Guthrie's Dodgion overcame major back, knee surgeries
GUTHRIE — Drew Dodgion had much to look forward to this golf season.
A year after placing 10th in the Class 5A state golf tournament, the senior at Guthrie High School was determined to improve upon that finish.
But due to the coronavirus pandemic, she won't get the chance.
“I didn't want to believe it,” Dodgion said. “This was my year to see what I can do because I've never taken golf more seriously than I have this year. And I wish I would have been able to see what I can do at state. So it was really tough.”
Dodgion, who also played softball at Guthrie, will continue her golfing career at Southwestern Oklahoma State on a scholarship. But that wasn't her original plan. Because she played softball longer, she expected to play it in college.
That changed a little over a year ago.
“I realized that softball just took a really big toll on my body,” Dodgion said. “I was always icing everything basically.”
Dodgion's injuries began early in her high school career. During her sophomore softball season, she noticed a painful bump on her back.
“My back was very tight and it gave me a lot of pain when I moved a lot,” she said. “Halfway through a game, I would be in so much pain that I would have to take an Ibuprofen to get through it.”
After seeking medical attention, she learned she had a severe case of scoliosis.
“I had a double curve,” Dodgion said. “The top curve was 54 degrees and the bottom curve was 52, and it was just too major to keep in a brace.”
Surgery was the only option.
After rehabbing and bouncing back for her junior year, Dodgion had to endure a second major surgery. This time, trying to dodge a second baseman fielding a ground ball, she tore the ACL in her left knee.
Again, she started making three trips a week to Physical Therapy Central in Guthrie.
“At the beginning, it began as just stretching,” Dodgion said. “And then it turned into a full workout.”
She entered her senior year healthy and excited. In softball, she was named all- district first- team pitcher and all- region utility, and she planned to carry that success into golf before the pandemic.
Last Wednesday would've been the final day of the state golf tournament. Even though it was the official end of Dodgion's high school career, it's not the end of her golf career.
She will head to Southwestern Oklahoma State excited to show what she never had the chance to this spring.