When PSU freshman golfer
Lauren Taylor was a 15-year-old in her hometown of Nelson, British Columbia, she had to make a choice.
A golfer from the time she was four (“well, I started playing competitively when I was 11”), she had been playing hockey as well,(including “full contact” boys hockey) and her dad (Dave) told her she had to decide between the two sports.
“I really liked the adrenaline rush and scoring in hockey, but I decided there were more opportunities (for scholarships, perhaps a pro career) in golf, and, of course, you can play golf all your life,” she said—although she hasn't ruled out picking hockey up again as a social sport later.
She began playing boys hockey at the age of seven because her older brother played and “I was good at skating. I was a complete tom boy at that age.”
When she asked about joining a boy's team, her dad, wasn't so sure. He had encouraged her at golf when “he saw something in the way I hit the ball, even when I was little.”
“I wanted to play hockey, but my dad said no. It was too rough,” but she nagged him until he said “ok, you can try it and see how you like it”. Well, she loved the sport and that lead to eight years playing mostly boys hockey (she played on a girls team when she was 15).
At 12, she wanted to try Peewee Rep hockey, full contact hockey for 12- and 13-year- old males. She didn't find the rough and tumble of hockey particularly off-putting, at least initially. She did find it too rough, though, after a couple of years and, at the age of 15, decided to try girl's Midget hockey (16-18-year-olds), discovering that her preparation on boys' teams allowed her to compete successfully with older girls.
That was when her dad forced a decision. Hockey required travel most weekends and practice five days a week. Besides, it was expensive and took a lot of his time driving her to and from.
“I got invited to a hockey academy and I really wanted to go, but my dad said I had to make a decision between hockey and golf,” she recalled. As a sweetener, he asked if she'd be interested in attending a golf academy on Hilton Head Island in South Carolina. Taylor hated it. Independent and high spirited, she found the 24-hour supervision stifling. But her dad didn't give up.
In the 11th grade, he encouraged her to try the relatively new Brent Morrison Golf Academy in Parksville, BC on Vancouver Island a little north of Nanaimo.
For a year, she and five male golfers (“I was the only female at the academy, which made it much more motivating”) lived in a bed and breakfast next door to the local high school. Each day following school, Morrison would pick them up for a couple hours of golf practice, then it was off to the gym for conditioning specially tuned to golf.
There also was a golf sports psychologist, which may have been particularly useful for a young lady used to the pace and excitement of a hard-hitting team sport.
“In hockey, there's a lot of mental preparation and there's a lot of adrenaline pumping. Golf is the opposite. You're laid back and there's much more strategy. If your adrenaline's pumping, you're in trouble,” she said.
At the age of 16, Taylor placed sixth in the BC women's amateur tournament, earning a spot on the Canadian Women's National Team. That encouraged her to think about playing at the university level.
Then, she qualified Junior World competition in San Diego and made it into the Optimist International in Florida, particularly exciting, she said, because Tiger Woods played in that tournament as an up-and-coming youngster. Those successes strengthened her resolve.
She credited the Morrison Academy with helping her get noticed by college coaches and with filling out the paper work.
The next step was to decide where to go. She decided against the University of Oregon and the Oregon State coaching staff recommended her to PSU Head Coach Kathleen Takaishi, who watched her play at the Junior Americas Cup where she placed 11th in 2009.
The first thing Takaishi noticed was “her length. She hit the ball a long way off the tee.” And, Takaishi's eye for talent was proven correct last fall when Taylor finished well in her first event as a Viking at Colorado/Heather Farr Memorial, shooting 82-75-78=235 to tie for 24th. Taylor also shot 78 at the difficult Washington National Course (host of this year's NCAA West Regional) in a triangle tournament with Washington and Oregon State in October.
She figures to earn a spot in the starting lineup when the Vikings return to play on Mar. 7-8 in the Fresno State Lexus Classic.
Adapting to university life has proven challenging for Taylor, who misses her family. She also has had adjustments to American culture (“it's harder to meet the right kind of people…and things like the banking system are completely different”).
She has found college academics more interesting “because you're taking things that interest you” and more challenging (“the pace is much faster. You have to pay attention.”). Biggest challenge so far is managing her time between academics and golf.
But, she does find time to sneak off and watch the Portland Winterhawks junior hockey team. She'd also like to find time to ski and snowmobile.
With a Fitness Theory and Fitness Instructor certificates already in her portfolio, she's taking typical freshman classes and thinks someday she'd like to have a health field career (“anything from fitness trainer to doctor or dentist”), so she'll probably major in Health Sciences. And, she'll make a decision after college about possibly playing on the Canadian Women's Tour.
So far her favorite golf course is Torrey Pines in San Diego, where she played in the Optimist and Junior World tournaments.
She's most proud that her dad taught her how to golf and that he pushed her to stay with the sport later. “From 11-15, I was more interested in a social life. But, I'm happy he pushed me. I really appreciate the opportunity. He worked so hard to send me to the academy.”
The academy, she said, also helped her become more consistent with her irons and her long game “but definitely not my short game.”
And that's what Takaishi said could help her challenge for one of the top spots on PSU's team, which will contend again for a Big Sky Conference Championship in 2011.
“She could improve her chipping and her short game. If she improved those, she could be fighting for one of the top spots on the team…and that would help push some of the others to improve,” Takaishi said.
And, who knows, those improvements just might make her one of the Big Sky Conference's better players and, ultimately, make that post-university decision about the Canadian Women's Tour a little easier.
