Alabama All-American: Chattanooga native Brooke Pancake is a rising senior at Alabama is a first team All-American as well as earning high national academic honors.
photo by Alabama Sports Information
Former Baylor School golf coach King Oehmig describes Brooke Pancake as having "the guts of a burglar" on the course.
The 21-year-old All-American and rising senior at Alabama also has the heart of a champion.
The four-time TSSAA state girls' golf champion for Baylor (2005-06-07-08) won her first collegiate title - Tar Heel Invitational - this past spring on the way to earning first team All-American honors.
Guts, heart and a great deal of tee-to-green talent were all part of her amazing run to the U.S. Women's Amateur semifinals this past weekend as the Chattanooga resident is ready for her senior year with the Tide.
"I had a great junior year which really helped me do well in the U.S. Amateur and I look forward to one more year of college," said Pancake who guided Alabama to a No.3 spot in the final collegiate rankings this past spring.
"I gained a lot of confidence by winning the Tar Heel Classic," stated Pancake who went from losing in the first round of the 2010 U.S. Amateur to being a semi-finalist last week and taking eventual champion Danielle Kang to the wire, losing 1-up.
Alabama women's golf coach Mic Potter has also seen the improvement.
"Brooke had a tremendous junior year and winning a collegiate tournament gave her the confidence to know that now she can play with anyone in the country.
"Having that confidence to be able to stay with anyone on any given day was the one thing missing from her game before last season, but not any longer."
Pancake can also take on all comers in the classroom as well.
A straight-A student since her elementary school days at The Bright School in Chattanooga, Pancake is the 2011 recipient of the prestigious Edith Munson Award presented annually by the National Golf Coaches Association to that student-athlete who is an All-American Scholar and an All-American.
She is the sixth Edith Munson winner from the Southeastern Conference, including 1998 recipient Julia Boros of Georgia, the granddaughter of former U.S. Open and PGA Champion Julius Boros.
Pancake carries a staggering 4.13 grade point average and is in the Honors Program for marketing and management.
She is also in the Elite 88 and holds the highest grade point average among all D-I women athletes and is a three-time All-American, including first team honors as a junior.
"I had several colleges to choose from coming out of high school, but I know that I made the right decision in coming to Alabama," stated Pancake.
"Being able to play for coach Potter was the key factor in my decision and I have become such a better player under him in the last three years."
According to Potter, Alabama was 87th in the nation before Pancake arrived in the fall of 2008 and now The Tide is in the top 5.
"Brooke is a real example of hard work and dedication for our younger players," said Potter who guided the women's team to the SEC title in 2010.
"She has a excellent work ethic, is well organized and always has a plan on what area of her game to work on in practice."
Pancake also points to her grandfather, Jimbo Eakin, Chattanooga Golf and Country Club pro Bruce Etter, Black Creek pro Todd McKittrick and coach Oehmig as all having a part in her success.
"My grandfather introduced me to the game when I was nine and once I showed more than a passing interest in the sport, he put me in contact with teaching pros," she said.
"I came in second to last in my first golf tournament at the age of 10, but worked real hard at my game after that to make sure I never finished last," she said with a smile.
The Future
Besides helping Alabama win a national title in 2012, Pancake also has her sights set on making the United States Curtis Cup team that will compete against a team from Great Britain and Ireland at the Nairn (Scotland) Golf Club next June.
"It would be such an honor for me to be able to represent my country in the Curtis Cup next summer."
Her steady play at the U.S. Amateur did not go unnoticed by USGA officials, including 2012 Curtis Cup Captain Pat Cornett who was at championship held at the Rhode Island Golf and Country Club.
Another plus would be to match her PGA pro boy friend and former Alabama All-American golfer Bud Cauley who posted a 3-0-1 record as a member of the victorious U.S. Walker Cup team in 2009.
Hopefully for Pancake and her Tide teammates a successful 2012 season capped by a national championship in her home state - the NCAA Women's Golf Championship will be played at The Legends in Franklin - will be a spring board for her play in the Curtis Cup and then on to the LPGA tour.
"Here is an incredible intellect and a great, normal, bright young lady who is such a tremendous ambassador for the game of golf," said Oehmig.
An ambassador with grace, poise, heart and the "guts of a burglar" to be the best.
contact B.B. Branton at william.branton@comcast.net