Emma is halfway through the first year of a sports management course at the university, having won a scholarship on the college women’s golf team.

She is nearing the end of a three week (US) winter break and will fly back to her campus at Pullman (five hours inland from Seattle) next Tuesday.

In between shifts behind the bar at the Post Office Hotel, catching up with family and friends, and her brother’s wedding, Emma has been fine-tuning her game in readiness for the resumption of the college golf circuit.

As a scholarship recipient, Emma has virtually all expenses paid for, excluding the airfare back to Australia, and plays in about half a dozen golf tournaments each season.

There is little golf played at the moment, but she will play the first of five tournaments in the US spring in a couple of months.

Washington State University has its own links style course, and those on the men’s and women’s golf teams receive all their equipment free.

Emma recently took possession of a new set of Calloway clubs and she is enjoying the extra distance they provide.

She said distance was crucial on the longer US courses.

“The courses are definitely longer than I was used to here [in Australia] with junior golf,” Emma said this week.

“But now I’ve been working out at the gym, I’m hitting it a bit further. I’ve got some new clubs as well which have given me a bit of distance,” she said.

Apart from longer lay-outs, Emma said all the courses on the ‘Pac 10’ (Pacific colleges) circuit are “green and lush” and grass on the fringe of the greens is cut longer.

However, the former Forbes High student has still managed to record her best score, an even par round in one of five tournaments in the fall season.

While Emma said she is thoroughly enjoying her studies and golf in the US, she plans to return home regularly. The lengthy US summer break (three months) will allow her to return to Australia later this year.

“I’m looking for some tournaments to play in when I come back in the middle of the year,” Emma said.

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