When freshmen first begin their journey as collegiate athletes, most find it difficult to adjust to the higher level of competition and most athletes find themselves struggling to even find playing time in their sport. This was not the case for Pacific University freshman Briana Finau.
In her first year playing for the women’s golf team, Finau maintained a team low 83 scoring average, while raking in five top 10 finishes. This included a third and fourth place finish during the year. Finau admitted it was an adjustment from high school, but she credits her dedication and the help of the coaches for a successful first year.
“I just worked really hard at practice,” Finau said. “There were moments where I wasn’t doing so well mentally and the coaches really helped me through that.”
Like all sports, Finau feels golf requires a lot of mental strength and patience. This is something she saw as a challenge all year. One of the highlights of Finau’s first year was shooting a season low 75 at the Whitworth Invitational on the Gamble Sands course in Brewster, Wash. The 75 was the lowest score for the women’s team in over 10 years.
“It was just a really good day and I stayed really positive throughout the whole round,” Finau said. “At that tournament I shot 92 the day before and I kind of wanted to do really well after that and especially since it was the last tournament of the fall season. I tried not to overthink things, which is something I found myself doing a lot of this year.”
Finau stated the year had its highs and lows, but is looking forward to next year and will be working hard improving her game this off-season.
“I’m really looking forward to improving my scoring average next year and being able to play in the golf tournaments with my teammates,” Finau said.
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