Texas women's golfer Kristin Walla, who just completed her freshman year in Austin, is the farthest Longhorn from campus this summer at just over 1,000 miles away. Walla, a native of Aspen, Colo., is spending her summer at home and currently roaming the links at the Aspen Golf Course.
An accomplished dual-sport athlete in high school (she was also a member of the Aspen High School ski team), Walla brings a unique blend of alpine skiing and golf experience to Austin, Texas. The biggest change for Walla, however, when she traveled south was the temperature difference with an average high of 62 degrees in December in Austin, compared to 35 degrees in Aspen.
In her first season at UT, Walla played in five outings finishing with an 81.33 average (seventh-best on the team). She recorded a season-low round of 77 four times (twice at the Mason Rudolph Women's Championships, and once at the Lady Tar Heel Classic and at Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invitational). Her top finish of 2006 was a tie for 46th at the Mason Rudolph.
Walla took a minute to answer a few questions for TexasSports.com about how her summer is going and what her focus has been while away from Austin.
Summer location: Aspen, Colo.
Local club for the summer: Aspen Golf Course
Three goals for the summer: To learn something about my game at every tournament, improve my trust and confidence in my game and continue to perfect my partial wedge shots
Favorite club to hit on the range and why:I don't really have one. I try to spread my time among all my clubs.
Least favorite club to hit on the range and why: Not necessarily a least favorite club, but I am working on improving my consistency with my long irons.
Something you learned this summer: I learned that Aspen is a lot like Austin, if you take out the lake, add in some ski lifts and decrease the frizziness of everyone's hair by 80 percent. I will miss the silky smoothness of my Aspen hair almost as much as I will miss all of my friends from home next year.
If someone asked you what you miss about Texas and Austin, you would say...? I miss the city and all it has to offer, but most of all, I miss my great teammates!
Something you want to get better at this summer would be: Darts and my stand-up routine! But in terms of my golf game, I want to get better at my course management and overall mental toughness.
The movie you are going to definitely see this summer: I guess Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest is a must see. Who would want to miss Orlando Bloom and Johnny Depp in pirate suits?
First thing you will do when you get back to Austin: I will probably eat at one of my favorite restaurants in Austin. Either Dona Emilia's, Hula Hut, Trudy's or El Arroyo, just to name a few.
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