Centre College Photo
Going from high school to college golf is not an easy adjustment but it has been even a little more difficult for Centre College freshman Ellie Roof.
She had a successful high school career at St. Mary’s in Paducah but she played as an individual because St. Mary’s did not have a team. At Centre, she’s had to adjust to be part of a team and even having to qualify to play in matches.
“You can start playing high school golf in seventh grade, so for three years it was just me and (current Centre senior golfer) Margaret Butts. But after she left, it was just me,” Roof said.
“It’s definitely been a big difference here but it has been really good having teammates and adjusting to being on a team. I really enjoyed all of that. The qualifying aspect is very new to me and just kind of navigating how to be on a team, especially as the only freshmen with girls who are older than me. It definitely hasn’t been too bad because they’ve all been so helpful and been supportive.”
Roof admits it has been nice having someone to lean on during a bad day or celebrate with after a good day on the course.
“Whenever I’m out on the course and I’ve had a bad hole or something it’s easier to shake it off because I know that it counts for the whole team and that I need to do my part and that even if I mess up, somebody else might be doing better,” Roof said. “But if somebody else is doing that, I also need to pull my weight. It has been cool to have more weight on you. But also, you can lean on your teammates at times as well.”
As an individual player in high school, if she was not having her best day dropping another stroke or two late in a round often would not make a difference. As part of a team, every stroke is important in the team finish.
“Yeah, it’s definitely an every shot matters type of situation now, which I didn’t really think would be a big difference coming on to the team but I have seen that it really is,” Roof admitted. “If maybe I have like two doubles in a row, I still have to fight for every shot because really every shot does matter.”
Roof was recruited by former Centre coach Jane Hopkinson-Wood. She built Centre into a consistent high level Division III program before leaving and now CheyAnn Knudsen is in her first year as a head coach.
“It was definitely weird. Being recruited under Jane, I was really confident in the team and really, I knew she was a good coach. I knew that she led them to conference championships. So I felt confident about her and I felt confident about the team,” Roof said. “When she told me she was not going to be the coach, I was a little disappointed. But the girls here reassured me that it was going to be fine.”
Roof said Knudsen has been “great” and built a terrific team dynamic quickly in her first year. Butts had introduced Roof to team members before she even got to campus.
“We are like a family. Having Margaret definitely helped jumpstart that for me,” she said.
Roof grew up on a golf course but did not get serious about golf until age 12. She played soccer and knew she wanted to play a college sport but was not sure if it would be soccer or golf.
Roof ended up with the same swing coach at LPGA Tour player Emma Talley of Princeton, a national champion at Alabama and three-time Kentucky state high school champion.
“My coach connected me with her. She always reaches out to me and I have reached out to her. It’s just been really nice to have somebody like that, especially that came out of such a small town and had the success she’s had,” Roof said.
Roof finally decided about age 16 that golf was her best option to college even though giving up soccer was not easy.
“I kind of liked the individual aspect of golf. Even though I was an individual at tournaments, I found girls that were just like me and I knew that I could create really good friendships through golf, whereas soccer was a little bit different,” she said. “I thought I was pretty good at soccer. I was a starter. I love soccer. I just felt like it was time for me to focus in on one thing if I wanted to play it in college, and I just decided on golf.”
Her overall adjustment to college life was made easier in the fall because she did almost everything with golf team members.
“Definitely a little homesick at first, but now I kind of feel like I have two homes,” she said.
The academic work can be challenging due to missing classes with the travel the golf team requires.
“My professors are normally pretty easy with helping me navigate how to make up work, so that helps,” she said.
She also likes the flexibility to be more than just an athlete at Centre.
“I really feel like I can do everything here and l like being able to have my own thing now. In the fall, it was just golf team oriented for me and I was trying to make friends who were freshmen and other friends,” she said. “But now that I’m in a sorority, I feel like I have more to lean on and it can be a break from golf and it can be my own thing.”
Her karaoke talents “have definitely developed” since arriving at Centre and helped relieve stress.
“Sometimes you kind of need something to kind of just take your mind off everything,” she said.
Knudsen has helped take pressure off her golf game. Roof says she was not playing her best when she arrived on campus but Knudsen kept reminding her to be patient and keep working.
“It’s part of growing up. It’s part of transitioning. I feel like finally I’m starting to see my scores improve and starting to be able to travel with the team. So she’s helped me with that,” Roof said. “She has also helped my short game around the greens. My chipping has improved a lot because of her. I felt like I was kind of stuck in my ways on how I was chipping and kind of just wanted to stick to that but she helped me open my mind to there are different ways to hit a shot.”
Knudsen and Roof could potentially build their legacy together at Centre the next four years as Roof will potentially have a big impact not only on the course but in recruiting.
“I typically tell recruits that you’re never gonna find a coach in Division III that cares this much about you,” Roof said. “She just wants to know what you are doing. She’s always going to look out for you. Having someone in your corner all the time really helps.
“I also tell them how beneficial she is on the golf course and how flexible she is with, ‘Hey, I have a really big project coming up. I don’t know if I’m gonna be able to come to practice.’ She’s very flexible with working with you to make sure you get things done in the classroom. So overall, she’s just a very supportive coach.”
Knudsen played and coached in Wisconsin where the weather is much colder than Kentucky. Roof did worry the coach might expect the players to practice/play in colder weather than they might normally do in Kentucky but that’s not been the case.
“Something I found interesting is that she is more sensitive to cold than we are, which I was shocked about. She lets us have indoor practice on cold days or if we are out there she just stands in her winter parka the whole time because she’s so cold,” Roof laughed and said. “So that has been pretty funny to see happen. We were a little scared but she does not like the cold. So I think she’s glad to be here and I know we are glad to have her.”
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Centre returns to action in The Max and Susan Stith Invitational in Geln Allen, Va., Monday.
