Whitney French
EVERYDAY CHAMPION: WHITNEY FRENCH Whitney French had a decision to make that not many student-athletes have when they are contemplating their athletic future at a Division I school -- play softball or golf. Fortunately for Oregon State fans, she decided to play golf and immediately fell in love with the campus on her first unofficial visit to Corvallis. The Laguna Niguel, Calif., native is in her junior season and has never missed a tournament for the Beavers in three years. She is also the leader of a team that is dominated with underclassmen and her coaches and teammates know they are fortunate to have her in the program. “Whitney is a talented athlete who could have easily played D-1 softball, but her passion for golf made her choice for her,” head coach Risë Alexander said. “She is a quiet leader who sets the mark for her teammates to follow. She has a gift for encouraging others and doing the hard work. We are grateful to have her on our team.” French utilizes her strong work ethic in the classroom and was named to the National Golf Coaches Association Scholar Team, which has criteria that is some of the most stringent in all of college athletics, and the Pac-10 All-Academic Second Team in 2009-10. While everyone is thrilled French chose to play golf at Oregon State, nobody is more excited than the person who had to make that decision. “If I didn’t receive a scholarship here at Oregon State, I definitely would not be eligible to be here at this school now,” she said. “Being from out of state is expensive and traveling all the time for golf is very expensive and time consuming. So I am very appreciative that I had the opportunity to be where I am today.” Q. What led you to OSU? A. I really wanted to play in the Pac-10 and I hadn’t been playing golf for very long so when I was being recruited I was looking at Oregon and Oregon State. Once I stepped on to Oregon States campus I just fell in love with it. Q. What other opportunities did you have to further your education and what was the deciding factor on OSU? A. There had previously been a girl (Cara Freeman) from my town originally on Oregon State’s golf team, so when I was looking at schools it helped that I already knew someone going into
that school. It’s not that she was my final decision, but it always helps to have a familiar face around. Q. What was your initial visit to campus like? A. I took an unofficial visit in August when it was gorgeous, sunny, blue skies and everything was perfect and I just fell in love with it. Then I came on my official visit in October during a football game and it was just amazing. The atmosphere and everything, the college town, all the fans that came out; it was just nothing I had ever seen before. Q. What surprised you most about campus that you didn’t know before? A. I never realized how big all sports were at Oregon State before. Gymnastics is just huge and everyone comes out. All the teams are being supported by the community all the time and there’s never a sport that’s left out. Q. What are the benefits of having four golf courses close by? A. The great thing about Oregon State is that it’s so close and convenient to so many golf courses. We have four golf courses and the farthest one is 20 minutes away. We have two, one private, and one public (Trysting Tree Golf Course) that are just three minutes from campus, just the opposite direction. So we are saving so much time on studying and everything that it’s not being wasted by traveling back and forth to the golf courses. Q. Describe the perfect shot. A. I know that I hit a great shot when it feels effortless and you know it’s going to end up right at the hole. Q. You had the potential to play softball at this level; why did you decide on golf? A. I had been playing softball since I was threeyears-old and was actually being recruited by a few college programs. I went through the whole process of sending out letters and DVDs for softball and then my junior year of high school I decided I really wanted to play golf in college so then I had to switch everything from my letters to my DVDs and send them out really quickly. Everything just happened to work out. Golf is just a much prettier atmosphere and I really like being competitive against my teammates, but also it’s my fault if I shoot anything wrong. I can’t blame anything on anyone else so I think golf is a much tougher and harder individual sport than
any other sport. Q. What would your teammates say if they had to describe you? A. Hopefully they would say I’m a team leader and that I try to be serious yet easygoing at the same time and that they always feel that they can come up to me and talk to me about whatever, whenever they want to. Q. What do you hope to do with a business degree you are earning? A. After I graduate here I hope to keep going into my fifth year and get my MBA and then I want to work in the athletic department and maybe become an athletic supervisor or somewhere I can work with college students. Q. Describe how you have been successful academically? A. Being on the women’s golf team we miss quite a few days of class. We miss a few weeks of class each term, which is the most out of all the student-athletes. For me to be successful in my academics, I really have to stay organized and on top of things and try and get everything ahead of time and not procrastinate until the last minute. Q. What does your scholarship mean to you? A. If I didn’t receive a scholarship here at Oregon State, I definitely would not be eligible to be here. Being from out of state is expensive and traveling all the time for golf is very expensive and time consuming. So I am very appreciative that I have the opportunity to be where I am today. Q. When someone is considering coming from out of state and is thinking about going to school here, what do you say about Oregon State? A. Coming from such a big area to such a small town in Corvallis was a perfect fit for me. Even though we still have over 24,000 students here it seems like such a small area and you see familiar faces every day, which makes it very homey. Q. How do you give back to the community? A. One way that we have given back to our community is that we have built a walkway throughout Avery Park and this is not only used for the whole community, but also our cross country team runs on it now.
that school. It’s not that she was my final decision, but it always helps to have a familiar face around. Q. What was your initial visit to campus like? A. I took an unofficial visit in August when it was gorgeous, sunny, blue skies and everything was perfect and I just fell in love with it. Then I came on my official visit in October during a football game and it was just amazing. The atmosphere and everything, the college town, all the fans that came out; it was just nothing I had ever seen before. Q. What surprised you most about campus that you didn’t know before? A. I never realized how big all sports were at Oregon State before. Gymnastics is just huge and everyone comes out. All the teams are being supported by the community all the time and there’s never a sport that’s left out. Q. What are the benefits of having four golf courses close by? A. The great thing about Oregon State is that it’s so close and convenient to so many golf courses. We have four golf courses and the farthest one is 20 minutes away. We have two, one private, and one public (Trysting Tree Golf Course) that are just three minutes from campus, just the opposite direction. So we are saving so much time on studying and everything that it’s not being wasted by traveling back and forth to the golf courses. Q. Describe the perfect shot. A. I know that I hit a great shot when it feels effortless and you know it’s going to end up right at the hole. Q. You had the potential to play softball at this level; why did you decide on golf? A. I had been playing softball since I was threeyears-old and was actually being recruited by a few college programs. I went through the whole process of sending out letters and DVDs for softball and then my junior year of high school I decided I really wanted to play golf in college so then I had to switch everything from my letters to my DVDs and send them out really quickly. Everything just happened to work out. Golf is just a much prettier atmosphere and I really like being competitive against my teammates, but also it’s my fault if I shoot anything wrong. I can’t blame anything on anyone else so I think golf is a much tougher and harder individual sport than
any other sport. Q. What would your teammates say if they had to describe you? A. Hopefully they would say I’m a team leader and that I try to be serious yet easygoing at the same time and that they always feel that they can come up to me and talk to me about whatever, whenever they want to. Q. What do you hope to do with a business degree you are earning? A. After I graduate here I hope to keep going into my fifth year and get my MBA and then I want to work in the athletic department and maybe become an athletic supervisor or somewhere I can work with college students. Q. Describe how you have been successful academically? A. Being on the women’s golf team we miss quite a few days of class. We miss a few weeks of class each term, which is the most out of all the student-athletes. For me to be successful in my academics, I really have to stay organized and on top of things and try and get everything ahead of time and not procrastinate until the last minute. Q. What does your scholarship mean to you? A. If I didn’t receive a scholarship here at Oregon State, I definitely would not be eligible to be here. Being from out of state is expensive and traveling all the time for golf is very expensive and time consuming. So I am very appreciative that I have the opportunity to be where I am today. Q. When someone is considering coming from out of state and is thinking about going to school here, what do you say about Oregon State? A. Coming from such a big area to such a small town in Corvallis was a perfect fit for me. Even though we still have over 24,000 students here it seems like such a small area and you see familiar faces every day, which makes it very homey. Q. How do you give back to the community? A. One way that we have given back to our community is that we have built a walkway throughout Avery Park and this is not only used for the whole community, but also our cross country team runs on it now.
