School: University of Washington
Sport: Golf
Year in school: Junior
Hometown: Mukilteo (Kamiak High School)
What she did: Shot a team-low 74 in the final round of the NCAA East Regional in Greenville, N.C., leading the Huskies to a 17th-place finish.
What’s next: The Huskies did not qualify for this week’s NCAA finals, meaning Dickinson and UW are finished for the season.
The two-minute drill
Even though the Huskies missed out on the NCAA finals, you shot a team-best 74 in the final round of the NCAA regional last week. Was there anything you could take from your strong finish?
I just improved a lot from the first round to the third round. In the first round, I really wanted to shoot well, so I think I was trying too hard. In the third round, I was able to let go a little bit and let it happen, instead of trying to make it happen.
What did it mean to you to be able to compete at the NCAAs?
It meant so much — to me personally, and to my team. Even though we kind of shot ourselves in the foot the first day, there was none of us that ever gave up or had doubts. We still went back out there and fought because we all wanted it really bad. We tried our hardest.
You only spent one year at Kamiak after living the previous 10 years in Norway. Why did your family move?
My dad moved over here because he needed a better job, so he moved to the States. I wanted to go to college, and he told me that Mary Lou (Mulfler, the UW coach) was interested in me. So I came over here to work on my game and be closer, so she would hopefully give me a full ride. And that’s what she ended up doing.
What’s the biggest difference between Mukilteo and your previous hometown of Asker, Norway?
Probably weather, to be honest. I can play the whole year here, instead of just half the year. That really helps. That’s probably the biggest thing.
What do you miss most about Norway?
I miss my mom’s cooking. Her and my little sister (Hailey) are still back in Norway. She’s staying over there with her family.
So what’s her best dish?
She makes her own pizza, which is really good. And she makes a really good lasagna.
No Norwegian foods?
She makes traditional Norwegian meatballs and boiled potatoes, which are really good.
Your father, Kenneth, played basketball at UW. What led him to Norway?
He wanted to play professionally, so he went overseas. Then he and my mom met. They went back to the U.S., but my mom got kind of tired of being away from her family, so she wanted to move back to Norway.
So who’s the most famous Norwegian athlete?
Good question. Ummmm … We have a Norwegian golfer right now on the LPGA Tour. Her name’s Suzann Pettersen. But it’s probably a skier.
Have you ever met Suzann Pettersen?
Yeah, I actually played with her once when I was 13 or 14.
How’d you shoot?
I did all right. I played all right, I guess, when I was that age.
And I understand your junior year has been kind of marred by an injury about a month ago. Can you kind of tell us about that injury?
Uh, yeah. It was the last round of a spring tournament in Texas, and it was a shotgun start, so all the carts were lined up next to the hole. When I was putting my clubs on the back of the cart, I was standing between the two carts — I actually had one of my feet up on the cart; that’s why only one got hurt — and this person behind me just pressed the accelerator. So I got pinned between the two golf carts for like 20 seconds. I had a bruised shin, what was called a tibial contusion, in my left shin.
So were you in a cast or on crutches after that?
I was on crutches for three days. The doctors wanted me off the crutches as soon as possible to put pressure back on it. There was no more damage that could be done to the bone, so the bone could only get stronger, so I was only on crutches for three days. And I was limping for another three days. After that, it was just minor irritation. It didn’t really hurt.
Did you charge the person behind you with a hit-and-run?
(Laughs) No, I did not. It was actually a rules official. He felt really bad. I know he didn’t mean to do it.
Who knew that golf was such a dangerous sport?
Exactly. Who said that golf wasn’t a contact sport?
Scott M. Johnson, Herald Writer
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