Day 2 of our adventure started by the 5 am wake up call. Flight to Boston and train to Providence, Rhode Island. Taxi ride, 6 minutes up the road and there we were at the 16 million dollar Nelson center, a 4 year old building that now houses the ‘GREAT POOL” for swimming, water polo and diving and where some athletes train in the multiple gym spaces.
Coach Griffiths, the Women’s Golf Coach, was promptly waiting for us with a hot tea in hand for me. She was a gracious host and answered all the player’s questions. We walked over the new indoor golf facility. The golf program features a putting and chipping green and a flight scope so the players can practice their full swing over the winter. This facility will probably be expanding to the full 2600 square feet.
Coach Hughes, the Men’s Coach arrived and welcomed us – as he had met all three players previously in Ireland, the year before. I showed the entire Brown team, the Opti International brain app on my phone. Coach Griffiths displayed the program on the large flat screen with Apple TV. (This is a cool feature and I think I would like to add this to our own indoor golf facility).
Even though they are coaches at university – we are all golf professionals trying to teach young players how to drop strokes off their game. We all have a similar goal to improve their game and instill life lessons and knowledge. I typically get them younger and they usually have them for 4 years throughout college. Coach Hughes and Griffiths were showing us the flight scope they use.
The Brown University golf team will be off to a warmer climate soon – Men’s team to ASU and Women’s team to Florida – twice this spring. I travelled with the team in 2015 and helped be a “volunteer coach” with the girls team, in Hawaii. We had a great 9 days – seems so long ago now. Every year the golfers get better as a whole, many more kids to pick from, competition stiffer. Kids have to make an effort to stand out and be seen.
Brown University is one of the 8 Ivy League schools, – for the Canadians reading this, they are famous for owning and operating an “open curriculum’ for education. This allows students to take a course they might be interested in. Secondly, Brown does not limit students to block their credits in certain categories, such as 4 math or 12 humanity credits required. If a student is sick of math, they do not have to take it anymore. Thirdly, Brown U offers classes to be taking as a pass / fail, encouraging students to ‘try’ other subjects.
My player Julie, now a senior, started taking her engineering courses as a freshman. Almost all students at Brown will finish their university on time in 4 years. Brown University – big thumbs up. Brown U golf coaches – Big thumbs up.
