College brings change. For Analeise Pyland, it affected her golf game more than it affected her.
The Poplar Bluff alumna recently finished her freshman season at John A. Logan College and capped it by finishing 33rd out of 116 golfers at the NJCAA National Tournament in Mesa, Arizona.
Pyland spent her high school career hitting from the men's tees because Poplar Bluff doesn't have a girls golf team. Consequently, whether it was a par 5 or a par 4, she was likely hitting driver from the tee and a wood for her second shot. Changing tees alone cut 10-20 strokes off her competitive rounds and it has changed her game, as well.
"It was a lot different playing with the girls and getting to know the forward tees," Pyland said.
In moving forward to the women's tees in college, her middle and short irons are getting a lot more use and the strengths of her game are shifting.
"Hitting off the men's tees, I would have to be strong with my drives," Pyland said. "Right now I've been working on my wedge shots so I can get in a good distance, one putt and move onto the next hole."
Her 8-iron in particular is getting a lot more work. Pyland shot a 75 in her second of four rounds at the national tournament, six strokes better than any other round, and did so in part because of her 8-iron.
"I got to hit my 8-iron more that day because my distance was spot on to where the pins were placed," she said. "I didn't hit my 8-iron as much when I was on the men's tees, and once I moved up to the women's, I'm hitting that more consistently now. I use it almost every day now."
It also helped that she played her second round in the morning with cooler temperatures. In her fourth round, also in the morning, Pyland shot an 81. Her two rounds in the hot desert evenings were an 85 and an 88.
"On my days where I was in the evening, I could tell by either going to the back 9 or my last few holes, I was starting to get a headache so I knew that it was affecting me. I knew I had to grind a little bit more so that I would concentrate and just ignore the heat pretty much," said Pyland, who had never been to Arizona before. "I'm enjoying getting to play different courses."
Pyland added that prior to nationals, she was expecting the desert golf course to be more sandy on the outskirts of the holes, but instead it was hard dirt and rocks.
"A few of my clubs got messed up because I was in there a few times," she said.
On the trip to Arizona, Pyland was more nervous about going through airport security than taking her first plane ride. She pictured nightmare scenarios of getting tackled by security guards because she had something in her bag that she wasn't supposed to.
"The anxiety was definitely high on that," Pyland said. "(The flight) was kind of like a roller coaster. But it was fun."
College has also brought a new sense of camaraderie to the golf course now that Pyland is playing rounds with all women. The average conversation is also significantly different.
"With the girls, it is fun and everybody is just having fun. With the boys, they are trying to beat me," she said. "They want to say 'Hey, I just beat that girl.' They don't want to say 'Hey, I just lost to that girl and I want to quit golf now.'"
But of course, college must and will impact her personal life as well.
"I miss home cooked meals a lot," Pyland said.
Being on her own for the first time and in an apartment building where students are responsible for their own food, she has found the joy and curse of the classic college staple, ramen noodles.
Pyland ate those cheap, salty, microwavable noodles growing up, but now she buys them in bulk, as in multiple big boxes of different flavors at the same time so as to avoid having to go back to the grocery store in the near future.
"It's pretty much every other day. I'll get frozen chicken strips and eat that with them," she said, adding that chips are also a staple.
Pyland will buy frozen fruit for smoothies, but as far the produce aisle is concerned, eating healthy can be expensive.
Soon after nationals, it was time to move home again for the summer. Pyland made the classic freshman mistake of taking too much stuff. She moved in with two cars worth of stuff and woefully had to shove it all into her crossover at the end of the year. In the fall, she said she'll probably leave the cold weather clothes at home and get them during Christmas break.
Between now and then, she plans to work on her short game and play in more tournaments this summer, though she may need to move back to the men's tees every now and then because women's tournaments can be hard to find.