Hunter Ross '08: Golfer Par Excellence
As a young couple, Joanne and Dale Ross enjoyed many a late afternoon round of golf at the Hermitage Country Club with their infant daughter Hunter in tow. Riding along in her stroller, the little one followed her parents’ every move. She sensed their enjoyment of the game. She assimilated the culture.
It was only natural, then, that almost as soon as she could walk, she was hitting golf balls around her back yard. Soon, she was joining Dad on the putting green. Her clubs weren’t plastic toys either. They were the real deal, cut down to toddler size, of course, but actual, honest-to-goodness golf clubs.
It was only natural, then, that almost as soon as she could walk, she was hitting golf balls around her back yard. Soon, she was joining Dad on the putting green. Her clubs weren’t plastic toys either. They were the real deal, cut down to toddler size, of course, but actual, honest-to-goodness golf clubs.
“I remember not being able to put them down,” said Hunter, now an
18-year-old Collegiate senior. From that beginning, her career
progressed quickly. At 5, she competed for the first time in a
parent-child event at Hermitage. At 6, she undertook her initial solo
venture, the junior girls’ tournament, also at HCC.
She won, of course, and, in the ensuing years, her excellence and intense yet poised, humble, and sportsmanlike approach to the game have become her trademark. Among her many highlights, she captured the 2004 VSGA junior girls’ championship with a birdie on 18. Two years later, she took the North-South Junior Amateur title at Pinehurst, NC, (with birdies on 3 of the last 5 holes, no less) and qualified for the U.S. Women’s Amateur where she advanced to the match-play round. Last fall, she added the Hewlett-Packard Junior All-American honor to her burgeoning résumé.
Competing almost entirely against boys, she has earned four All-Prep League citations since she joined the Collegiate varsity as a 7th grader and two years ago played an integral role in her team’s first title in three decades. Last spring, the Cougars won again, and she finished in a tie for first, then earned the medal in a playoff. On May 15, they’ll defend their crown in a 27-hole event at the Royal New Kent Golf Course.
OK, everyone knows that Hunter can play some serious golf, but what makes this talented athlete who also excels in the classroom so good?
“She’s a great kid who’ll do whatever it takes to improve,” said Michael Brost, her coach at Collegiate. “She’s focused, and, as good as she is, she’ll do everything in her power to make her weaknesses into strengths.”
There are, of course, many more strengths than weaknesses.
“She’s a terrific competitor,” said Robert Wrenn, Collegiate class of 1977 and a former PGA tour player. “She’s a very good ball striker. Whether it’s off the tee with her driver or an iron approach shot from the fairway, she’s steady and consistent. And she’s never been afraid to go toe-to-toe with anyone.”
These days, Hunter, who’s headed to N.C. State on a golf scholarship, spends much of her practice time refining her short game and working on the mental aspects of a sport which can be invigorating one moment and maddening the next and where the difference between success and disappointment can be razor-thin.
“A golfer has to stay in the moment, take one shot at a time, which I don’t always do,” she said with a smile. “You have to look at the smaller picture rather than being overwhelmed by what’s happened or what’s to come.”
So what is it about golf that’s captivated her for so long?
“It’s always a challenge,” she explained. “You can set goals as small as improving your putting or as big as winning a major tournament, and you feel a sense of accomplishment when you achieve them.
“It’s also helped me stay focused, persevere, and overcome challenges, particularly in school. I don’t know what my life would be without golf.”—Weldon Bradshaw
Back
She won, of course, and, in the ensuing years, her excellence and intense yet poised, humble, and sportsmanlike approach to the game have become her trademark. Among her many highlights, she captured the 2004 VSGA junior girls’ championship with a birdie on 18. Two years later, she took the North-South Junior Amateur title at Pinehurst, NC, (with birdies on 3 of the last 5 holes, no less) and qualified for the U.S. Women’s Amateur where she advanced to the match-play round. Last fall, she added the Hewlett-Packard Junior All-American honor to her burgeoning résumé.
Competing almost entirely against boys, she has earned four All-Prep League citations since she joined the Collegiate varsity as a 7th grader and two years ago played an integral role in her team’s first title in three decades. Last spring, the Cougars won again, and she finished in a tie for first, then earned the medal in a playoff. On May 15, they’ll defend their crown in a 27-hole event at the Royal New Kent Golf Course.
OK, everyone knows that Hunter can play some serious golf, but what makes this talented athlete who also excels in the classroom so good?
“She’s a great kid who’ll do whatever it takes to improve,” said Michael Brost, her coach at Collegiate. “She’s focused, and, as good as she is, she’ll do everything in her power to make her weaknesses into strengths.”
There are, of course, many more strengths than weaknesses.
“She’s a terrific competitor,” said Robert Wrenn, Collegiate class of 1977 and a former PGA tour player. “She’s a very good ball striker. Whether it’s off the tee with her driver or an iron approach shot from the fairway, she’s steady and consistent. And she’s never been afraid to go toe-to-toe with anyone.”
These days, Hunter, who’s headed to N.C. State on a golf scholarship, spends much of her practice time refining her short game and working on the mental aspects of a sport which can be invigorating one moment and maddening the next and where the difference between success and disappointment can be razor-thin.
“A golfer has to stay in the moment, take one shot at a time, which I don’t always do,” she said with a smile. “You have to look at the smaller picture rather than being overwhelmed by what’s happened or what’s to come.”
So what is it about golf that’s captivated her for so long?
“It’s always a challenge,” she explained. “You can set goals as small as improving your putting or as big as winning a major tournament, and you feel a sense of accomplishment when you achieve them.
“It’s also helped me stay focused, persevere, and overcome challenges, particularly in school. I don’t know what my life would be without golf.”—Weldon Bradshaw
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