Briahna Willis’ experience playing golf was one that many of her competitive counterparts shared.
Being introduced to the game at a very young age by her father, it wasn’t a sport that she was very passionate about. Although she would start playing in events before the age of 10 years old with her share of successes, she was more inclined to play other sports like softball, basketball, and volleyball.
“I wouldn’t say I hated golf, but I just didn’t like the sport (at the time),” Willis, who was one of several University of Maryland Eastern Shore students who received their degrees during the Dec. 16 commencement, said. “But when I got to eighth grade, my dad told me to pick a sport to play for high school because in order to be great you have to pick one and continue to master it.”
Willis turned to her faith to determine what her chosen sport would be. Following a month of prayer and fasting, she decided to pursue golf at a competitive level.
During her freshman year in high school, she not only had to deal with the lack of opportunities to compete at the state and conference tournament levels but also had to deal with bigotry.
“I’m from Arkansas,” she said, “And some of my teammates didn’t like a black girl playing golf. So, I had some racist comments said to me by my teammates and their parents. But I knew I just had to keep working.”
As a sophomore, Willis made all-conference as an individual while her team won all-conference. Those honors ultimately fueled a dominating junior year culminating with a state championship and being named the top player in the state and two more all-conference honors including in her senior year.
When Willis started to look at college opportunities, she was planning to attend a school in Portland, OR where she would play golf. Those plans changed as that school discontinued its golf program, ultimately leading to her chance to play Division I golf at UMES and hushing naysayers who said she could not.
It was at UMES where Willis made her mark as a three-time scholar-athlete, two-time coach’s award winner, 2020 team MVP, and was selected to represent the women’s golf team at the Name, Image, Likeness 2022 Athlete Summit.
Also, during her time at UMES, she found herself after difficult times that included the loss of a best friend during Willis’s freshman year.
“It was just a lot of stuff adding on top of it, to where I had a point where I had an encounter with God and it changed my life and I’ll never be the same,” she said. “College really makes you the person you are today however you decide to look at it.”
As part of her change, Willis said her outlook was the most important part of making progress.
“When I was able to change my outlook, it really let me know how grateful I was to be in a place that molded me to become who I am,” she said. “There’s something special about UMES that transformed and shifted people I know. I’ve heard a lot of people’s testimonies indicating the same thing. My life won’t be the same and I love this school because it has created growth in my life.
“I don’t think that every college can say that.”
Now equipped with her experiences as a Pro Golf Management major, Willis now moves on to her future as a PGA Director of Golf Instruction at Tulsa Golf in Tulsa, OK.
Willis said her experiences with the game of golf not only offered a variety of opportunities she never dreamed of but it also helped shift her mindset.
“In golf, as in life, it’s the follow-through that makes the difference,” she said. “If you hear and see things that are said in the classroom and you hear the things that are said by your friends and you don’t apply the things and shift to what you’re given in those conversations it’s not actually following through.
“Just apply the things that are given to you and follow through and it will shift your thinking in a higher way.”
