HUSKY PROFILE / PAIGE MACKENZIE Mackenzie got off to a hot start <strong>in</strong> 2002 with a third-place f<strong>in</strong>ish at the season-open<strong>in</strong>g New Mexico Inviational. 54 HUSKIES <strong>Game</strong>day by Mason Kelley here is noth<strong>in</strong>g quite like be<strong>in</strong>g out on a golf course — few places that look as prist<strong>in</strong>e can cause so much frustration. Golf is a game a patience, a craft that has to be ref<strong>in</strong>ed with years of hard work and expert tutelage. Paige Mackenzie has spent much of her life on the golf course. In fact, her parents Hugh and Caren have been tak<strong>in</strong>g Paige and her brother, fellow Husky golfer Brock Mackenzie, out to the course s<strong>in</strong>ce they were toddlers. “I got my first set of golf clubs when I was three and I just started chipp<strong>in</strong>g away with my parents,” Paige says. “My parents are not the type of high-pressure, overbear<strong>in</strong>g sports parents, though. If I did not feel like play<strong>in</strong>g, I would take my dolls along and play <strong>in</strong> the cart. When I wanted to, I could jump out for a hole or two and then I would get bored and jump back <strong>in</strong> the cart.” Over time, Mackenzie reached less for the dolls and more for the golf clubs, eventually be<strong>com</strong><strong>in</strong>g determ<strong>in</strong>ed to play at the collegiate level. Her brother made the trek to UW a year before Paige, but that wasn’t a major factor <strong>in</strong> her decision to be<strong>com</strong>e a Husky. “I took visits to Oregon, Oregon State, and Cal,” Mackenzie says. “The fact that Brock was here was good, but we weren’t very close <strong>in</strong> high school; we didn’t get close until he left for UW. He may have had some <strong>in</strong>fluence, but I just wanted to be a Husky.” A native of Yakima, Wash., Mackenzie was <strong>in</strong>timidated as much by the balance of school and sports as she was by the transition from small town to big city. “My first quarter was really tough on me,” she says. “Golf took up so much of my time that there wasn’t much time left for school. I was a really good student <strong>in</strong> high school and I was used to devot<strong>in</strong>g as much time as I needed to do well <strong>in</strong> school.” Hav<strong>in</strong>g a year under her belt has helped Mackenzie <strong>in</strong> her development, both as a student and a golfer. Once she developed a rout<strong>in</strong>e and became more <strong>com</strong>fortable with her surround<strong>in</strong>gs, it was smooth sail<strong>in</strong>g. “There has been a huge difference <strong>in</strong> her game this year,” says head coach Mary Lou Mulflur. “The first year is so hard. It doesn’t matter how close or how far you are away from home. There is noth<strong>in</strong>g that can prepare you for the rigors of athletics at this level. She is a <strong>com</strong>pletely different player from last year to this year.” That is not to say that Mackenzie did not have an impact on the team as a freshman. She <strong>com</strong>peted <strong>in</strong> every tournament and was the top Husky f<strong>in</strong>isher at the NCAA Championships at Wash<strong>in</strong>gton National Golf Course <strong>in</strong> Auburn, Wash. “Paige had an immediate impact,” Mulflur says. “She wants to be the best player on the team. She is not cocky about it, she just wants to be the best no matter who she is play<strong>in</strong>g with.” Now that Mackenzie has had a season to be<strong>com</strong>e acclimated to her surround<strong>in</strong>gs, she has been able to draw more enjoyment from the game. “So far this season has been awesome,” Mackenzie says. “Our team has two second-place f<strong>in</strong>ishes. I am so excited that we have such a great team this year; this season is go<strong>in</strong>g to be fun. We are the deepest we have been <strong>in</strong> a long time.” Despite her the early success, Mackenzie rema<strong>in</strong>s critical of her game. She is not over-confident and does not allow herself the luxury of look<strong>in</strong>g back at what she has ac<strong>com</strong>plished. “It is hard to look at how far I have <strong>com</strong>e because I can only see th<strong>in</strong>gs I need to improve on, so I haven’t really thought about that too much,” she says. “I have so much more to work for and so much room to improve.” Mackenzie’s work ethic is so <strong>in</strong>tense that it is even hard for coach Mulflur to believe. “She is a really hard worker,” Mulflur says. “I don’t know what Caren and Hugh did with those kids but neither one is afraid of hard work. They are not afraid to put <strong>in</strong> the long, lonely hours on the practice green or on the driv<strong>in</strong>g range that you have to put <strong>in</strong> to be successful.” Mackenzie has <strong>com</strong>e a long way <strong>in</strong> her year and a half as a member of the Husky golf team, but has not let success go to her head. She knows what it will take for her to make it to the LPGA tour, and while that is still two years away, she can’t hide her desire to make it. “My goal right now is to turn professional after I f<strong>in</strong>ish college, so I’d better be one of the top golfers <strong>in</strong> the country,” she says. “I have to have a name that is recognizable, or else I am not go<strong>in</strong>g to make it.” With her talent and work ethic, Mackenzie is mak<strong>in</strong>g sure that her name is not one that will be soon forgotten.
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