Years ago, there was a poster created for Penn State athletics with a photo of a female gymnast standing back-to-back with a football player, the caption read, "It's not the size of the Lion in the fight that matters, it's the size of the fight in the Lion!"
Having watched many players compete through the years, I could not agree with this sentiment more. It is particularly heartwarming when you have watched one of your own players "fight" for a long time just to get a "chance" to be in the ring.
In our sport we only play five players on the team and sometimes one player gets to come along for the experience of competition as an individual. There are no substitutions from the "bench". In golf, much like gymnastics and swimming you're either in the lineup or you don't participate at all. Taylor Waller came to Penn State and signed up to play on the team, not because she got a scholarship, but to be part of the team and hopefully get the chance to play at some point. In fact, she redshirted her first year knowing making the lineup would be a difficult task with several veteran players already in place. She was quiet, going about her business, doing what was asked, and never complaining that it was too much. She played in several summer tournaments with some success, however, generally frustrated that it never seemed to click on all three days of a tournament.
Those of us that play the game at any level can relate to the heartbreaks playing golf can give us. Three years have passed, along with two segments of those years canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She spent the good part of last spring traveling as the "individual" player, and only representing the team as the sixth player at the Big Ten Championships.
As can be typical in the fall, the start of our new season, we are searching for the five top players, so the lineup can change from week to week. This player had not made the top six to travel this fall, until this past tournament. I made the decision based on how players played on the road versus how players were doing at home. It was time to make a switch and it was time to put this Nittany Lion in the "fight".
If you've ever had the experience of teaching a toddler to swim, you know the trepidation of watching them jump in the water and hoping they keep their head above the water. Or, when you teach a young person to ride a bike and you let go, hoping they keep peddling and not wipe out the neighbors' mailbox! You know they can succeed; you just hope they believe that too!
We had a conversation prior to going to this tournament. She indicated that she didn't want to leave Penn State having never achieved her goals. I had to remind her how incredibly far she had come from when she started. She indeed had met many of her goals along the way, she just kept moving her bar higher and forgot to celebrate the progress! In truth her sport growing up was basketball, getting serious about the sport of golf came much later. I explained to her it's not much different than having a bad shooting day on the court, it just may feel different since in golf a "bad" day is harder to hide behind. If she had a bad game in basketball, it may not appear so apparent especially if the team still won. It takes special individuals to participate in sports like golf and gymnastics where so much of each individuals' performance takes a front seat to the teams' outcome.
It was time to "jump in the water", it was time to let go of the bike! I submitted our lineup for the tournament, confidently placing her on the team.
After round one she played well enough to move up to the number two position on the team. She stayed patient, kept with her process, and stuck to her game plan! On our final day and third round, I checked the live scoring to see how each of the players were doing. I noticed things were steady as we had played almost nine holes and the team was even par. As I looked closer, she was one of the players playing a significant role in that result! I checked throughout our round, and noticed not only was she playing well, but she was on pace to have her best round of her collegiate career! I was so excited for her, of course praying she was not aware of it! We all know how that can sabotage a good round of golf!
Her final hole was a par three, she was three under par up to this point and well on her way to her career best! I watched as she hit her tee shot in a bunker short left of the green. I thought, no problem she can still get out of this situation with little damage. As she settled into the bunker, I watched from the tee, my heart just sank to my stomach as she caught the ball thin and sailed it over the green and out of bounds. No, this can't be happening! It was all I could do to not blurt something out that I would have to apologize for later! In the rules of golf, you must play your next shot from the same position and count a penalty for the ball that went out of bounds. She carefully dropped another ball into the bunker. She was now hitting her fourth shot. She walked in, took her stance, and executed a textbook bunker shot that landed two feet from the hole. It was a demonstration of composure and maturity. I was so proud of her in that moment, nothing mattered after that. However, it did matter to her, she wanted this, she has been wanting for this for a long time. As she walked onto the green, looked her putt over carefully, she rolled it into the cup. She carded a 69! I was so proud of how she handled herself I was glad I was wearing sunglasses since my eyes were certainly welling with tears.
Truly she is a Lion with lots of "fight" and the willingness to just keep swimming!
