Grassel's Drive Goes Beyond Fairway
Tuesday, April 18, 2017 | Women's Golf
Kelly Grassel has learned many life lessons during her turbulent ride through college.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Golf was a family tradition in the Grassel family. With that, it was only fitting that Kelly Grassel chose it as her passion growing up.
The Chesterton, Ind. native became serious about the game when she was 11 years old while playing in various junior tournaments across the country.
All that travel and hard work when she was younger led her to the University of Florida. Over the next month, her time at UF will come to a close as only a few tournaments and graduation separate her from the next phase in her life.
"Being a part of this athletic program has been really encouraging," Grassel said. "There are so many awesome athletes here, and it is such an elite athletics program."
Grassel understands how special it is to attend Florida, considering she first enrolled at Michigan State in the Fall of 2013. During her freshman campaign in East Lansing, Mich., Grassel started all 12 tournaments for the Spartans and finished the season with the lowest scoring average by a freshman in program history.
Despite all the success, she wanted more.
With plans of turning professional after college, Grassel made a decision to transfer to Florida to help her reach this goal.
The Gators were on Grassel's radar during the recruiting process, but the distance from home was too great. Michigan State was only three hours away (178 miles), while Florida was close to 900 miles from home.
Following her freshman year at MSU, Grassel realized the opportunity to play year-round and against the best competition everyday was in the Southeastern Conference and at Florida.
"The team and the coaches were really welcoming to me, so made it a lot easier, " Grassel smiled. "Pretty quickly, I felt like this was home."
During her first year at Florida (2014-15), Grassel had the second-best stroke average on the team at 74.1 and recorded three top-10 finishes.
However, an elbow injury in March sidelined her for most of the regular season and the entire postseason.
While the rehab for her injury was relatively easy, Grassel was frustrated that she couldn't be out there competing and helping her team, as Florida ended its season with an eighth place at the 2015 NCAA Regional.
During that time, Grassel learned some perspective about what the game of golf had given her and how fast it could be taken away.
"My relationship with God really grew during that time," Grassel stated. "He took away my sport, which I had put my identity in. So that's when I really began a relationship with Him. It totally rocked my world."
With a new outlook on life, Grassel overcame her injury and carded a strong 2015-16 campaign.
During her junior season, the Indiana native captured her first individual title, was named to the 2016 SEC Academic Honor Roll and finished tied for 20th at the 2016 NCAA Championships.
Grassel carried that momentum forward into her senior year (2016-17).
After she began the fall season with a second place finish at the Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championship, Grassel won the South Atlantic Women's Amateur Championship in January.
"Kelly has had an impact on our team since the moment she arrived on campus. She is a consistent and steady player on the course and off the course is a caring and kind person who leads by example," head coach Emily Glaser said.
"We have always had a special connection both being from the mid-west. I have enjoyed having her these past three years and forward to following her future."
All her goals are still in front of her beginning with the SEC Championships this weekend.
Following her potential professional career, the family, youth and community sciences major hopes to use her platform as a professional for philanthropy and nonprofit work.
"I want to be able to reach people through athletics," Grassel said in closing. "I want to be able to share my experience with God and His love."
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