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Houston’s Brooke McDougald had it all pictured. She’d walk off the 18th green and into the arms of her parents and teammates. In a dream world, that would happen in late May at the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottdale, Arizona.
Instead, she was in the back of a minivan clutching the hand of fellow senior Amanda Elich. Both were bawling. The NCAA had canceled the rest of the spring season due to fears over COVID-19.
“You don’t imagine sitting in the back of the minivan in March saying this is it,” said McDougald.
Or is it?
The past 24 hours have been a wild ride for everyone. Something straight out of Hollywood.
Drake Hull had just gotten back from an econ mid-term when news broke that he might have played his last round as a UConn Husky. The fifth-year senior broke down with his coaches. Then, less than 24 hours later, while Hull was braving the local grocery store back home in Vermont, news broke that the NCAA might grant another season of competition for spring-sport athletes.
Now Hull doesn’t know what to think. He’d already started the job-search process with a degree coming in May. Would he pursue a master’s if he stayed? When exactly will the NCAA work out the details of such a colossal undertaking, and who’s going to pay for the extra scholarship money?
With freshmen coming in and money parceled out years in advance, not every school has the capability of fundraising for fifth-year seniors. The NCAA would need to pony up.
While Hull was at his mid-term, the rest of the UConn team was coming up the 18th fairway at practice when their phones started blowing up. The season was done.
“They hit their shots into 18,” said head coach Dave Pezzino, “but you could tell they were totally destroyed.”
Players get it. Safety first. They’re mostly concerned about their families. But if only the NCAA had given it a little more time. Maybe used the word “suspended” rather than “canceled.”
Athletes are used to their seasons ending abruptly, but usually it’s at the mercy of competition and not a global health crisis.
Pezzino brought his Golden Retriever to campus on Friday morning to help lift spirits. Cooper was toast by the time he finished playing catch with the track team.
“You don’t realize what you have until it’s gone,” he said.
Alabama’s Kenzie Wright was on her way home to Texas when the NCAA offered that glimmer of hope – another season of eligibility.
Wright was scheduled to compete in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, another big goal on her senior list. On Thursday, Augusta announced that the event would be postponed. News kept flooding in like a tidal wave. Should she come back and pursue a master’s degree if the option presents itself? Stay amateur for a potential fall ANWA? Vie for an NCAA team title next spring?
“Another life decision,” said Wright from the airport. “The time-table is so quick.”
When asked what she has meant to the Alabama program, head coach Mic Potter said it’s hard to put into words.
The Pacific men’s coach John Cook took four seniors on the road to the GCU Invitational in Phoenix. The Tigers were on their second hole of a practice round when the tournament was canceled. The news only got worse from there.
Several of the seniors have designs on turning pro. Beau Forest, a computer science major who will complete his undergrad and master’s degree in four years, already has a job lined up with Hewlett-Packard.
Like many schools, Pacific was on spring break this week. The school extended the break for another week and then plans to complete the rest of the semester online.
“One day at a time kind of turned into one hour at a time,” said Cook.
Rollins senior Seher “Speedy” Atwal was talking on the phone about as fast she plays. She flies back to India on Sunday and was busy packing up her life in Winter Park, Florida.
“I graduate, but I don’t walk?” she asked.
So many special moments suddenly gone.
“It’s the cliché that you’ve got to play like it’s your last time,” said Hull. “That is probably what struck me the most. It can all come to an end really fast, and you’ve got to be grateful for every opportunity. It’s so easy to take it for granted.”
McDougald first met Texas A&M senior Courtney Dow at a U.S. Kids championship when they were 8 and 7 years old, respectively. They became fast friends. As it happens, the Texans were paired together for the first time in college golf last month in what might turn out to be their last round.
The ICON Invitational took place at McDougald’s home club, The Woodlands Country Club, in front of a slew of friends and family. The weather was perfect. Dow shot 68, McDougald posted a 72.
Walking off the final hole, McDougald was surprised to find her father crying when she went in for a hug.
“You know,” McDougald said, “I’m OK. If something happens and I never play golf again, I’m OK.”
Looking back, she has no idea what possessed her to say that so many weeks ago. But the words, and that round, hold even more meaning now.
For many seniors, cherished memories of college golf are all that’s left.
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