March 15, 2010
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Freshman Emily Ransone
Emily Ransone is a freshman out of Hilliard, Ohio. She has participated in every round for the Nittany Lions this year. Her first place finish at the Nittany Lion Invitational is a team-best for the season and her single round of 71 is a tie for the lowest round of the season with Hanule Seo. Her 77.6 strokes-per-round average leads the team.
Q: How did you first get involved in the game of golf?
A: My parents don't play golf. I actually learned from my brother because he went out and played with all of his friends. I just tagged along and that's how I first learned it. It brought out my competitive edge with it.
Q: What was your first competitive golf experience?
A: I first started playing in middle school. I played on the golf team there. My first big tournament was in eighth grade at the Optimist down in Florida. That was a pretty cool experience because it's an international tournament. It was really fun.
Q: What was growing up like for you?
A: My family was really into athletics. I played travel soccer. We played soccer and then golf was kind of just an afterthought. We were pretty much just on the road all the time. It turned out that I liked golf more.
Q: Why did you choose Penn State?
A: It was actually the only visit I took. Once I stepped on the campus I knew it was the place I wanted to go. It's a good school, good program and just the atmosphere is really nice here. Everyone is really supportive so I really like that.
Q: What are some challenges you have had to overcome either on or off of the golf course?
A: I think time management. Especially now that we're getting into the spring, all of us are coming right from class, to here, to workouts. It's difficult but you get used to it and figure it out. That's definitely been most difficult for me but I'm getting the hang of it.
Q: What do you like to do for fun in your free time?
A: I like to hang out with my friends and relax. When we're not doing workouts and not golfing it's my time to kick back and enjoy being a college student. Being with my friends is the most fun for me.
Q: What are you proud of right now?
A: I can honestly say this is the hardest I've ever worked at golf. I see that it's paying off and so I'm really happy that I have my coaches and trainers pushing me because it's really paying off. I love seeing results so it has been really rewarding to see that.
Q: What is something you would like to accomplish while you are at Penn State?
A: I would like for our team to bring home a Big Ten championship. I definitely think that's in all of our minds. That's definitely something I would like to accomplish because I think the team would really enjoy that. Hopefully all of our hard work will pay off.
Q: Who is the funniest person on the team?
A: There are a lot of funny people on the team. Katherine (Murphy) is pretty funny. She definitely brings out the humor in those key times. Giulia (Carando) also has a pretty good sense of humor. She always makes me laugh.
Q: What parts of your golf game are you focused on improving this year?
A: I definitely think my short game needs a little improvement and then the mental aspect of it too. Even though I've tried to work on it, being here, we have Dave Yukelson who is our sports psychologist. I've been going to him a little bit and just focusing on that because it's a major part of the game. It's difficult to master so with his help I'm going to try to focus on that a little bit.