Ashley Thompson | Women’s Golf
Maclaine Chadwick | Fulcrum Staff
Photo courtesy of Courtenay Whyte
“Meet a Gee-Gee” takes a look at the people under the jerseys. Whether they’re varsity athletes or otherwise, we ask the players questions you want answers to. We get the dirt, straight from the horse’s mouth.
MEET ASHLEY THOMPSON: a first-year human kinetics student and rookie member of the women’s competitive golf club. In an email interview with the Fulcrum, Thompson debunks some myths about golf as she counts down the days until summer.
The Fulcrum: What is the biggest misconception about golf?
Ashley Thompson: By far the biggest misconception about golf is that it requires no physical ability. Most people think only old people play this sport and therefore you don’t need strength or coordination.
What do you do during the winter months in terms of training and competing?
During the winter months, our golf team trains at the Ottawa Athletics Club, [it] has an indoor driving range, putting green, and fitness facilities. In terms of competition, we currently do not compete during the winter session. If we were to compete during the winter, we would have to travel down to the U.S.
Golf is primarily an individual sport—are any aspects of team sports present in the club?
Yes, golf is primarily an individual sport, but at the university level, scores are added up among the team players—which usually consist of four players per tournament—for a total team score. The winner of the tournaments is the team with the lowest total score. Like in other team sports, whether you play well or not, your teammates are there to pick up the slack if you had a bad round. We win together and lose together.
What is your fondest memory of being a part of this club?
My fondest memory of being part of this club would be my teammates. We continually make each other laugh on and off the golf course, and the fact that they were very accepting and welcoming has made it awesome to be part of this team. Whether you’ve had a good or bad round, you know someone will always say something ridiculous to make you laugh.
What do you find the most stressful or frustrating part of being a student-athlete?
Balancing schoolwork and training is the most frustrating part because we must go off campus to train, which takes more out of our time. Also, we’re always looking to train more and become better, but at the same time we have a school workload just like all the other students.
If you had to play any other sport at the U of O, what would it be?
I would most definitely play basketball. I have played basketball for just as long as I’ve been playing golf and I love both sports.
Where is the coolest place you have travelled to play golf and why?
There were so many new places I have travelled with my golf team, but one of my favourites would have to be Waterloo because we were fortunate enough to have played at a beautiful golf course where many professional golfers have previously played.
