By: Annie Grace Smith
For this month’s Up & Down, we have Annie Grace Smith, one of our 2024 USGA P.J.
Boatwright Interns sharing a few reasons why you should get out and golf more this year than you did last year.
Annie Grace is a second year Boatwright intern at Mass Golf, her first season with us was in 2022 as a Video Marketing intern primarily supporting U.S. Open projects. This year, she joins us again on the Marketing & Communications team!
Hi everyone! I’m Annie Grace, I am so excited to be back at Mass Golf and wanted to share some of my thoughts on why you should play more golf! I recently graduated from a small college in Western Pennsylvania where I played four years of Division III golf and served as a team captain for my last two seasons.
So here are my thoughts!
As the weather is turning, the trees are growing new leaves, and as the flowers begin to bloom, getting outside at this time of year is a wonderful experience (just don’t forget your allergy meds!). So, why not just combine playing golf and being outside? As a plus to being outside, getting to walk the course is a great way to stay active or get more active than we are in the winter months.
I am very much a person who likes to be outside for as long as possible, so I prefer walking the course as much as possible. On the longer courses, the hotter days, or at tournaments I bring out my pushcart so there is always the option to carry your bag or to use a pushcart.
I’m sure you’ve heard this one before, but it really is true! I love playing golf with friends and/or family but I also enjoy the opportunities I have to play in a group with new people. Being out on the course with a people you’ve just met is a unique experience and it is a great way to get to know people outside of grabbing coffee or going for a walk together.
Over my four years on my college golf team, I met other golfers and would look forward to playing with them again so we could continue to get to know each and just hangout for 3-5 hours together. I never would have met them without those tournaments!
This fact was one of the main reasons why my parents suggested taking up golf in college when I decided to major in Entrepreneurship (while I did end up switching my major, golf will still be a useful networking tool for me).
Here are some ways that golf is a networking tool:
I like to think of distance running (I ran track in high school) and golf as similar because they are long, endurance sports where a huge chunk of your time is spent in your mind. It is frustrating when you mess up a shot, didn’t read the green well or even when the pace of play is moving at a snail’s pace. These are the times when it is crucial to not let these frustrations pile up and affect your game.
Strengthen your mind and build up your resiliency to be a better and stronger golfer. Make sure to follow along for an upcoming edition this summer where I will give you some tips for how I avoid frustration on the course when I played in college tournaments!
I have a few reasons for why girls and young women to play more golf, so if you have any nieces, grandchildren, daughters (or just any young kid) in your life, please share these with them!
Maybe you’ve tried soccer, field hockey, basketball, or even volleyball, but team sports just aren’t your thing? Well, golf is a great alternative because it is an individual sport where you focus on improving your own game.
If your school has a golf team, don’t be intimidated, try it out because you may be a great fit even if you have not had much golf experience.
I grew up playing very causally over at the Links at Mass Golf (Norton, MA) doing the First Tee clinics and had a Youth on Course membership in high school. Before playing golf in college (at my small, NCAA DIII college), I had never played in a tournament let alone with anyone but my family members. On top of that, I had only played a full-length golf course 5-6 times. I really did not know what I was getting myself into when I joined my college golf team, but it was such a wonderful experience!
If you needed an excuse to get out there and hit the links more this season- here it is! Focus your game and improve your scores and make college golf your goal!
Because there are fewer women’s golfers than scholarships, helping to pay for college has never been easier. There are both college athletic scholarships and private scholarships that you can apply for. Check out these scholarships to get your research started:
Even if you’re not looking for scholarships or are attending a DIII school, talk to the golf coach! You never know what type of program they have and if they have walk-on spots or not. It is always worth an ask because you never know when they’ll say “yes!”
A note: Because I did not go through normal recruiting methods and was more-or-less a ‘walk-on’ on my college team, I did not apply for any golf-related scholarships. I also played NCAA DIII which does not offer athletic scholarships, so these scholarship resources are from my research not from personal experience.
We are offering Women’s One Days, which are causal, fun, and non-competitive events where you can get training tips, play with other women, and enjoy being out on the golf course.
For competitive team events, check out our friendly, fun, and competitive Women’s Team Tournaments on our website. Or for our championship events, check them out here!
If you’re looking for ways for your young golfers to play more golf, check out Youth On Course for $5 rounds of golf at participating courses (I had a membership and it was a blessing to be able to afford more rounds of golf through YOC) and The First Tee for clinics and camps.
If you’re looking for competitive junior golf programs, click here for those opportunities.
This is not an exhaustive list, so please check out our website to see everything that Mass Golf offers during the season and Make Today a Golf Day!
For more fun content like this, follow Mass Golf on Social Media: Facebook, X Instagram, YouTube
