By Donald Turnbaugh
JOHN RUSSELL
Senior golfer an academic ace
enjoys the classes so she kept doing more and going at a high rate. She has also taken part in an internship working for the Pasta Shop, helping the marketing department. Her golf has stayed very consistent and she has avoided any sort of slump. She has remained around the 76 range in a sport where many college athletes either drop off or decide to go pro early on. She also has done something very few people can claim: be named to two more NGCA AllAmerican Scholar Teams. “Megan is very competitive and would not settle for a drop in her performance,” Kevin said about her golf and education. “College golf is a learning experience. Girls drop out or turn pro on the tour. Megan has been around girls in those positions and has learned from it. She has seen how it can turn out so she has kept with her education Grehan at Vanderbilt.” She has been going for four years now. This year has been different, and “I think it would be pretty cool to get that,” she has pushed herself to the limit. She spent the fall semester taking 18 credits before giv- Grehan said. “I haven’t been thinking about ing herself a break in her final semester. She it though because I’m focusing on finishing has also improved her golf and is currently school and being a leader. I want to be a good example to my teammates and make shooting 73.3 on the year. Megan is shooting for history though. If sure I keep those relationships a priority.” In past experience is any indication, Greshe is named to the NGCA All-American Scholar Team this year she will become the han will not have any trouble keeping herself first golfer to earn the honors all four years focused on finishing strong in her final colat Vanderbilt. legiate season. n
Senior Megan Grehan has a chance to become VU’s first four-time NGCA All-American Scholar.
T
he student-athlete often leads a double life. Take senior golfer Megan Grehan, for example. Her time is split between the classroom and the golf course. Inside, she studies hard to earn the highest possible grades. On the course, she practices tirelessly in order to achieve the lowest scores. At Vanderbilt, Grehan has been able to apply a shared focus to both of her goals in order to enjoy great academic and athletic achievements. Grehan grew up in the New York suburb of Mamaroneck and started to hone her skills on the fairways from an early age with the encouragement of her father, Kevin. Her family has been long-time members of the Westchester Country Club, and Grehan had the privilege of learning the game on one of their two courses. “My dad got me started when I was 5 and my parents got me a plastic set of clubs and we would go and hit balls. I had so much fun with it and kept wanting to get out there. I’ve been playing ever since.” Like many aspects of her life, Grehan did not just go out there and hit around, she focused on it and wanted to partake
10
APRIL 2011
to the best of her ability. It began when she started taking golf lessons from LPGA Tour player Debbie Austin at Westchester. Austin played on the tour for 19 years, winning seven events—including five in 1977. After her career on the tour was over, she began teaching golf lessons in New York. Grehan began competing in tournaments around New York at the age of 8, and her golf schedule became more rigorous as she continued to improve. Even with the increased demand on her time, Grehan continued to focus on academics and started attending Sacred Heart high school in Waterbury, Conn. The school gave her the opportunity to further her education at a high level, as well as play golf competitively around the country. Grehan’s first major event was qualifying for the 2004 USGA Women’s Open. She would follow it up by making three straight trips to that tournament. “She was competing at a high level early on having success with it,” said her father, Kevin. “She was traveling all over the country to compete at golf tournaments against some great talent, and I think it helped her improve.” Before she started competing at the high
school level, Grehan knew she wanted to play collegiate golf and dedicated herself to earning a scholarship. She never lost focus of her academic goals either. Grehan chose to attend Vanderbilt and focus on getting a degree in business and continue the tradition of the Vanderbilt women’s golf program. Once in Nashville, Grehan embraced both sides of her role as a student-athlete. “I expected to come here and do well, and I didn’t want my grades to slip,” said Grehan. “Even though golf is very important, I always put my grades as my priority. I feel that college is about academics first, and I really wanted to embrace that.” Even though academics were her focus, Grehan had no problem helping the golf team. During her first year on campus, she helped bolster the team by posting the second-lowest stroke average with a 76.47. Her best tournament of her freshman season was the Tar Heel Invitational where she finished 15th. She also finished with the team’s lowest round of the season by shooting a 68 in the second round of the UCF Challenge. While many athletes would come
vucommodores.com
C O M M O D O R E N AT I O N
11
JOHN RUSSELL
Greens and Grades
into college and perform well in their sport and put academics second, Grehan did no such thing. She set her goals high and put her energy toward the classroom in hopes of doing her best. The determination paid off and her year was topped off by being named to the National Golf Coaches Association’s (NGCA) All-American Scholar team. “I didn’t think much of it,” Grehan said of her Academic All-American honors. “I’m just a competitive person. This is a competitive school, and I think it’s natural to try and do well when you are being graded or ranked.” Grehan continued to push herself and started taking classes that revolved around her Human Organizational Development major. Her freshman year was not easy, and she had a good support system with her teammates. She credits Liebelei Lawrence and Julie Bartholomew with helping her balance academics and golf her first year because they had veteran leadership. She also said she bonded with Brooke Goodwin because they were the youngest on the team and had similar struggles. Her transition to sophomore year was not as challenging as it can be for young student-athletes, she says that school gets challenging semester by semester, not year by year. The HOD major is one of the more popular ones at Vanderbilt, but it is also one of the more challenging programs. Grehan has been able to take full advantage of it by challenging herself in the classroom, taking up to 18 credit hours in one semester. It has become a cycle though because she