Jan. 27, 2012
- Download your Iowa Hawkeye iPhone app!
- Iowa and the Big Ten Network
- Big Ten Network: Free Hawkeye Video
- 24 Hawkeyes to Watch
IOWA CITY, Iowa — University of Iowa sophomore Karly Grouwinkel competed in two tournaments as an individual this fall. Grouwinkel recently met up with hawkeyesports.com to discuss her mindset when playing as an individual.
Is your mindset different when you play as an individual rather than as part of the team?
“It’s the same because I want to put up a good score and show my teammates and coach that I could have been part of the team. “
What are your goals for the spring season?
“I would love to make it into the team lineup, the travel team. That’s probably my biggest goal.”
All of your tournaments are away from Iowa City, what do you do to keep yourself entertained during road trips?
“Listen to my iPod. I love music. It gets me focused for golf before and then once we’re on the course it just relaxes me. I don’t have to worry about getting anxious for tournament or getting worried about school work. It just puts me in a calm state.”
The team gets to travel to Texas, Arizona and Hawaii this spring. How excited are at the opportunity of travel?
“It would be awesome. Just looking at the schedule gets me so excited to go out and play golf again because right now it’s freezing and you can’t do that much.”
What impresses you the most about coach Menzel? What was your first impression when you met her?
“My first impression was great. The way she approaches practice is totally different. It’s more individual so if you need to work on the range or putting she’s okay with that. She’ll come and help you out instead of having a set practice with this is what you do, accomplish the goals and then work on your own. That helped me a lot because I had different goals myself than the team.”
What do you think the next step is for the Iowa program?
“I would love to make it to regionals. I definitely think we can do it this year. We all have to be focused and work really hard at practice.”
What was the key to your improvement as a player?
“This year I practiced more on my short game and trying to get my first chip closer to the hole rather than just getting it on the green. I took a different approach, going into practice working on that instead of my putting. I worked on that a lot too, so that helped if I had a bad chip. It didn’t matter what I was going for my chip, par or bogey. I was just worried about getting it close to the hole within a three foot circle”.
How big of an impact did your grandpa, who played on the 1958-59 Rose Bowl team, have on your decision to attend Iowa?
“It was pretty big because growing up we always watched the Iowa games together. Football in general has been a big thing and with him going to Iowa, playing in the Rose Bowl, we’ve always been big Iowa fans. We’ve always come here and he was ecstatic once I got offered. It was kind of a no brainer. I knew I was going to come here.”
If you could play a round of golf with anyone, who would it be? Why?
“Tiger Woods just because it’s Tiger Woods. He has been around for a while so he knows different things. On the golf course he just looks like he’s in this zone and nothing gets in his way. It would just be fun to play with him and see how he acts.”
What is the best golf shot you have ever hit?
“My senior year of high school I was playing in regionals and I hit my eight iron and almost holed out for an eagle. That was awesome because then we made it to state. It kind of went on from there.”
If you could give one golf tip, what would it be?
“Play one shot at a time. Don’t let the other shots get in your way because they really don’t matter; you’ve already hit the ball.”
What person has been the most influential on your golf game?
“My high school coach because I went out for golf just as another sport to do in high school. He loved the game so much, and it rubbed off on me. I really love the game now.”