Not many golfers can say that they have achieved a hole in one. Second-year SFU student Breanna Croxen though, has achieved this feat twice in under a month.
The New Westminster native is one of seven girls who represent the Clan on the women’s golf team. Croxen started playing golf at the age of 14. But golf was not the only sport in her life: at the time, Croxen also played lacrosse, soccer, and basketball, but she always had an interest in golf. After sustaining a wrist injury at the age of 16, Croxen decided to pursue golf more seriously, with the help of her aunt.
“My aunt dedicated a lot of time to teaching me how to play, since she had no kids at the time,” Croxen said. “She took me under her wing.”
Despite starting her golf career later than most, Croxen has already proven herself to be very serious about the sport. She trains three times a week with the team, doing Olympic weightlifting and yoga, alongside sessions at the range twice a week to develop her golf strokes and playing rounds on the weekend with her teammates. Croxen also continues to work with her aunt with golf-specific training.
All of this training is evident in her success: in 2015 Croxen was able to seal a third place finish at the Greater Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) Golf Championship. That success, Croxen says, was what helped her confidence.
“It was evidence [to me] that I am a good golfer,” Croxen said.
But beyond her individual work, Croxen points to the team dynamic that she and her teammates share as being an integral part of her success.
“We do a lot of things together, like play games together and get competitive,” Croxen says of her teammates. “It’s all healthy competition — we leave all of it on the course.”
One key point to remember about golf is that it is as much a mental game as much as it is a physical game. Athletes who play team sports can rely on their teammates for support if they find that they are having an off day, but for Croxen and other golfers, off days could pose a serious threat to a player’s entire outlook off the game.
“It’s easy to just focus on golf. . . [but] it’s important to remember to devote time to each area of life.”
“It’s easy to get down on golf [when thing aren’t going your way],” Croxen says. Because of this, Croxen is thankful that coaches like swing coach Nate Beauchamp help the team not only with the physical parts of the game, but as well as the mental parts as wellof it.
Through the mental side of the game, golf has given Croxen determination and a good work ethic. Alongside her training and competitions, she is also studying Communications with hopes of becoming a sports broadcaster. With homework and training, Croxen says, she needs to learn how to balance her time wisely so that her homework gets done and that her game does not slip. “It’s easy to just focus on golf. . . [but] it’s important to remember to devote time to each area of life.”
Croxen also discussed the vast opportunities that girls had within the world of golf. While golf is typically considered a male-dominated sport, it has opened to Croxen many scholarship opportunities within the NCAA as well as various career paths. At the end of it all, Croxen hopes to one day play alongside other famous names like Michelle Wie, Lydia Ko, and Sandra Gal.
She says that she can use her experience with golf in the field of sports broadcasting, interviewing other famous golfers and reporting for TSN — another field which is predominantly male.
Croxen’s journey with golf is just getting started, and with her hard work and determination, she shows great promise as a potential player on the LPGA tour.
Fun Fact
You may recognize Croxen from the A&W ad which was filmed on campus last Fall, featuring the Chicken Buddy Burger. “My parents love A&W,” Croxen said. The first time Croxen and her parents saw the ad was during this year’s Golden Globes.
