Haiden Widener, Campus Carrier Sports Editor
In eighth grade, senior Sydney Weaver began playing golf for her middle school beginners program. After attending a golf camp hosted by Master’s champion Larry Mize, she became competitively interested in the sport.
“Hearing his testimony and playing with him that week really inspired me to take golf more seriously,” Weaver said.
Her game continued to improve, and she played all four years at Brookstone High School in Columbus, Ga. But she was also playing basketball and travel softball year round. It wasn’t until she quit travel softball her junior year of high school that she got extremely serious about golf.
However, focusing on three separate sports did not slow down her accomplishments.
“I won our region tournament three years in a row and was All Bi-City for those three years,” she said.
With her above-average high school golf career coming to an end, the next step was figuring out where to go to school, and Berry fell into her lap.
“I really fell in love with Berry after visiting one of my older friends who went here,” Weaver said. “And I knew I wanted to play golf in college, so I was very glad things worked out and Coach [Brian] Farrer offered me a spot on the team.”
Her accomplishments with golf only continued to improve from there. Currently, during her senior season, Weaver is ranked third in the nation and has won the SAA Golfer of the Week award twice.
“Being recognized in such a competitive conference has really been a privilege,” she said. “God has really blessed me this year being able to recover so well from shoulder surgery. I will definitely be working hard to hopefully get another [award] before the season is over.”
Her freshman year she placed seventh overall at the SAA conference championship and was named Second Team All-SAA with one top-10 finish and two top-five finishes on the season.
Sophomore year she was a Women’s Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) All-Region selection and First Team All-SAA with eight top-10 finishes, five top-five finishes and one overall win.
Last season, after undergoing shoulder surgery in the middle of the season, she was named in the First Team All-SAA again, finishing the season fourth in the SAA Championship tournament.
Since her freshman year as a Viking, Weaver has taken seven strokes off of her average, and credits part of her success to the team.
“Having strong freshman classes the past couple years has helped push me to keep improving,” she said.
But all of her personal success does not distract her from the team goals. At the beginning of the season she had set team goals in mind, but those quickly changed once she realized their true potential.
“My goal for the team was to start strong and play consistently in the top five at every tournament, since the other four traveling were sophomores and freshmen,” she said. “[But] my goals definitely changed after our team won the first tournament of the year. It really opened my eyes to how far we could go this year.”
The team finished their regular season on a positive note, placing second in the Greensboro College Invitational on April 4. They will head to the SAA Conference Championship Tournament from April 21-23 in Maumelle, Ark.
After three days of play, the winning team will head to nationals. Weaver knows the potential of the team and is excited for the tournament.
“I knew we were going to be better than last year,” she said. “I had no clue we would be this good though. It has been the most exciting year by far and I am so proud of the amount of work our team has put into improving.”
After graduation, Weaver plans to obtain her Master’s Degree in Accounting from Auburn’s online program so that she is able to continue working on golf. She hopes her hard work will qualify her for the Ladies Professional Golf Association events so that she is able to continue her career.
“Golf is a lifelong sport that I will keep enjoying even when I no longer play competitively,” she said.