WEEK #34: SAVANNAH M-C.

Please tell us a little bit about yourself. 

Soccer was my first love, I played at the elite level for 19 years which includes my 5 years on the Queen’s Women’s Soccer team.  I lived & breathed that sport.  I had an incredible career leading into university but unfortunately I suffered from two concussions in my first & second year which set me back quite a bit.  I graduated 5 years ago and still to this day I feel as though I never reached my full potential in the game which crushes me if I start thinking about it for too long.  After graduation and officially retiring from soccer I felt lost.  I lost this a huge part of my life, my identity as a woman; I didn’t know what was next for me.  My boyfriend, Munashe, and I moved to Quebec City right after graduation with my family because of a job opportunity for my dad and to be closer to relatives.  My dad has been a golf instructor for 35+ years and having grown up around the sport I was a solid player so I decided to give golf a shot.  I told myself “let’s see how good I can get”.  I got Munashe into golf as well because we both needed something to sink our teeth into.  He played for the Queen’s Football team and had never even picked up a golf club before so it was quite the special journey learning a new sport together.  Fast forward 4-5 years to now and we are both Professional Long Drive Competitors.  He picked up the sport so fast, faster than anyone me or my dad have ever seen!  He had so much strength from football that he hits the ball a mile and I hit the ball far as well from my strength in soccer and that’s how we got into Long Drive.  2022 was our first season on the Long Drive circuit and I finished 7th out of 40 women in the world and Munashe finished in the top 50 out of 125+ men.  We had so much fun competing this year, we absolutely love the sport and the people in the sport so it’s safe to say that we will be competing for years to come. Outside of Long Drive I work in social media and marketing for my dad’s online golf business alongside Munashe who is the head Kinesiologist for the company.

What is an issue or topic you are passionate about or would like to see changed?

I want to help grow the women’s side of golf and long drive.  I hope that one day women have the same respect, recognition & pay as the men’s side because women are impressive athletes and role models in golf & long drive.  People who watch long drive often talk to me about how much they love watching us compete and how impressive it is to see us hit the ball as far as we do so it would be incredible to see the sport continue to grow and evolve.  I share my journey and advice on my Instagram page “golfw.smc” in hopes to build a community of female golfer and encourage them to get out on the range or golf course to learn and grow with confidence!  Golf is a male dominated sport and it can be really intimidating to get into as a lady so changing some of the old school terms like “Ladies’ Tee” and “Men’s Tee” into simply “Forward Tee” and “Back Tee” are little steps towards more equality and respect in the game.  It’s important to recognize that a lot of women like myself are strong and capable players in the game and we don’t need to be babied and told how to fix our swings, etc.  Unsolicited swing advice is a huge problem in the golf community, and it is crucial to let our fellow golfers develop their swing/game on their own terms & at their own pace.  Everyone is working towards the same goal… to get better!  People may have genuine intentions to help but unless someone asks for advice just keep it to yourself because you never know how the person is feeling on the receiving end of it.  They could be working on something, could just be enjoying the outdoors, they might have had a rough day and need to blow off some steam or they may very well be enjoying the process of learning on their own.  The only way people can learn is by making their own mistakes, you need to go through all the learning curves in order to appreciate the good; nobody can learn that for you.

What specific strategies would you like to see parents, coaches, or sport administrators do to improve diversity in sport or progress your cause?

I would love to see more female coaches and role models in golf that young women can look up to and relate too.  I think relatability is huge, it’s important to know that other women have gone through or are going through the same things as one another.  Opening up that dialogue more and more is crucial for women in sport.

If you had 25 words worth of advice to share, what would you say? 

Lead your life with grace and compassion; you can be a strong & confident woman with these traits at the forefront of your mission in life. Being a good human being comes first.