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Q&A With 2008 U.S. Women's Amateur Champion Amanda Blumenherst
2/13/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
DURHAM, N.C.?Senior Amanda Blumenherst and the Duke women's golf team will open the spring slate on Monday, Feb. 16 at the Central District Invitational in Parrish, Fla. Blumenherst, who is a product of Scottsdale, Ariz., had an interview this week and GoDuke.com sat in on it as she talked about being at Duke, golf and her future plans.
Question: Tell me what it's been like for you over the last four years.
Amanda Blumenherst: It's been amazing. It's been the best and quickest four years ever, and it's gone by so fast, and I've enjoyed every single minute. It's crazy that it's almost over.
Q: What are the best things about Duke women's golf, in your opinion?
AB: One reason I came to Duke was because of the golf program, and there's just such a tradition here of women's golf, and it's just wonderful to come to Duke after my senior year of high school and help continue the tradition, and just see how well the team had done in the past, and just kind of keep the legacy going, and I think that one of the best parts about Duke is just the tradition. Now we have amazing practice facilities, and I have such a great team and amazing golf coaches; it really makes each day of practice and competition just a lot of fun. It really is just worthwhile and such a rewarding experience to be on the team.
Q: Away from golf, what are the great things about Duke?
AB: I absolutely love the classes here. They're small; they're tiny classes. Every single teacher knows my name ? or all the teachers I've had know my name, and I'm not just a number. The architecture on campus is gorgeous, it's just so pretty to walk around any time of the year, any season, and just kind of soak it up. I just think it's one of the prettiest campuses, and it's just so academically challenging, and also just being around my peers that are just so enthusiastic about Duke in the classroom and also for athletics.
Q: With a lot of players coming out of high school now and going pro right away, and you have stayed four years, is there any time you have considered, two years, three years, and then go ahead and play?
AB: Not really, no. After my first year, I had just such a great freshman year that I was asked if I was going to turn pro, and I didn't want to. And then after sophomore year, I wanted to keep coming back, and just after junior year, I was so close to getting my degree and just enjoying every minute of being on the team and being on campus that I wouldn't have given it up to play professional golf.
Q: What's your major of study in?
AB: My major is history. I have a minor in English and a minor in theatre.
Q: Take golf out of the picture. What would you like to do?
AB: If I didn't play golf, I would love to teach. I love school, and I love kids, but my parents said I couldn't live on a teacher's budget. I really enjoy marketing and advertisement, so I think that could be a good calling.
Q: After this season, what are your aspirations, and how are you going to attain them?
AB: After the season? Well, definitely play professional golf on the LPGA Tour. I'll be either trying to get a few sponsors this summer, and kind of get my feet wet, and play a few professional events, and probably some future events, and play in the [U.S.] Open, hopefully, and just kind of get it started so when the season next year rolls around, I'll be ready.
Q: You've already played in some LPGA Tour events. How are they different from, say, college?
AB: The big difference is that the women on the tour are playing for money, where in college it's a lot more relaxed and a lot more fun in the camaraderie, with the teams, and just a little bit more relaxed, I guess. But both places have wonderful golf and have prepared me for the step in life, and I'm looking forward to the Tour, but it will definitely be a change from college.
Q: This summer when you won the U.S. Women's Amateur, was that the peak so far?
AB: It definitely was the icing on the cake of my amateur career. I had such great years in college golf and then being able to win that was just a great experience, like I said, the icing on the cake. I've been really working up to winning a USGA event, and it was great that my last year as an amateur I was able to win that.
Q: This year's new team, they've been doing well. Do you ever set goals, or is it always as just the team?
AB: We never set goals as a team, just because I think we all have the expectation that everyone's going to go out and play well and try to win every single time that we're playing.
Q: Teammates? Everybody good to go?
AB: Yeah, we're doing great. I'm hoping everybody stays healthy. There's only five of us, so we don't have many players to lose, but yeah, we're looking good, just getting a lot of practice in before the season starts, and it's coming up, and we're excited and we're ready.
Q: It's been since November at the Hooter's Match play since you have played. How excited are you to get back to playing again?
AB: Very much, especially with the way this nice weather rolled around, we were just ready for the sunshine in Florida. But now, definitely. We haven't really played a competitive round since the first of November, so I think we're all kind of itching to kind of get out there and start playing a little bit more competitive golf and just get out of the practice routine.
Q: How can you grasp that you only have one semester left of college and college golf? How does it make you feel?
AB: I'm sad; I really am. I was actually a little upset about having to come back after the winter break, because it kind of sunk in a little bit that this is it, this is my last semester, and you only have one more first tournament of the spring, and it just kind of hit me over the break that next year I wasn't going to be coming back, and I'm not signing up for fall classes, so it's sad. It's exciting, but I'll definitely miss it.
Players Mentioned
PLAYER
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