to Kansas because I wanted to go to a big-name school and also because my high school swing coach lived in the area so I thought that having my coach nearby was an added bonus. There’s so much I could write about college golf and after my time as a Division 1 student-athlete, I want to help more players get a golf scholarship!

After graduating college, I moved to Japan and established a career for myself. I became part of a very supportive management company called FT Entertainment. I obtained my tour license card and competed in tournaments all around Asia. When I wasn’t competing, I was busy with my round lessons and pro am events. I also got the occasional offers such as tv shows, magazines, podcasts, etc. To this day, I’ve been on five tv shows (two in South Korea and three in Japan), talked on one radio station and three podcasts, appeared in several magazines, and I’ve been a model for a Japanese golf brand called WINWIN STYLE since 2016. I almost forgot, I represented Japan in the Wide Angle Extreme Golf World Championship and won. I can’t wait to show you how fun speedgolf is!

When COVID-19 hit in 2020, that was when I started to feel burned out from competing. Traveling became a pain with all the restrictions and my golf felt like it was getting worse. I was losing the drive to keep fighting and was constantly stressing over how I was going to make money. That’s when I realized that there’s so much more to life than just competing and I felt like I was meant to do more.

それが今につながります。

今日と未来

Golfer Mini is about more than just golf. As cheesy as it sounds, it’s a way of life. I think what makes golf such a great sport is that anyone can pick up the game and it’s becoming more popular and more easily accessible (think Top Golf). Plus, we get to be surrounded by beautiful nature! Golf has provided me with so much and that’s why I want to share with you all my experiences and knowledge of the sport. I hope that by reading my blogs, you too will enjoy golf more, find success through golf, and maybe even learn some Japanese or English along the way.