Sonoma State Athletics

Brenna Ozel hitting a pose for the team’s media day.

Swinging into the spring stretch of the season for women’s golf, four athletes on the team will be graduating at the end of the semester. Losing the experience and leadership these players have been able to offer over the years will undoubtedly leave a void to be filled by the younger athletes on the team. 

One athlete in particular, fourth-year Brenna Ozel, was able to share a day in the life of what it’s like to play golf at the collegiate level while majoring in Early Childhood Education and minoring in Sociology.

“I started playing in 6th grade after making my middle school team,” said Ozel dating back to the first time she started playing golf competitively. “On this team [in middle school] I met some life-long friends. We would go out and play together which really helped me grow my game.” 

The requirements for her day-to-day training regime consist of an articulately structured routine to make sure she and her teammates are prepared ahead of each match. “Day to day, what we do varies. We play 18 holes on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, which lasts from 1-6 pm. On Tuesday and Thursday, we workout with our trainer from 6:45-7:45, followed by practice from 8-10 pm. We don’t have mandatory practice on the weekends but we all go play for fun and practice on our own,” said Ozel. 

When considering how the women’s golf team has been able to evolve over the last couple of years, Brenna said, “It’s crazy how much the team has changed since my freshman year. When I first started, the team was a lot larger, older and more experienced. Once that class graduated, we had to start over and became a very young team. This helped us grow and become close over time.” 

Brenna was able to touch on some goals she looks to achieve in the final stretch of her season, “..be present and take it all in. These last four years have gone by insanely fast and I just want to enjoy the moment with my girls. Making it to regionals and nationals is another big goal of mine too.” 

Second-year teammate Avery Foster was able to provide her experience being a teammate of Brenna’s, “She is a caring person that brings the team’s spirit up. As far as golf goes, she is someone we can always count on,” Foster said. 

Next up for Brenna and the Seawolves is a match against California State San Marcos on March 10-12 at Shadowridge Golf Club in San Marcos.