July 13, 2022 • 31 mins
In this episode of the Birdie Bunch Podcast, Kennedy hosts Ole Miss transfer Ellen Hume to discuss the transfer process, the national championship, injury, and redshirting.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Birdie Bunch is a production of I Heart Radio
and the College Athletes Network. Can You dig It? Can
You dig It? You digg? Hey everybody, this is Kennedy
(00:37):
Swan and you're listening to The Birdie Bunch on the
College Athletes Network. Please subscribe to the podcast so you
never miss a new show. This can easily be done
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me on Instagram and Can You dig It or on
my website at www dot Kennedy Swan dot com. Feel
free to fill out my contact form with any suggestions, questions,
or comments or other things you might want to talk
(00:58):
about on the show. On this week's episode, we have
a very special guest, a good friend, a college teammate,
and basically my college roommate, Ellen Hume. Hey Hume, how's
it going? Because thanks? How are you? I'm good? So
tell the listeners where you're at right now? Are you
still in Oxford? Yeah? I'm currently still in Oxford. Um,
(01:20):
I'm still rehabbing my after shoulder surgery. Um. And I'll
head her home at the end of June. Um see
my family before I begin my this year. Um. Almost nice. Well,
that's just a little bit about you. Why don't you
kind of tell us some of the earlier stages of
(01:41):
Ellen Hume. Um. You know where you were born, where
you were raised, um, you know kind of how you
got into golf, um, and when you kind of started
the recruiting process. Okay, Well, I'm from Um, England, about
forty five minutes north of London, in a small village
called Whitwell and the cow into a harp chiff UM.
(02:02):
I played a lot of sports growing up, football, rugby, UM,
and kind of started getting into golfer around the age
of eleven. My mom actually got me started into the
game of golf. Um. She went down to our local
course UM and realized that they had a lot of
junior good juniors and lots of junior camps to get
(02:26):
to get involved with. And she decided to throw us
all in, all five of us. I'm one of five siblings.
I've got a twin brother, two twin sisters and then
a brother. Yeah, so she threw us all in UM.
We all thoroughly enjoyed it um uh and just started
kind of progressing all the uh. And then probably by
(02:48):
the age of fourteen fifteen, I decided that I don't
wanted to pursue solo golf and kind of focused on
that UM, and then kind of heard about going to
America on a golf scholarship at around the age of sixteen,
so probably a bit later than most recruits UM. And
I definitely wasn't highly recruited high school. UM, so yeah,
(03:13):
probably going into my soft sophomore junior year of high school,
I kind of started reaching out to some coaches. UM.
Not not good schools by any means, but and Charleston
Southern you know, C actually was kind of the only
option UM for me at that point of in my
(03:34):
golfing career. UM. I hadn't really played in many tournaments
internationally and hadn't hadn't really gotten a big golfing name,
I guess, so I was given the opportunity to go
to Charleston Southern. UM started there in eighteen, UM, did
two years there UM, and then kind of decided that
(03:58):
I wanted a bit more of a challenge and wanted
to be surrounded by players with similar goals of ton
professional UM and to be able to compete day and
day out with the best in college golf and also
have courches that I can learn from and push me
to be better UM and kind of see when my
(04:18):
skills stuck up against the best before UM I decided
to to sue professional golf. Yeah. Well, you know, I
think a lot of us kind of go through that
same process with picking the university that we end up
going to and you know whether it's a good fit
or not. I went through the same thing at Clemson UM,
and I think that's part of the reason that we
were kind of able to bond. But going back to
(04:40):
kind of your your junior golf experience, what was junior
golf like compared to like junior golf in the junior
golf in Europe like compared to junior golf in the
United States. UM. Well, because I wasn't highly recruisive and
probably not one of the top amzism Europe, I played
a lot of more like local tournaments in my region
(05:02):
and county UM and had kind of like a summer schedule. Obviously,
the bigger amateurs would be playing in the like the
British Girls, European Girls European Teams uh UH tournaments like that,
But for me, I kind of stuck to the tournaments
that were mainly in England. UH played like the English
(05:24):
girls actually went up to Scotland and played the uh
Scottish girls. But apart from that, really kind of sticking
close to home, playing playing a few like study six
whole tournaments. Maybe it's a couple of seventy two whole tournaments.
But nothing nothing, uh anything, nothing big and anything like that. Yeah,
(05:44):
so would you say that, um, kind of playing some
of those smaller tournaments maybe had a little bit of
an effect on your recruiting process. Um, and maybe like
when reaching out to schools, that made it a little
bit more difficult than having those like big staple turns,
like you know, turn an events that you can put
on your resume. Yes, I start agree, Um, my parents
(06:05):
kind of beat themselves up a bit now, um uh
they did say and we should have we should have
put you in this tournament, and we should have put
you in that tournament. But yeah, no, I definitely think
having not played in a huge a ton of big events,
the top coaches couldn't have even seen my name if
they really if they wanted to, because I wasn't there,
I hadn't played, I wasn't playing in those tournaments. Um.
(06:28):
So yeah, I would have advised any young Um, college golfer.
We're looking to go to college to try and plan
as many events as possible, um as and as big
events as you can to try and get that publicity
and to see and the coaches to be able to see. Yeah,
I think it's it's funny people often don't realize how
(06:51):
how much it's on the parents to be able to
put these kids in the big tournaments because I kind
of went through the same thing with a j g A.
You know, I grew up playing a lot of local events.
I kind of stayed in Texas, I played my high
school tournaments, and then by the time that we really
got serious about a j g A events, you know,
I was like a sophomore junior in high school and
at that point, you know, you're really looking to kind
(07:13):
of commit to a school. And so my senior year
was kind of really when I really started getting into
like all the big A j g A events, which
by that point it was like, you know, you know,
you can't really do much by your senior year, but
I think it really goes to show, you know, you
didn't play in a lot of big events, but you
still were able to get a D one college scholarship.
And eventually transfer to a great program. Yes, um yeah,
(07:37):
I mean it's like one college to reach out UM
for you to end up in the LASSA. And I'm
glad c As you gave me the opportunity for me
to come over. UM And I think even playing in
a small school, it kind of gave me some confidence.
I knew I was going to make the line up,
I knew I was gonna play number one player, and
(07:57):
just being out to play consistently for two years I
think helped. UM. Yeah, Like I said, gaining confidence and
just be able to play UM and coaches being out
when I did decide to transfer, Coaches being able to
see that I had a fairly decent scoring average, even
even if we were playing the toughest courses. UM. So,
(08:18):
I think that gave me a stack of stone over
freshman that we're coming in UM, just because I'd had
some college experience playing in college tournaments, because high school
golf and college golf are extremely different. So yeah, well,
why don't you tell our listeners about some of the
big accomplishments that you had right before you transferred that
kind of pushed you to transfer. UM So, I guess
(08:41):
the summer of nineteen, I won the English Amateur, which
is I guess the biggest in England. I guess that
you could win UM and then went on to represent
UM in England and the Home Internationals that same summer.
And that was me out off of my freshman year
at Charleston Southern UM. So I think having well achieving
(09:05):
something like that and being able to compare myself against
the top English girls that I were at schools like
Florida State or Florida UM OR gave me a lot
of confidence and I could see that I'm as good
as as I'm as good as they are, and they're
this type of school, whereas I'm at a small d
one UM. And then did go on to win two
(09:26):
college torments in my sophomore year at Charleston Southern before
COVID happened UM. And I made the decision to transfer
at the end of nineteen after my full semester UM. Yeah,
and I think it was I would have not I
would make the same decision UM every time to transfer.
(09:48):
I I truly think I just wanted to get better
and I needed I needed to be in a better
place to be able to do that. UM. But I
had a great time at c S. I enjoyed hanging
out my teammates and my I just but I just
needed to step up and I found that Almos, Yeah, well,
I I completely agree. You know, again, we're in the
same boat there, And that's kind of a sneak peek
(10:10):
into the start of Ellen Hume's transfer process. In the
next segment, we're going to dive into some more of that.
We're gonna talk a little bit about the national championship
kind of what that looked like for her and us
from a team perspective. So again you're listening to the
Bertie Bunch. I'm Kennedy Swan with Ellen Hume and this
is the College Athletes Network. H welcome back to the
(11:10):
Birdie Bunch on the College Athletes Network. This is Kennedy
Swan and Ellen Hume. Subscribed to my podcast, so you
don't miss the show. So in the last segment, Ellen
Hume kind of walked us through, uh, what it was
like going through the junior golf process in Europe and
um committing to Charleston Southern and kind of deciding that
her game was at um the level to where she
(11:31):
could transfer to a bigger D one school. So Hum,
why don't you tell us a little bit about UM
kind of the transfer process, like how you sat down
with your coaches told them that you UH were wanting
to transfer, and then how you kind of went about
going through that recruiting process again and what it was
like going from a smaller D one school to a
bigger D one school. I just want to stop off
(11:54):
by saying, child starring is a very big decision, and
Tommy Scarren, for me, it was scary because obviously there's
always that unknown of will that the schools out there,
how will my coach handle the situation? And but luckily
for me UM, while I sat down UM and talked
to him about transferring, UM, he handled it extremely well. UM.
(12:20):
I do have to say, you're definitely the hot commodity
on your team, so your coaches are probably a lot
more devastated than my coaches were when I said I
was gonna transfer UM and given myself the circumstances at
CSU and the aspirations and goals that I have UM
after golf, after college, UM, he understood what understood UM
(12:42):
completely why I made a decision to his transfer and
he even helped me UH in my recruiting process. UM,
because he just kind of wanted the best for me,
which was which was nice and I greatly appreciate it.
So he helped me reach out to some coaches. UM.
But this this recruiting process was very different. My first
(13:09):
I entered the portal and within I don't know, maybe
ten seconds, I had my first email. I was like, wow,
it's kind of like a dating app right where instant
matches and this is Yeah, it was very different. UM.
I had a lot more interested interests on coaches and
coaches that were top twenty five programs. So it was
(13:32):
very nice to feel that I was kind of wanted
um by some by some schools. UM. I even went
on official visits which I didn't get the opportunity to
yard an official visits actually, so that was kind of cool. UM.
Obviously the recruiting experience was it was very impressive. I
was wow wowed by a lot of the schools that
(13:54):
I went and visited. UM, and I did think that
the decision was going to be easy UM and I
was definitely wrong. UM. A lot of the schools that
I visited, I was like, wow, I could see myself here. Um. Oh,
I could see myself here. But as soon as I
stepped onto into Oxford and sawt ole miss, I kind
of knew instantly. I was like, Okay, this is why
(14:16):
I can get better. UM. And I obviously met the coaches. UM.
Actually didn't get to meet the team on my visit.
I only met Julia Johnson, who was a senior that
just graduated. But I think meeting her and coach Corey, UM,
it was very easy to say yes at the end
of the day, Um, they sure do know how to wow,
(14:37):
wower commit. Yeah, they're very good UM at their job.
But yes, just I think I instantly connected with coaches.
Corey actually used to be the head coach at Charleston
Southern UM, so we we bonded a bit over our
experiences at CSU. UM and both the coaches grew up
in South Carolina, which I had spent two years the PRICE,
(15:00):
so it was nice to know that there was people
that cared about you and what I felt like you
could be a part of the family too. UM. And yeah,
I just fell in love with the campus UH and
the facilities. UM and I knew instantly that I could
I could see myself here. So at the end of
the day, it was a very easy yes. And UM,
(15:22):
when we won the Nationals, like I remember talking, I'm
so glad I tried to side here. UM. UM, So
would you say so two questions? Would you say that?
It was like the coaches were definitely like maybe the
more UM or like most biggest factor in terms of
(15:44):
like you committing the all mess like that was kind
of the number one thing that you were looking for. UM,
was just having that connection with the coach. Yeah, I
think for me that was a big factor. UM. I
had a really good experience and had great code, which
is at Charles and Southern UM, and I knew that
was at the top of my priority less in terms
(16:05):
of what I wanted out of the school. UM, A
nice team and them a well rounded team is definitely
also up there. I obviously didn't get the opportunity to
see you guys, but I knew as soon as I
arrived on campus in the fall that you guys met
the criteria and you guys are very welcoming. But yes,
I think, UM, good top coaches coaches that you think, UM,
(16:29):
that could push you and make you better was definitely
something that I was looking for out of school. UM.
Obviously the facilities are We're pretty amazing too, So that
was very nice, very nice to see the Tosh family
short courses. Many schools have that, so it's hard to
be um And obviously playing in the SEC, which is
(16:52):
a very strong it's a very strong conference, and I
think that was enticing too, And just the small Oxford
community also was a nice fit for me too. So yeah,
and your your follow up, was it kind of weird
for you? Like, Um, I didn't realize that the only
person on the team you met was Julia? Was that
kind of weird? Like committing to a school in going
(17:15):
in without even like really meeting your teammates beforehand? Like
what if they were horrible? Like what if we were
just like horrible people when you get there and you're like, Wow,
why did I come here? I mean, obviously we're not,
but I mean that that would have been tough. Yeah,
just because of the time I visited. I came probably
like the week before the team got back for school
(17:37):
in January, but it was really the only time I
could be come. My dad wanted to come over and
see all the schools in one week. Um, so we
didn't miss too much work. So it just so happened
that it was the week before you guys got back.
But um, I think I've reached out to a couple
of you guys over the summer or when I was
on my visit just to see how you guys were.
(17:58):
But Jili Gulie, it was very nice and very welcoming,
and I think just I went to dinner with Coach malloy,
m but on Coach Corey, so saying the interaction with
the men's and women's team, I think also gave me
some encouragement that we were close and everyone was just
there for each other. I wanted to make each other better.
So even if I didn't meet you guys, I knew
(18:19):
that we would get along. Um, And yeah, we definitely
did yell along well. For those of you that don't know,
Coach malloy is the ole Miss men's head coach. Um,
but yeah, they definitely know how to throw out the
red carpet and make you feel special. And I definitely
know what it's like two to kind of be in
that that situation where because I got a text as
(18:41):
soon as I committed, within twenty four hours from every
single person on the le Miss team saying hey, congratulations,
were so excited for uh, you know, all of that stuff.
And it was funny because Corey actually texted us when
you committed and was like, hey, we've got a new
commit and within the next twenty four hours shoot her
attexts and say can adulations and I kind of realized.
I was like, wow, so all the congratulations text that
(19:04):
I got from my team were because my coach told
him to text me. So I mean, I definitely still
appreciated having them, but I also it was kind of
funny that, you know, Corey and Zach were like, hey,
you know, make sure to text text your players. But um,
I know that's definitely you know the type of coaches
that we have, and they're they're very caring and very inclusive.
(19:27):
So yeah, in the next segment, we're going to have
some fun stories with you along with discussing the national championship,
UM red shirting and uh kind of Hume's planned for
the next couple of years. So again, this is uh
the Birdie Bunch, and I'm Kennedy Swan and this is
the College Athletes Network. Yeah, welcome back to the Bertie
(20:25):
Bunch on the College Athletes Network. This is Kennedy Swan,
make sure it's a subscribe to my podcast so you
don't miss a show. In the last segment, we talked
with Ellen Hume about her her reasoning behind committing to
ole Miss and kind of her transfer process and what
it was like being at ole Miss compared to Charleston Southern,
(20:46):
and so, hum, why don't you just go ahead and
tell us what is your best college golf memory at
ole Miss? I mean, it's pretty easy to it's obviously
wanting uh the National Pumpkin Shift and twly twenty one,
but I would also start winning East like individually, um
as a team with my winning with my teammate Kennedy
(21:10):
also um up there as h one of the best
tale uh memories that I have almost And I would
have to say that's probably when we started to get
a little bit closer, don't you think, kind of after
after we both went East late, because I remember at
that point we were friends, but we were still pretty
competitive with each other because you had only been there
what probably about a month before, yeah, before we had one,
(21:34):
and so I remember kind of watching your face because
I knew that you had come in shooting sixty nine
three under I knew I had to make that put
and just kind of watching your face react on the
behind the green. It was like, oh, I want you know,
I want my teammate to win two, but also like
I want to win. So but I think that was
(21:54):
kind of where we kind of got to got to
connect after that. UM. But yeah, so tell us a
little bit about the National Championship and kind of lead
lead us into your injury, you know, kind of before
and during the National Championship, and how that kind of
led you into red shooting. So I guess the injury
(22:17):
kind of started um in December and January of one,
so after us like just kind of started having some
pain in my shoulder, which happened to be bi sept
tendonitis UM, and we I was in and out of
competing through the most of the spring UM rest like
(22:42):
after a tournament at rest and then practice a bit
and then play a tournament and rest or set a
tournament and then rest. So it was it was pretty hard.
But yes, I had a couple of different types of
injection to kind of help the pain, UM and kind
of just keep me going. UM. I've played sec s well.
(23:05):
I played the strip play. Paula Pultion of SECAs in
April time, um, and then in the third round, I
got pretty civilian injured. I want to I want to
back up, and I want you to kind of talk
about your third round here and the killer and the
trooper that you were to get through this third round. Now,
(23:26):
you guys don't know Ellen Hume, but she does not
admit to pain easily, and like normally we'll ask her
on a one to ten scale, you know, how you feeling,
and she's always, oh, I'm a five. It doesn't matter
if she's a ten, it doesn't matter if she's a seven.
It's always I'm a five. I'm okay, I'm great. And
this girl made the turn and got treatment on her
(23:47):
shoulder and came off and was like, coach, I think
it's at a nine, which Ellen Hume to say, I'm
at a nine. That's pretty big. Yeah, So I guess leaving,
so I guess I had some rest in between. We
had las Hue, I think the tournament before that, and
(24:07):
that's when it started to kind of hurting again. But
I think, yeah, I think going into SECS, it was okay.
It was manageable. That was the word I kept using.
It's manageable. I'll be fine for those that can't see
him doing air clothes. The last two rounds, it was manageable.
It was I was able to get around. I mean,
I played good golf. I think I was like four
(24:30):
I think I shot four under and then two under
or something. So playing well and I get so third
round and I did. I kind of knew when I
woke up. I was like, Okay, this this day is
gonna be tough, just from how my shoulder was feeling
and warming up and stuff. But we're making it round Corey,
Corey's coach, Corey is on the bag walking around with me. Um.
(24:51):
But we get to the seventh hole and my ball
is in in the rough and I did it, and
I'm looked at it. I'm like, I don't know. This
is not anyone that hits it knows how to hit out.
But you have to hit it a bit harder and
hit it come down and a bit steeper. And there's
a shoulder injury, your left shoulder. This is my left shoulder. Sorry, yeah,
(25:12):
left shoulder. Um, And anyone with a shoulder injury having
to hit down and steep it's probably not a good
recipe anyway. So I hit it hit the shop. The
hit it's like ten ft. The people like clapping. I'm like,
and I just look at her. I'm like, oh no,
just goes limp. Not one really hurt anyway. So we
(25:34):
get to nine. We call our trainer Meredith, UH, pop
some pills, get some treatment after nine. UM, and I
mean I would say I just made it round eighteen. UM.
At one point I couldn't feel my arm, my hand
was numb, but I made it around. I'm very glad
(25:54):
I made it around. UM. It took a lot of fight. UM,
but yeah, I'm I'm glad I made it round for
my team. But obviously I then couldn't play the match play.
So that's when smaller UH came in and and played. UM.
Unfortunately we didn't make it through, but we didn't make
it pass that. But UM, I think her having some
(26:15):
experience in match play I think helped leading up to Nationals.
UM and yeah the rest is history. Yeah. Well, so
obviously you got to play one round of stroke play
at Nationals. And I know it really wasn't what you wanted,
but you know your expectations going into it. You know,
we kind of tried to all prepare you. You know,
you weren't really able to practice, you weren't really able
(26:37):
to prep, and the coaches still wanted to put you
in on a national championship team like that really speaks
to the kind of player that you are. UM. But
coming along with that, and then this last fall, you know,
you weren't able to play in as many of as
many events as you would have liked. You know what
was the reasoning behind the decision to red shirt? Okay,
(26:59):
so yeah, long story short, I guess I was in
and out of the lineup in the fall. I played
one event, the first event of the fall, and then
the fourth event being East Lake. UM. But yeah, throughout
the fall, the shoulder was still kind of bugging me,
still pretty painful to play, and just kind of more
(27:19):
about the repetition of the amount of rounds that you
have to play as a college athlete was just kind
of too much too to take. I decided to rest.
I got another injection in December, decided to rest most
of Christmas, working a bit a bit on my swing
to hopefully take some pressure and weight off off my
(27:40):
left shoulder. UM. But came back in January, qualified for
the first tournament in Arizona, played okay, felt okay, UM,
came home and then kind of started qualifying again for
the next tournament. UM, and then the nerve pain started
coming back, and UM, it just really wasn't ideal. And
(28:02):
I think I kind of realized during one round of
qualifying it was that I was like, Ellen, do you
really want to carry on in this much pain? Um,
what your entire team had been telling you for like
a year and a half, you were just too stubborn
to actually start playing, which I get, believe me, every
athlete knows. You know, you might rather play through the
(28:22):
plain pain than not play at all. But it's not
it's not enjoyable, and we don't need to be here
if we don't have to be here. And we did try,
obviously a lot of different treatments and therapies which worked
for short periods of time, but obviously never really truly
fixed the problem. So I decided to have surgery back
(28:43):
on March first. So it's been fourteen weeks now since surgery.
But yes, I decided to have surgery UM, which ultimately
meant just because of the timing of everything, I was
given the opportunity to red shirt and take a medical
red shirt this year, so sat out the remainder of
the season. Um and yeah, just currently doing rehab, getting
(29:06):
it stronger, getting my range of motion back. Hopefully I
shall be ready for the four. And as you told
me earlier, hitting three quarter nine irons was zero pain,
which is a great accomplishment having not had zero pain
for what probably the last year and a half. Yes, yeah,
I can truly say that I have no pain, which
is which is a big deal. Now, last question, I'll
(29:29):
ask you real quick before we got to go. What
is it like mentally coping with an injury and just
having to kind of see your team being able to
to play in knowing that you really want to be
a part of that and you are by far good
enough to be a part of that, and not being
able to contribute. It was very hard, very hard. Um. Yeah,
(29:50):
it's definitely harder than I maybe perceived it. It was hot. Um.
I did learn a lot about myself going through the
whole process. I think I changed a lot um as
a person and my character definitely. Uh. I got stronger
because of it. Um. It's not fun having to sit
at home while your while your team's out um winning
(30:11):
or playing well. Um, But I knew that staying at
home is was definitely ultimately the better decision for me
and in the long run, and ultimately the coaches are
just looking out for me, for my for my future,
which is obviously trying to sound professional. Um so yeah
it was. It was different being a cheerleader this this semester,
(30:33):
but obviously it's just made me hungrier, more ready to
get going in the full and start playing again. Yeah. Well,
if one person on that entire team was going to
have to be a cheerleader, I know everyone would want
it to be you because you were so encouraging and
so positive in such a fun spirit, so human. I
really really enjoyed having you on the podcast. I miss
(30:54):
you a bunch. I had so much time, so much
fun at all. Missed with you. Um as always, guys,
thanks for listening to The Birdie Bunch on the College
Athlete Network. Please subscribe so you don't miss an episode.
I'm Kennedy Swan. That was Ellen Hume. Be sure to
check her out on social media at Ellen Hume on
Instagram and we'll talk to you soon. Can you dig it?
(31:17):
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is a production of i heart Radio and the College
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(31:38):
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The Birdie Bunch is a production of I Heart Radio
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(00:37):
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my website at www dot Kennedy Swan dot com. Feel
free to fill out my contact form with any suggestions, questions,
or comments or other things you might want to talk
(00:58):
about on the show. On this week's episode, we have
a very special guest, a good friend, a college teammate,
and basically my college roommate, Ellen Hume. Hey Hume, how's
it going? Because thanks? How are you? I'm good? So
tell the listeners where you're at right now? Are you
still in Oxford? Yeah? I'm currently still in Oxford. Um,
(01:20):
I'm still rehabbing my after shoulder surgery. Um. And I'll
head her home at the end of June. Um see
my family before I begin my this year. Um. Almost nice. Well,
that's just a little bit about you. Why don't you
kind of tell us some of the earlier stages of
(01:41):
Ellen Hume. Um. You know where you were born, where
you were raised, um, you know kind of how you
got into golf, um, and when you kind of started
the recruiting process. Okay, Well, I'm from Um, England, about
forty five minutes north of London, in a small village
called Whitwell and the cow into a harp chiff UM.
(02:02):
I played a lot of sports growing up, football, rugby, UM,
and kind of started getting into golfer around the age
of eleven. My mom actually got me started into the
game of golf. Um. She went down to our local
course UM and realized that they had a lot of
junior good juniors and lots of junior camps to get
(02:26):
to get involved with. And she decided to throw us
all in, all five of us. I'm one of five siblings.
I've got a twin brother, two twin sisters and then
a brother. Yeah, so she threw us all in UM.
We all thoroughly enjoyed it um uh and just started
kind of progressing all the uh. And then probably by
(02:48):
the age of fourteen fifteen, I decided that I don't
wanted to pursue solo golf and kind of focused on
that UM, and then kind of heard about going to
America on a golf scholarship at around the age of sixteen,
so probably a bit later than most recruits UM. And
I definitely wasn't highly recruited high school. UM, so yeah,
(03:13):
probably going into my soft sophomore junior year of high school,
I kind of started reaching out to some coaches. UM.
Not not good schools by any means, but and Charleston
Southern you know, C actually was kind of the only
option UM for me at that point of in my
(03:34):
golfing career. UM. I hadn't really played in many tournaments
internationally and hadn't hadn't really gotten a big golfing name,
I guess, so I was given the opportunity to go
to Charleston Southern. UM started there in eighteen, UM, did
two years there UM, and then kind of decided that
(03:58):
I wanted a bit more of a challenge and wanted
to be surrounded by players with similar goals of ton
professional UM and to be able to compete day and
day out with the best in college golf and also
have courches that I can learn from and push me
to be better UM and kind of see when my
(04:18):
skills stuck up against the best before UM I decided
to to sue professional golf. Yeah. Well, you know, I
think a lot of us kind of go through that
same process with picking the university that we end up
going to and you know whether it's a good fit
or not. I went through the same thing at Clemson UM,
and I think that's part of the reason that we
were kind of able to bond. But going back to
(04:40):
kind of your your junior golf experience, what was junior
golf like compared to like junior golf in the junior
golf in Europe like compared to junior golf in the
United States. UM. Well, because I wasn't highly recruisive and
probably not one of the top amzism Europe, I played
a lot of more like local tournaments in my region
(05:02):
and county UM and had kind of like a summer schedule. Obviously,
the bigger amateurs would be playing in the like the
British Girls, European Girls European Teams uh UH tournaments like that,
But for me, I kind of stuck to the tournaments
that were mainly in England. UH played like the English
(05:24):
girls actually went up to Scotland and played the uh
Scottish girls. But apart from that, really kind of sticking
close to home, playing playing a few like study six
whole tournaments. Maybe it's a couple of seventy two whole tournaments.
But nothing nothing, uh anything, nothing big and anything like that. Yeah,
(05:44):
so would you say that, um, kind of playing some
of those smaller tournaments maybe had a little bit of
an effect on your recruiting process. Um, and maybe like
when reaching out to schools, that made it a little
bit more difficult than having those like big staple turns,
like you know, turn an events that you can put
on your resume. Yes, I start agree, Um, my parents
(06:05):
kind of beat themselves up a bit now, um uh
they did say and we should have we should have
put you in this tournament, and we should have put
you in that tournament. But yeah, no, I definitely think
having not played in a huge a ton of big events,
the top coaches couldn't have even seen my name if
they really if they wanted to, because I wasn't there,
I hadn't played, I wasn't playing in those tournaments. Um.
(06:28):
So yeah, I would have advised any young Um, college golfer.
We're looking to go to college to try and plan
as many events as possible, um as and as big
events as you can to try and get that publicity
and to see and the coaches to be able to see. Yeah,
I think it's it's funny people often don't realize how
(06:51):
how much it's on the parents to be able to
put these kids in the big tournaments because I kind
of went through the same thing with a j g A.
You know, I grew up playing a lot of local events.
I kind of stayed in Texas, I played my high
school tournaments, and then by the time that we really
got serious about a j g A events, you know,
I was like a sophomore junior in high school and
at that point, you know, you're really looking to kind
(07:13):
of commit to a school. And so my senior year
was kind of really when I really started getting into
like all the big A j g A events, which
by that point it was like, you know, you know,
you can't really do much by your senior year, but
I think it really goes to show, you know, you
didn't play in a lot of big events, but you
still were able to get a D one college scholarship.
And eventually transfer to a great program. Yes, um yeah,
(07:37):
I mean it's like one college to reach out UM
for you to end up in the LASSA. And I'm
glad c As you gave me the opportunity for me
to come over. UM And I think even playing in
a small school, it kind of gave me some confidence.
I knew I was going to make the line up,
I knew I was gonna play number one player, and
(07:57):
just being out to play consistently for two years I
think helped. UM. Yeah, Like I said, gaining confidence and
just be able to play UM and coaches being out
when I did decide to transfer, Coaches being able to
see that I had a fairly decent scoring average, even
even if we were playing the toughest courses. UM. So,
(08:18):
I think that gave me a stack of stone over
freshman that we're coming in UM, just because I'd had
some college experience playing in college tournaments, because high school
golf and college golf are extremely different. So yeah, well,
why don't you tell our listeners about some of the
big accomplishments that you had right before you transferred that
kind of pushed you to transfer. UM So, I guess
(08:41):
the summer of nineteen, I won the English Amateur, which
is I guess the biggest in England. I guess that
you could win UM and then went on to represent
UM in England and the Home Internationals that same summer.
And that was me out off of my freshman year
at Charleston Southern UM. So I think having well achieving
(09:05):
something like that and being able to compare myself against
the top English girls that I were at schools like
Florida State or Florida UM OR gave me a lot
of confidence and I could see that I'm as good
as as I'm as good as they are, and they're
this type of school, whereas I'm at a small d
one UM. And then did go on to win two
(09:26):
college torments in my sophomore year at Charleston Southern before
COVID happened UM. And I made the decision to transfer
at the end of nineteen after my full semester UM. Yeah,
and I think it was I would have not I
would make the same decision UM every time to transfer.
(09:48):
I I truly think I just wanted to get better
and I needed I needed to be in a better
place to be able to do that. UM. But I
had a great time at c S. I enjoyed hanging
out my teammates and my I just but I just
needed to step up and I found that Almos, Yeah, well,
I I completely agree. You know, again, we're in the
same boat there, And that's kind of a sneak peek
(10:10):
into the start of Ellen Hume's transfer process. In the
next segment, we're going to dive into some more of that.
We're gonna talk a little bit about the national championship
kind of what that looked like for her and us
from a team perspective. So again you're listening to the
Bertie Bunch. I'm Kennedy Swan with Ellen Hume and this
is the College Athletes Network. H welcome back to the
(11:10):
Birdie Bunch on the College Athletes Network. This is Kennedy
Swan and Ellen Hume. Subscribed to my podcast, so you
don't miss the show. So in the last segment, Ellen
Hume kind of walked us through, uh, what it was
like going through the junior golf process in Europe and
um committing to Charleston Southern and kind of deciding that
her game was at um the level to where she
(11:31):
could transfer to a bigger D one school. So Hum,
why don't you tell us a little bit about UM
kind of the transfer process, like how you sat down
with your coaches told them that you UH were wanting
to transfer, and then how you kind of went about
going through that recruiting process again and what it was
like going from a smaller D one school to a
bigger D one school. I just want to stop off
(11:54):
by saying, child starring is a very big decision, and
Tommy Scarren, for me, it was scary because obviously there's
always that unknown of will that the schools out there,
how will my coach handle the situation? And but luckily
for me UM, while I sat down UM and talked
to him about transferring, UM, he handled it extremely well. UM.
(12:20):
I do have to say, you're definitely the hot commodity
on your team, so your coaches are probably a lot
more devastated than my coaches were when I said I
was gonna transfer UM and given myself the circumstances at
CSU and the aspirations and goals that I have UM
after golf, after college, UM, he understood what understood UM
(12:42):
completely why I made a decision to his transfer and
he even helped me UH in my recruiting process. UM,
because he just kind of wanted the best for me,
which was which was nice and I greatly appreciate it.
So he helped me reach out to some coaches. UM.
But this this recruiting process was very different. My first
(13:09):
I entered the portal and within I don't know, maybe
ten seconds, I had my first email. I was like, wow,
it's kind of like a dating app right where instant
matches and this is Yeah, it was very different. UM.
I had a lot more interested interests on coaches and
coaches that were top twenty five programs. So it was
(13:32):
very nice to feel that I was kind of wanted
um by some by some schools. UM. I even went
on official visits which I didn't get the opportunity to
yard an official visits actually, so that was kind of cool. UM.
Obviously the recruiting experience was it was very impressive. I
was wow wowed by a lot of the schools that
(13:54):
I went and visited. UM, and I did think that
the decision was going to be easy UM and I
was definitely wrong. UM. A lot of the schools that
I visited, I was like, wow, I could see myself here. Um. Oh,
I could see myself here. But as soon as I
stepped onto into Oxford and sawt ole miss, I kind
of knew instantly. I was like, Okay, this is why
(14:16):
I can get better. UM. And I obviously met the coaches. UM.
Actually didn't get to meet the team on my visit.
I only met Julia Johnson, who was a senior that
just graduated. But I think meeting her and coach Corey, UM,
it was very easy to say yes at the end
of the day, Um, they sure do know how to wow,
(14:37):
wower commit. Yeah, they're very good UM at their job.
But yes, just I think I instantly connected with coaches.
Corey actually used to be the head coach at Charleston
Southern UM, so we we bonded a bit over our
experiences at CSU. UM and both the coaches grew up
in South Carolina, which I had spent two years the PRICE,
(15:00):
so it was nice to know that there was people
that cared about you and what I felt like you
could be a part of the family too. UM. And yeah,
I just fell in love with the campus UH and
the facilities. UM and I knew instantly that I could
I could see myself here. So at the end of
the day, it was a very easy yes. And UM,
(15:22):
when we won the Nationals, like I remember talking, I'm
so glad I tried to side here. UM. UM, So
would you say so two questions? Would you say that?
It was like the coaches were definitely like maybe the
more UM or like most biggest factor in terms of
(15:44):
like you committing the all mess like that was kind
of the number one thing that you were looking for. UM,
was just having that connection with the coach. Yeah, I
think for me that was a big factor. UM. I
had a really good experience and had great code, which
is at Charles and Southern UM, and I knew that
was at the top of my priority less in terms
(16:05):
of what I wanted out of the school. UM, A
nice team and them a well rounded team is definitely
also up there. I obviously didn't get the opportunity to
see you guys, but I knew as soon as I
arrived on campus in the fall that you guys met
the criteria and you guys are very welcoming. But yes,
I think, UM, good top coaches coaches that you think, UM,
(16:29):
that could push you and make you better was definitely
something that I was looking for out of school. UM.
Obviously the facilities are We're pretty amazing too, So that
was very nice, very nice to see the Tosh family
short courses. Many schools have that, so it's hard to
be um And obviously playing in the SEC, which is
(16:52):
a very strong it's a very strong conference, and I
think that was enticing too, And just the small Oxford
community also was a nice fit for me too. So yeah,
and your your follow up, was it kind of weird
for you? Like, Um, I didn't realize that the only
person on the team you met was Julia? Was that
kind of weird? Like committing to a school in going
(17:15):
in without even like really meeting your teammates beforehand? Like
what if they were horrible? Like what if we were
just like horrible people when you get there and you're like, Wow,
why did I come here? I mean, obviously we're not,
but I mean that that would have been tough. Yeah,
just because of the time I visited. I came probably
like the week before the team got back for school
(17:37):
in January, but it was really the only time I
could be come. My dad wanted to come over and
see all the schools in one week. Um, so we
didn't miss too much work. So it just so happened
that it was the week before you guys got back.
But um, I think I've reached out to a couple
of you guys over the summer or when I was
on my visit just to see how you guys were.
(17:58):
But Jili Gulie, it was very nice and very welcoming,
and I think just I went to dinner with Coach malloy,
m but on Coach Corey, so saying the interaction with
the men's and women's team, I think also gave me
some encouragement that we were close and everyone was just
there for each other. I wanted to make each other better.
So even if I didn't meet you guys, I knew
(18:19):
that we would get along. Um, And yeah, we definitely
did yell along well. For those of you that don't know,
Coach malloy is the ole Miss men's head coach. Um,
but yeah, they definitely know how to throw out the
red carpet and make you feel special. And I definitely
know what it's like two to kind of be in
that that situation where because I got a text as
(18:41):
soon as I committed, within twenty four hours from every
single person on the le Miss team saying hey, congratulations,
were so excited for uh, you know, all of that stuff.
And it was funny because Corey actually texted us when
you committed and was like, hey, we've got a new
commit and within the next twenty four hours shoot her
attexts and say can adulations and I kind of realized.
I was like, wow, so all the congratulations text that
(19:04):
I got from my team were because my coach told
him to text me. So I mean, I definitely still
appreciated having them, but I also it was kind of
funny that, you know, Corey and Zach were like, hey,
you know, make sure to text text your players. But um,
I know that's definitely you know the type of coaches
that we have, and they're they're very caring and very inclusive.
(19:27):
So yeah, in the next segment, we're going to have
some fun stories with you along with discussing the national championship,
UM red shirting and uh kind of Hume's planned for
the next couple of years. So again, this is uh
the Birdie Bunch, and I'm Kennedy Swan and this is
the College Athletes Network. Yeah, welcome back to the Bertie
(20:25):
Bunch on the College Athletes Network. This is Kennedy Swan,
make sure it's a subscribe to my podcast so you
don't miss a show. In the last segment, we talked
with Ellen Hume about her her reasoning behind committing to
ole Miss and kind of her transfer process and what
it was like being at ole Miss compared to Charleston Southern,
(20:46):
and so, hum, why don't you just go ahead and
tell us what is your best college golf memory at
ole Miss? I mean, it's pretty easy to it's obviously
wanting uh the National Pumpkin Shift and twly twenty one,
but I would also start winning East like individually, um
as a team with my winning with my teammate Kennedy
(21:10):
also um up there as h one of the best
tale uh memories that I have almost And I would
have to say that's probably when we started to get
a little bit closer, don't you think, kind of after
after we both went East late, because I remember at
that point we were friends, but we were still pretty
competitive with each other because you had only been there
what probably about a month before, yeah, before we had one,
(21:34):
and so I remember kind of watching your face because
I knew that you had come in shooting sixty nine
three under I knew I had to make that put
and just kind of watching your face react on the
behind the green. It was like, oh, I want you know,
I want my teammate to win two, but also like
I want to win. So but I think that was
(21:54):
kind of where we kind of got to got to
connect after that. UM. But yeah, so tell us a
little bit about the National Championship and kind of lead
lead us into your injury, you know, kind of before
and during the National Championship, and how that kind of
led you into red shooting. So I guess the injury
(22:17):
kind of started um in December and January of one,
so after us like just kind of started having some
pain in my shoulder, which happened to be bi sept
tendonitis UM, and we I was in and out of
competing through the most of the spring UM rest like
(22:42):
after a tournament at rest and then practice a bit
and then play a tournament and rest or set a
tournament and then rest. So it was it was pretty hard.
But yes, I had a couple of different types of
injection to kind of help the pain, UM and kind
of just keep me going. UM. I've played sec s well.
(23:05):
I played the strip play. Paula Pultion of SECAs in
April time, um, and then in the third round, I
got pretty civilian injured. I want to I want to
back up, and I want you to kind of talk
about your third round here and the killer and the
trooper that you were to get through this third round. Now,
(23:26):
you guys don't know Ellen Hume, but she does not
admit to pain easily, and like normally we'll ask her
on a one to ten scale, you know, how you feeling,
and she's always, oh, I'm a five. It doesn't matter
if she's a ten, it doesn't matter if she's a seven.
It's always I'm a five. I'm okay, I'm great. And
this girl made the turn and got treatment on her
(23:47):
shoulder and came off and was like, coach, I think
it's at a nine, which Ellen Hume to say, I'm
at a nine. That's pretty big. Yeah, So I guess leaving,
so I guess I had some rest in between. We
had las Hue, I think the tournament before that, and
(24:07):
that's when it started to kind of hurting again. But
I think, yeah, I think going into SECS, it was okay.
It was manageable. That was the word I kept using.
It's manageable. I'll be fine for those that can't see
him doing air clothes. The last two rounds, it was manageable.
It was I was able to get around. I mean,
I played good golf. I think I was like four
(24:30):
I think I shot four under and then two under
or something. So playing well and I get so third
round and I did. I kind of knew when I
woke up. I was like, Okay, this this day is
gonna be tough, just from how my shoulder was feeling
and warming up and stuff. But we're making it round Corey,
Corey's coach, Corey is on the bag walking around with me. Um.
(24:51):
But we get to the seventh hole and my ball
is in in the rough and I did it, and
I'm looked at it. I'm like, I don't know. This
is not anyone that hits it knows how to hit out.
But you have to hit it a bit harder and
hit it come down and a bit steeper. And there's
a shoulder injury, your left shoulder. This is my left shoulder. Sorry, yeah,
(25:12):
left shoulder. Um, And anyone with a shoulder injury having
to hit down and steep it's probably not a good
recipe anyway. So I hit it hit the shop. The
hit it's like ten ft. The people like clapping. I'm like,
and I just look at her. I'm like, oh no,
just goes limp. Not one really hurt anyway. So we
(25:34):
get to nine. We call our trainer Meredith, UH, pop
some pills, get some treatment after nine. UM, and I
mean I would say I just made it round eighteen. UM.
At one point I couldn't feel my arm, my hand
was numb, but I made it around. I'm very glad
(25:54):
I made it around. UM. It took a lot of fight. UM,
but yeah, I'm I'm glad I made it round for
my team. But obviously I then couldn't play the match play.
So that's when smaller UH came in and and played. UM.
Unfortunately we didn't make it through, but we didn't make
it pass that. But UM, I think her having some
(26:15):
experience in match play I think helped leading up to Nationals.
UM and yeah the rest is history. Yeah. Well, so
obviously you got to play one round of stroke play
at Nationals. And I know it really wasn't what you wanted,
but you know your expectations going into it. You know,
we kind of tried to all prepare you. You know,
you weren't really able to practice, you weren't really able
(26:37):
to prep, and the coaches still wanted to put you
in on a national championship team like that really speaks
to the kind of player that you are. UM. But
coming along with that, and then this last fall, you know,
you weren't able to play in as many of as
many events as you would have liked. You know what
was the reasoning behind the decision to red shirt? Okay,
(26:59):
so yeah, long story short, I guess I was in
and out of the lineup in the fall. I played
one event, the first event of the fall, and then
the fourth event being East Lake. UM. But yeah, throughout
the fall, the shoulder was still kind of bugging me,
still pretty painful to play, and just kind of more
(27:19):
about the repetition of the amount of rounds that you
have to play as a college athlete was just kind
of too much too to take. I decided to rest.
I got another injection in December, decided to rest most
of Christmas, working a bit a bit on my swing
to hopefully take some pressure and weight off off my
(27:40):
left shoulder. UM. But came back in January, qualified for
the first tournament in Arizona, played okay, felt okay, UM,
came home and then kind of started qualifying again for
the next tournament. UM, and then the nerve pain started
coming back, and UM, it just really wasn't ideal. And
(28:02):
I think I kind of realized during one round of
qualifying it was that I was like, Ellen, do you
really want to carry on in this much pain? Um,
what your entire team had been telling you for like
a year and a half, you were just too stubborn
to actually start playing, which I get, believe me, every
athlete knows. You know, you might rather play through the
(28:22):
plain pain than not play at all. But it's not
it's not enjoyable, and we don't need to be here
if we don't have to be here. And we did try,
obviously a lot of different treatments and therapies which worked
for short periods of time, but obviously never really truly
fixed the problem. So I decided to have surgery back
(28:43):
on March first. So it's been fourteen weeks now since surgery.
But yes, I decided to have surgery UM, which ultimately
meant just because of the timing of everything, I was
given the opportunity to red shirt and take a medical
red shirt this year, so sat out the remainder of
the season. Um and yeah, just currently doing rehab, getting
(29:06):
it stronger, getting my range of motion back. Hopefully I
shall be ready for the four. And as you told
me earlier, hitting three quarter nine irons was zero pain,
which is a great accomplishment having not had zero pain
for what probably the last year and a half. Yes, yeah,
I can truly say that I have no pain, which
is which is a big deal. Now, last question, I'll
(29:29):
ask you real quick before we got to go. What
is it like mentally coping with an injury and just
having to kind of see your team being able to
to play in knowing that you really want to be
a part of that and you are by far good
enough to be a part of that, and not being
able to contribute. It was very hard, very hard. Um. Yeah,
(29:50):
it's definitely harder than I maybe perceived it. It was hot. Um.
I did learn a lot about myself going through the
whole process. I think I changed a lot um as
a person and my character definitely. Uh. I got stronger
because of it. Um. It's not fun having to sit
at home while your while your team's out um winning
(30:11):
or playing well. Um, But I knew that staying at
home is was definitely ultimately the better decision for me
and in the long run, and ultimately the coaches are
just looking out for me, for my for my future,
which is obviously trying to sound professional. Um so yeah
it was. It was different being a cheerleader this this semester,
(30:33):
but obviously it's just made me hungrier, more ready to
get going in the full and start playing again. Yeah. Well,
if one person on that entire team was going to
have to be a cheerleader, I know everyone would want
it to be you because you were so encouraging and
so positive in such a fun spirit, so human. I
really really enjoyed having you on the podcast. I miss
(30:54):
you a bunch. I had so much time, so much
fun at all. Missed with you. Um as always, guys,
thanks for listening to The Birdie Bunch on the College
Athlete Network. Please subscribe so you don't miss an episode.
I'm Kennedy Swan. That was Ellen Hume. Be sure to
check her out on social media at Ellen Hume on
Instagram and we'll talk to you soon. Can you dig it?
(31:17):
Can you dig it? Sre you digg? The Birdie Bunch
is a production of i heart Radio and the College
Athletes Network. For more podcasts from i heart Radio, visit
(31:38):
the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
get your podcasts.
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I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com