Boodie McGurn '71: Grace on the Green
Each summer for the past decade, the golfing achievements of Boodie Wiltshire McGurn have been regularly documented in the local media. Though the 1971 Collegiate graduate picked up the sport in earnest well into adulthood, her impressive résumé includes Richmond Women’s Golf Association championships in 1995, 1999, 2003, and 2004, a Virginia State Golf Association open title in 2003, and a victory in the VSGA senior’s tournament in 2004. She’s known for her consistency, her unflappability in pressure situations, and her self-deprecating humor that makes her a favorite interview subject for any sportswriter covering her exploits. What stands out most, however, is her unwavering sense of sportsmanship.
Last summer in the final round of the RWGA championship at the Richmond Country Club, she held a commanding lead (three up with three holes to play) over Tucker McCarthy, a senior at Longwood University. She was putting very well that day, and all that stood between her and the title was an 8-foot putt on the 16th hole. Then, as she stepped in, putter in hand, and addressed the ball, it moved very slightly, almost imperceptibly.
Last summer in the final round of the RWGA championship at the Richmond Country Club, she held a commanding lead (three up with three holes to play) over Tucker McCarthy, a senior at Longwood University. She was putting very well that day, and all that stood between her and the title was an 8-foot putt on the 16th hole. Then, as she stepped in, putter in hand, and addressed the ball, it moved very slightly, almost imperceptibly.
No one else witnessed this turn of events. Not McCarthy. Not Matthew Schulze, the head pro at RCC and the tournament referee. No one.
McGurn immediately summoned Schulze. “I saw the ball move,” she reported. “Did it move from its original position?” he asked. “Yes,” she replied without hesitation. McGurn was assessed a one-stroke penalty as required by the rules, then missed the putt and lost the hole. Unfazed, she won the 17th to claim the victory.
“Everything you teach juniors is about integrity and honor,” said Schulze. “What better example could there be? Boodie exudes what you want in a champion.”
True to her nature, McGurn doesn’t view her act of sportsmanship as a big deal. “I’m the one standing over this teeny, tiny white ball,” she said. “It moved. I called for a ruling. It never occurred to me not to do it. Most golfers that I play with and respect would have done the same thing. This isn’t about me. It’s about golf.”
McGurn was raised in a household where competitive sports were part of the lifestyle. Her father, Richard W. Wiltshire, was a standout college and semi-pro athlete who supported his children’s many athletic endeavors. The youngest of four, Boodie watched her sister Gray and brothers Rick and Buck play for the Cougars and even served a stint as ball girl for Collegiate basketball teams coached by the legendary Petey Jacobs.
In high school, she starred in varsity tennis, basketball, and field hockey for three years, and her excellence earned her induction in Collegiate’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 2002.
At Salem College, she played all three sports for two years, but as a junior and senior “limited” her participation to tennis and basketball. After graduation, she moved to Northern Virginia, worked in the trust department of a bank, and quenched her competitive thirst with recreation-league basketball, softball, and even co-ed flag football.
She returned to Richmond in 1980 as a bond specialist for Wheat First Securities but found her athletic options limited to tennis. She subsequently married – she has three daughters, Missy, 19, Gracie, 17, and Betts, 15 – and channeled her energy into raising her family. “I loved raising children,” she said, “but I didn’t have a competitive outlet. That’s when I found golf. “Right off the bat, it was appealing and fun. I was competing against others, but I was also competing with myself to lower my handicap. In the early ‘90s, I played in my first city tournament. That was so scary, scary but fun.”
Just as McGurn was raised with a healthy appreciation for sports, likewise she learned that a fierce competitive spirit and sportsmanship are not mutually exclusive. “There was as much discussion at the dinner table about how athletes acted as about how they played,” she recalls. “We grew up with fair play being just as important as winning and losing. Fair play was never an option.”--Weldon Bradshaw wbradsha@collegiate-va.org
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McGurn immediately summoned Schulze. “I saw the ball move,” she reported. “Did it move from its original position?” he asked. “Yes,” she replied without hesitation. McGurn was assessed a one-stroke penalty as required by the rules, then missed the putt and lost the hole. Unfazed, she won the 17th to claim the victory.
“Everything you teach juniors is about integrity and honor,” said Schulze. “What better example could there be? Boodie exudes what you want in a champion.”
True to her nature, McGurn doesn’t view her act of sportsmanship as a big deal. “I’m the one standing over this teeny, tiny white ball,” she said. “It moved. I called for a ruling. It never occurred to me not to do it. Most golfers that I play with and respect would have done the same thing. This isn’t about me. It’s about golf.”
McGurn was raised in a household where competitive sports were part of the lifestyle. Her father, Richard W. Wiltshire, was a standout college and semi-pro athlete who supported his children’s many athletic endeavors. The youngest of four, Boodie watched her sister Gray and brothers Rick and Buck play for the Cougars and even served a stint as ball girl for Collegiate basketball teams coached by the legendary Petey Jacobs.
In high school, she starred in varsity tennis, basketball, and field hockey for three years, and her excellence earned her induction in Collegiate’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 2002.
At Salem College, she played all three sports for two years, but as a junior and senior “limited” her participation to tennis and basketball. After graduation, she moved to Northern Virginia, worked in the trust department of a bank, and quenched her competitive thirst with recreation-league basketball, softball, and even co-ed flag football.
She returned to Richmond in 1980 as a bond specialist for Wheat First Securities but found her athletic options limited to tennis. She subsequently married – she has three daughters, Missy, 19, Gracie, 17, and Betts, 15 – and channeled her energy into raising her family. “I loved raising children,” she said, “but I didn’t have a competitive outlet. That’s when I found golf. “Right off the bat, it was appealing and fun. I was competing against others, but I was also competing with myself to lower my handicap. In the early ‘90s, I played in my first city tournament. That was so scary, scary but fun.”
Just as McGurn was raised with a healthy appreciation for sports, likewise she learned that a fierce competitive spirit and sportsmanship are not mutually exclusive. “There was as much discussion at the dinner table about how athletes acted as about how they played,” she recalls. “We grew up with fair play being just as important as winning and losing. Fair play was never an option.”--Weldon Bradshaw wbradsha@collegiate-va.org
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