While most college freshmen were still figuring out the finer points of microwaving Ramen noodles, Lady Tiger golfer Austin Ernst was busy winning an individual national championship for the women’s golf team.
No big deal.
“It’s been a wild ride,” Ernst said. “Being 19, being a freshman in college and having a national championship, it’s tremendous.”
Entering the championship, Ernst was on a hot streak and torched the course in the first two rounds. But a third round score of 77 and a three-stroke deficit looked like it might derail the young golfer.
But Ernst was not a typical freshman.
Her mad dash toward the championship included a flurry of birdies, a 60-foot putt and a once-in-a-lifetime shot en route to a 6-under 66 score.
“It shows how tough she is mentally,” Bahnsen said. “She’s a very mature player for her feeling.”
Her road to being an NCAA champion started when she was 6 years old. Her father, Mark Ernst, is a club pro at Cross Creek Plantation golf course in Seneca, S.C.
“I played everything when I was a kid, so it was kind of just another thing to play,” Ernst said. “It wasn’t anything [my dad] forced on me. I was always hanging around the golf course, and I just wanted to pick up a