When Augusta James was in Grade 8, she thought that one day she would earn a golf scholarship in the US. Her parents, who are both golfers, must have thought the same thing as she was born in 1993 on the first day of the Master’s Golf tournament and aptly named Augusta. James is one of several Canadians who are either currently playing golf or have played golf at NC State University. James is also a member of the Golf Canada program over the last 4 years and is from Bath, Ontario.
“My criteria for looking for a golf program was a good coach and practice facilities. Canadians Matt Hill (now pro) played at NC State as well as Brad Revell who I new from Kingston, so NC State just kind of made sense, James commented.” Other Canadians have included Albin Choi (recently turned pro), Mitch Sutton and current Women golfers Brittany Marchand and Vivian Tsui. “North Carolina has great weather and we can golf all year round. Both the Men’s team and Women’s team are pretty close and when we not golfing we relax and can check out other sporting events in the area like hockey, football and basketball games.”
James game has evolved and over the years has enjoyed the mentorship of Canadian Marlene Streit, a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame.” Marlene has taught me the mental and emotional side of the game. How to win, have fun and embrace the game”, James shares. My coach is Kathy Sherk who is a former Canadian golf professional and friend of Marlene’s. Each of the last four summers’ I’ve had two weeks at home and the rest has been on the road with the Golf Canada program, so my schedule is pretty busy.
The other prominent US University with a number of golfers from Golf Canada is Kent State in Ohio. “We also have golfers at Stanford and Florida,” James comments.
Next spring James will look to graduate NC State with a degree in Sports Management. The next goal is to earn a card the LPGA Tour. “The process is similar to the men’s side in that we have a tour similar to the Web.com tour called Symetra. I’m looking forward to the process,” James says.
When asked about the connection between her name and being golfer, she replies that she’s asked about it all the time and she still hasn’t had the opportunity to visit the Augusta National Golf course, the home of the famed Masters.
