Uniontown’s Rugola healthy, eager to go
Adena Rugola couldn’t believe it when her doctor gave her the bad news about a month following reconstructive shoulder surgery in February.
There was a possibility she would never play golf again.
“My recovery was probably one of the toughest recoveries there was and, about a month or so in, I was told I may never swing a golf club again,” Rugola said. “My mobility was not coming back.”
Boy did she prove them wrong.
Instead of hanging up her spikes, the Uniontown junior and 2019 WPIAL Class 3A fourth- place finisher was in the lineup when the Red Raiders opened their season on Aug. 27 against Albert Gallatin. And she didn’t just tee it up for show, she helped them to a 219- 229 win against the Colonials as she shot a 7over 43 at Duck Hollow.
“I just got cleared last Tuesday, so I had no expectation,” Rugola said. “Well, I had expectation that I would shoot high, but to go out and shoot a 43, it was an awesome feeling.”
Rugola had a two- inch labrum tear in her left shoulder and had it repaired in February by noted orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Bradley. Though she is lefthander, she golfs from the right side, which puts all the torque and stress on her left shoulder throughout her swing and into her followthrough.
Because of the severity of the tear, she faced a long road to full strength as her projected recovery time was between nine months and a year. Instead, she was given the go- ahead on Aug. 25, little more than six months after the operation.
“I have not golfed at all this summer so COVID did not affect me at all,” Rugola said. “Even getting closer to golf season, I still had not been approved and I didn’t even think I was going to be able to play.”
She was able to lightly chip and putt as the summer wore on but she was never really allowed to rear back and rip it. But when she played against Albert Gallatin, she didn’t hold anything back and immediately pulled her driver out of her bag.
She did the same thing in the Red Raiders second match Monday. Her drives may have been a tad scattershot, but the end result was a slight improvement with a 6over 42.
With the surgery and recovery behind her, Rugola now has her sights set on a return to the WPIAL finals, which will be played Oct. 8 at Oakmont. She would also like to get back to the state finals at Heritage Hills in York, where she finished 11th last year.
Before that, though, she’ll have a little bit of competition just to represent Uniontown in the WPIAL girls tournament.
“There’s one other girl on the golf team and [ only] one of us will get chosen to go to [ section] qualifiers and hopefully qualify for states,” Rugola said. “My goal is to make it to states. I know my father had me register for tournaments down in Florida this winter, so I’ll be traveling all over trying to get scores in tournaments. I do plan to play a lot.”