NESHANNOCK GOLFER READY FOR THE PROS
Along with the hundreds of thousands of spring sports athletes across the NCAA, Kent State golfer and 2016 Neshannock grad Marissa Kirkwood was thrown a nasty curveball when the COVID19 pandemic canceled what was supposed to be her senior season in the spring.
Some college athletes sat on the metaphorical curveball and waited for a better pitch, while others swung and missed. Kirkwood, though, tapped into her softball background and knocked it out of the park.
Competing in the 120th U. S. Women’s Amateur Championship in August, Kirkwood finished inside the top 64 after 36 holes of stroke play, advancing to the final round of match play, where she fell in the round of 32. It was a remarkable showing for someone who had never even qualified for the U. S. Amateur before, although she had come close several times.
“That is the elite of the elite for amateurs. It was such a unique and humbling honor to be there,” Kirkwood said. “I just wanted to take in everything I could and learn from the players around me and have a great week, and I did that. And I played well, too, so that was perfect.”
When the NCAA canceled its women’s golf season in March, Kirkwood and her fellow seniors didn’t know whether they would get the chance to return to play for another year. Even when the NCAA ruled that spring sports athletes would receive an extra year of eligibility, many schools decided that last year’s seniors would not be welcomed back because of a lack of available scholarships.
So Kirkwood used the time to fine tune her game, from working on her putting skills in her living room to practicing her chips in her backyard, to driving across state lines to find open courses to play in
Ohio. Once the ban on golfing in Pennsylvania was lifted and courses started to open back up, she began searching for tournaments to enter to make up for all the events she lost out on.
Kirkwood, who was a PIAA runnerup as a senior at Neshannock as well as a two- time all- state honoree in softball, got back in action in July by competing in the 120th Women’s Western Amateur tournament in Illinois. She followed that up by entering the 90th Ladies National Golf Association Amateur Championship in Tennessee, where she shot 4- over par across 54
holes and finished in a tie for 27th place.
Because of COVID- 19, the USGA chose not to hold qualifying tournaments for this year’s U. S. Women’s Amateur. Instead, the organization handpicked the players it felt most deserving of a chance to compete.
“I thought it was going to be my last opportunity to get into it, and I was kind of bummed out,” Kirkwood said. “One time I missed qualifying by one shot, and another year I went into a playoff to be an alternate. So with that and some of the things I did in college, they sent me an email asking me to be on the waiting list, and a couple weeks later, I got an email saying I got in.
“It was pretty awesome.” As she began her first round of action in the U. S. Amateur at Woodmont Country Club in Rockville, Md., Kirkwood began to realize she belonged there among the best amateur players in the country. Not only that, she said the course reminded her of a mix between New Castle Country Club and Butler Country Club, two courses she’d been playing for as long as she can remember.
“I put a goal in my mind — making it to match play would be a huge accomplishment,” Kirkwood said. “A little girl from New Castle that nobody knows making it that far on that stage, that would be pretty cool.”
Now that Kirkwood achieved what she set out to accomplish this summer, it’s time for her to shift her focus back to the college game, where she plans on playing out her last year of eligibility at Kent State in the spring.
The Golden Flashes are an emerging national power in women’s golf, having qualified for nationals in each of Kirkwood’s three seasons with the team. Kent State finished tied for fifth place at the NCAA championships in 2017 and 2018, then finished in 19th place in 2019.
Although Kirkwood has yet to crack the starting rotation on an individual level, she has played a key role in the Golden Flashes’ performance from a team aspect, and she’ll likely be counted on more than ever this spring as a fifth- year senior.
“I was so grateful for the opportunity to be able to go back,” Kirkwood said. “And not only that, Kent was able to have me back. Because I know there were a lot of colleges that couldn’t afford to keep some of their seniors because of their incoming freshmen.”
Kirkwood plans on turning pro once the season is over and she finishes her master’s degree in sports administration, although the LPGA Tour hasn’t decided yet whether it will put forth its qualifying school in 2021. “Q School” refers to a series of events put on by the PGA and LPGA Tour each year to determine which amateur players are worthy of joining the professional tours.
Even if “Q school” gets canceled again next year, though, Kirkwood is confident she’ll be able to find her own way and earn her spot on a professional tour by letting her game speak for itself.
“When you’re in those high- stress moments, you need to be able to execute the shot you want to,” Kirkwood said. “When I was at the Women’s Am, I was able to do that, and it was such a good feeling, because it validates that I am a good golfer.
“And not only that, the work I’m putting in is working. Just keep on the right track, keep working hard and keep getting better.”