Thomson swings into sophomore season

It was a summer to remember, but for Chrissy Thomson, it’s time to start making new memories.
The Fort Frances native is knee deep into her second NCAA women’s golf season with the St. John’s University Red Storm, based out of Jamaica, N.Y.
And her squad is off to another strong start after making a noticeable impact in the Big East conference in its inaugural year of existence last season, with three top-10 finishes in their first three events.
For Thomson, this season is a chance to add to a commendable list of achievements over the past year. She posted three top-10 and four top-20 individual finishes in her freshman year at St. John’s, including the team’s first-ever top-five showing.
She then captured the Manitoba Women’s Amateur Championship in July—a first-ever accomplishment for a golfer from this region—and also competed in the Canadian amateur championship in Montreal in August.
While she had her difficulties on the national stage, Thomson said that may end up being a blessing for the upcoming college season—and beyond.
“The biggest thing is, I’ve had some really good results and some really bad results in recent months, which emphasized to me that I still have a lot of work to do on my game,” Thomson noted.
“I wasn’t happy with how I played at the nationals,” she added. “[But] it gave me another outlook on this college season. No matter how I play, I’m going to enjoy my time here.
“It flies by before you know it, and I don’t want to look back and say I didn’t enjoy myself.”
That philosophy served her well at this season’s opening tournament, the Dartmouth Invitational in Hanover, N.H.
The Red Storm placed third behind Princeton and Boston College while Thomson finished in a 10th-place tie in the individual category—shooting rounds of 78 and 80 for a two-day total of 14-over 158.
“I felt pretty good about the weekend,” Thomson said. “It was a solid start, but everybody on the team knows we can each play better. I know I played better than the score showed, but I had a bad finish both days.
“We didn’t have a lot of time to prepare, with only about one week of practice beforehand,” she added. “We’re working on swing changes, and it takes time to get confident about yourself when you’re going through that.”
While St. John’s put together another noteworthy performance two weeks ago at the Princeton Invitational in Princeton, N.J., finishing eighth overall, Thomson had a less satisfying experience on the Springdale Golf Course layout.
The sophomore posted rounds of 81-85 for a 22-over 166 during the two-day competition, leaving her tied for 34th. Last year at the same event, Thomson landed in sixth spot in her collegiate debut—shooting 78-80 for a 14-over 158.
She followed that up with a tie for 20th place this past week at the Yale Invitational in New Haven, Conn., posting rounds of 77-85 for a final score of 22-over 162 as St. John’s managed a fifth-place result in the team competition.
Still, it will be hard to quell Thomson’s enthusiasm with new Red Storm coach Cindy Mueller on board this season, replacing the departed Pam Cunningham.
“There’s not one bad thing I can say about Cindy—she’s a role model for me,” lauded Thomson about the former two-time All-American from the University of Kentucky who has competed in the LPGA’s U.S. Open.
“She’s a very accomplished player herself. It’s so easy to accept advice from someone when you know they’ve been successful.”
Thomson and the Red Storm couldn’t follow up their strong showing last fall during the spring campaign, and failed to qualify in the top four to advance to the Big East championship.
Enter Mueller, whose coaching style combines structure with a soft touch.
While Thomson calls Mueller the most organized coach she’s ever had, it’s not as though Mueller is running a boot camp instead of a golf team.
“[Mueller] just wants to be one of the girls,” she noted. “Every practice is different. Sometimes, we work on shots. Sometimes, we have little competitions.
Going to practice is fun, and it’s helping me become a more complete player.”
An ironic facet to this year’s Red Storm roster is the fact that of the five team members, four of them hail from the Great White North—with junior Jennifer Rhee from Rydal, Pa. the lone American.
“It’s a little hard for [Rhee],” said Thomson. “We had two U.S. girls last year. We’re hoping to get a couple of more players next fall, hopefully from the States.
“It would really benefit our team as having extra players would provide a little more motivation to the ones already here to play better,” she reasoned.
Thomson and the Red Storm will invade Albany, N.Y. this weekend to compete in the fourth event of the fall season—the East Coast Athletic Conference championships.