Radnor High golfer Brynn Walker seeks balance as she plays in ShopRite Classic
GALLOWAY, N.J. Brynn Walker is absolutely thrilled to have qualified for the ShopRite LPGA Classic, her first career event on the women's tour. But she knows that she needs to find a way to temper that excitement and stay focused when she tees off on Friday.
GALLOWAY, N.J. – Brynn Walker is absolutely thrilled to have qualified for the ShopRite LPGA Classic, her first career event on the women's tour. But she knows that she needs to find a way to temper that excitement and stay focused when she tees off on Friday.
Walker, who celebrated her 18th birthday on Wednesday and graduates from Radnor High School next Wednesday, has been seeking to find that balance since she shot a 2-under-par 69 to grab one of two available spots in the field for the event at Stockton Seaview Resort's Bay Course.
It hasn't been easy, but you can't blame her for being so enthusiastic at being here.
"I'm just trying to walk around and soak this in and realize how cool it is to be here," Walker, winner of the last two PIAA Class 3A girls' individual championships, said Thursday. "But at the same time, you're here to play golf.
"So a few times I've had to hold back on the tee just realizing how cool it is to be here. Then it's cool to be on the range because you see some of the people you've grown up watching and idolizing. So it's finding the balance that's been interesting this week."
Walker, who will enroll later this summer at North Carolina, has put the work in this week, spending a lot of time on the driving range and the putting green while stealing some early-morning practice rounds before the start of the tournament's Pro-Am. She wonders if she's done a bit too much.
"I think I could have done a little bit better getting rest because I just want to soak it all in as much as I can," she said. "I was out there for like 12 hours, out there practicing [Wednesday], and you can't wipe yourself out like that. I'm a little tired today, but I think a little rest will be good. I feel good with my swing and everything, and I don't want laziness or tiredness to really hit me like that."
Walker, who with her family are members at St. Davids Golf Club, is used to tough competitions. She and her partner, Madelein Herr of New Hope, made the quarterfinals of last month's U.S. Women's Amateur Four-Ball Championship after reaching the semifinals last year.
Her qualifying round here earlier this week went two days because of weather as she finished out the last seven holes of her round Tuesday. She said she was "kind of in the zone" and that her game was solid. She is looking forward to playing a course that she said she has played "about 15 to 20 times."
Walker, whose father, Rock, will be her caddie, isn't quite sure how she's going to feel Friday at 12:37 p.m. when she tees off No. 10, her initial hole of the first round. She knows a lot of emotions and feelings will be churning through her.
"I know my heart will be pumping so hard that you can feel your shirt moving," she said. "I've had that happen a few times before. Maybe experience will help me.
"I just think as you get older, you get more level each time, and you get a little bit more comfortable with that feeling of being uncomfortable. So I think I'll be pretty pumped up and the adrenalin will be pumping for a couple of holes. I love it. That's the best feeling ever."
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