Anyone who has experienced the freshman year of college can attest to its unique challenges.
In addition to the usual obstacles, highly-touted freshman golfer Kelsey Ulep needed to step in as one of the five Ducks on the traveling team as they participated in four tournaments within a one-month span.
“I have traveled all over the country before, but it has never been back-to-back, and with having just started college and getting used to everything,” Ulep said.
Ulep’s teammates recognize how unusually demanding the situation must be for a freshman.
“She really got thrown under the bus because we were away so much earlier in the term,” sophomore Cathleen Santoso said. “But she’s learning, she’s growing and I think it’s all part of the experience that we encounter.”
Prior to the season, her teammates, along with head coach Ria Scott, expressed their excitement to watch Ulep play. Her style of play, according to the team, will turn many heads.
“She’s already got so much power,” Scott said. “This past fall, she probably hit the ball furthest of anyone on our team.”
Her raw power, according to Scott, is matched by her fearlessness on the course. “She’s just really natural out there on the golf course and doesn’t play with many thoughts except for the target.”
Ulep looked like one of the team’s pillars early in the season. The freshman fired a 5-over 221 in North Carolina, which ranked second on the team. She followed up a week later with her best score of the fall, shooting 220 at Stanford. Later that week, she participated in the Pac-12 Preview at Nanea Golf Club in Hawaii, the team’s fourth tournament in as many weeks.
Admittedly tired, Ulep turned in her worst score of the fall season, shooting 237.
“I think this fall I did okay,” Ulep said. “I did pretty well at some tournaments, but I didn’t finish as strong as I wanted to at Nanea.
Despite the score, Ulep learned quite a bit from the final tournament of the fall season.
“I think I learned more about my game there than I did anywhere before,” Ulep said. “There’s just some things in my game that I need to focus on and once all the loose screws are tightened, I’ll do really well and I’ll be prepared for spring.”
As the Ducks continue their three month break before resuming playing in early February, Ulep believes that being in the atmosphere of collegiate athletics will only help her make necessary adjustments.
“This is the first time I’ve actually been part of a team because in high school, the girls weren’t as motivated or serious,” Ulep said. “Being with these girls that are just so competitive and just love golf so much is just really good to be around and I’ve never been so motivated to do well before.”
Through all of her experiences in her first term, Ulep is confident of her ability to flourish in the months and years to come.
“I kind of underestimated what I was going against,” Ulep said. “But, I think that now that I have an idea of what college is going to be like in the next four years, I can prepare to play and do well in school in the future.”
Follow Jack Heffernan on Twitter @JHeffy13