Honours student making the grade in East Tennessee

HOME AND AWAY SÉAMUS POWER: LIFE HAS a way of finding twists and turns. Take Séamus Power, a player with one of the finest CVs in Irish junior golf who was all but destined for University College Cork to pursue his academic studies until a meeting with an American golf coach, Fred Warren, at a junior tournament in Italy persuaded him a golfing scholarship to East Tennessee University might be worth considering.

The arguments used in the persuasion? Sun, golf, and more sun! Of course, Power – being a player with a brain as well as serious golfing skills – didn’t take the coach at his word, and investigated the college’s academic records as well as its golfing set-up before deciding time on the campus at East Tennessee State would be his preferred route to a degree and, ultimately, towards pursuing a professional career on tour.

Now, Power – who has the distinction of winning three Irish Youths’ championship titles, a feat only previously accomplished by John McHenry – is on the home run towards completing his accountancy degree (six months to go) and, at a time when Ireland is battling floods, the 22-year-old Waterford player is enjoying temperatures in the mid-60s. “We’re still in T-shirts,” quips Power.

Power, of course, wasn’t the first player from these shores to make the transatlantic move for college and golf to East Tennessee: former amateur internationals Cian McNamara and current Challenge Tour player Gareth Shaw are among those to have opted for student life there where there is intense competition on the regional and national golf collegiate circuits.

In his time stateside, Power – who won the Irish Youths’ in 2005, ’07 and ’08 as well as finishing runner-up (to Shaw) in 2006 – has proven to be the key player with ETSU (or “The Buccaneers” as they are known) and has won a number of big college titles, including lowering the college’s all-time record for a 54-hole tournament when he captured the Jerry Pate National Invitational two seasons ago.

Power was 15-under-par for the 54 holes, beating the record set by Walker Cup player Rhys Davies.

“I like it here, and I think it will serve me well in the future,” says Power, who has fully recovered from a knee injury which hampered him last season. “The competition is a lot deeper on the collegiate circuit and I’ve also learnt how to play on different types of golf courses. The grasses are different, typically Bermuda grass, and the grainy greens can be awkward . . . but that was part of the plan on coming over here, to get used to different conditions.”

Power’s typical day in college involves early-morning visits to the gym and cramming in practice and play around his schoolwork. “I’ve final exams coming up, so I’ve been doing a little more studying. Anyway, it’s dark now at 5.30 in the evening, so there is time for more studying.”

Ultimately, of course, Power – who will return home to Ireland in May when he completes his finals – would like to pursue a life on tour. He has already competed in the Irish Open (when it was staged at Carton House in 2005, coincidentally playing as an amateur along with a certain Rory McIlroy) on the European Tour and believes his time in college in the US will stand to him if and when he does decide to go out on tour.

“I haven’t really decided if I will stay as an amateur for the summer or if I will seek some invites to play on the Challenge Tour, a lot will depend on how I play in the spring (on the college circuit). But I know I’m definitely capable of it (playing on tour), as I’ve played with a lot of players who have gone out on to the European Tour and also here in the States. I know the gap isn’t that big.”

Power, who plays off plus-two, started to play golf as an 11-year-old at West Waterford Golf Club in Dungarvan. At the time, he was an accomplished racquetball player and also hurling and football. But golf became his game. “It just appealed to me,” he recalls. By the time he was 16, he was a scratch player and his performances in the Irish Youths’ – and other championships – have seen him deliver on that rich potential and mark him as a player for the future. As Warren, the coach at ETSU says, “he is the epitome of a student-athlete, one of the best players we’ve ever had at ETSU and also an honour student of the accounting department.”

“I think my time at East Tennessee will serve me well. You have to practice on your own terms and you learn a lot about yourself . . . I’d like to become a more consistent player and that is something I am working on.”

Hard work on the game, and studying hard for his accountancy degree; Power is enjoying college life in East Tennessee. Next summer, he will be on home turf. He believes he will be a better player for his stateside experience.