From Alpharetta, Georgia to Oxford, Mississippi, Senior Katie Voll has dominated in golf tournaments breaking both personal and public records. Playing since she was four, Voll continues to show how passionate she is about the game.
“I really fell in love with the game,” Voll said. “Both of my parents played and I even practiced when I was younger. My dad had plastic clubs. I was terrible, but then I got older. I started beating my dad. He didn’t like that much. Needles to say, he didn’t want to play anymore.”
In high school, Voll began playing competitively, paving the way for her future as a record breaking golfer. Being one of the few girls on the team at the time, Voll outperformed all of her male teammates.
“I was hitting farther than all of the guys on my team at the time,” Voll said. “I played one of them in a match and killed it. I felt so accomplished. He was so upset that a girl beat him.”
This week, Voll will be competing in the Gold Rush tournament. The tournament will be held at the Old Ranch Country Club in Seal Beach, California. It is being hosted by Long Beach State and will last two days- Feb. 22 and 23.
“I’m really excited for it,” Voll said. “I love traveling out west and I’ve never been to California. Arizona golf is my favorite. Everything is always nice there and I’m sure it will be the same at this course. The team’s ready. We had six or seven qualifiers for this tournament.”
Voll has appeared in three tournaments since the fall, one as an individual, averaging a score of 74.67 in nine rounds. She finished tied for fourteenth in the CSU Fall Invitational, helping the Rebels to a record-breaking second round, scoring a 73-72-71—216. (Ole Miss Sports).
Her persistence and dedication to golf is reflected through her positive approach to matches while competing.
“When I go out on the course I feel pretty fearless,” Voll said, “going in with the mindset to just let loose. I’m a pretty positive player. I don’t get down on myself. I always stay composed. You’ll never know if I’m having a good or bad hole because I don’t show it.”
Voll gains inspiration from golfer Michelle Wie.
“I love her she’s awesome,” Voll said. “She went through a lot growing up. She had so much going against her and she got through it. People can tell her anything, positive or negative, and she lets it roll off her back. She can separate golf and life in general. That’s something I admire.”
Voll made the decision to join Ole Miss’s golf team after visiting and falling in love with the campus.
“It happened very quickly,” Voll said. “I was looking at a bunch of schools, smaller ones too. Multiple schools were following me in addition to Ole Miss. My former coach invited me for a visit. When I got on campus, fell in love with it, and I’ve been here since. The transition wasn’t hard. Coming in as a freshman, at the time, I had seniors who helped me. They taught me a lot.”
Voll is a geological engineer major and has plans to pursue a career in the field after graduation, and plans to stay connected to the game of golf.
“My passion was to play golf professionally,” Voll said, “but I’m ready to start a new chapter. If I get top 5 in SEC’s, I will still pursue it, if not, I’m going to go to grad school at Ole Miss and then I want to get a job. A few of my friends want to go back to be coaches. I really want to go back and offer advice to their girls. I always want to stay in golf, no matter what happens.”
Mia Sims is an intern for hottytoddy.com, and a student at the Meek School of Journalism and New Media. She can be reached at masims@go.olemiss.edu.
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