Mia Holbrook ’27, an economics and psychology major from Westchester, N.Y., has been leading the Wesleyan women’s golf team to one of its best years in recent memory. In the first competitions of the spring, she and the Cards looked to make a statement early on that they were ready to compete, and they certainly did. At the Vassar Invitationals on Saturday, March 29 and Sunday, March 30, 2025, the Red and Black celebrated a 4th-place finish on Saturday and 2nd place on Sunday. Holbrook carded herself at 78 (+6) on Saturday, finishing in second place and only one stroke off the leader. On Sunday, Holbrook sank a clutch birdie putt on her final hole to finish in a tie for first place with a 76 (+4). Holbrook was joined by teammates Kayla Howell ’26 and Amanda Phillips ’28 towards the top of the leaderboard, as Howell and Phillips ended in a tie for third place with six other golfers at 78. Holbrook sat down with The Argus to discuss her T-1st finish at Vassar, clutch birdies down the stretch of rounds, and the outlook on the team as the season continues.
The Argus: How did you get into playing golf?
Mia Holbrook: I started really young. I think I was four or five. My dad and my grandfather brought me to a golf course in Florida and had me and my brother hitting balls into a range that was all water. It’s a core memory I have with them. When we joined a golf course when I was eight or nine, I really got into it. I started playing every day over the summer. With golf, you get better the more you play, so I started getting good because I was playing so often growing up. Over COVID, I started to hit a stride and decided that maybe I could try to do this in college. I started playing tournaments my sophomore year of high school, but it’s something that I’ve done my whole life.
A: What did the recruiting process look like for you, and how did you end up at Wesleyan?
MH: I reached out to as many D-III schools as I could, all the NESCAC schools that had a women’s golf program. I got a lot of interest from our coach [Head Coach of Men’s and Women’s Golf Jon Wilson] and I really liked him. He’s a great guy, so he really sold the school and the program. And then I came and visited and loved the campus and the team. It all just really worked out.
A: Do you have any golfers you look up to?
MH: I would say Nelly Korda. She’s a very impressive golfer. The year she had in 2024 was insane, and I think she’s bringing a new angle to women’s golf, which doesn’t get as much attention as men’s golf. She’s really showing how impressive women’s golf is. I’m also a huge fan of Rory McIlroy on the men’s tour.
A: During your first year, what was the biggest adjustment you had to make to the student-athlete experience at Wesleyan?
MH: I played varsity basketball and golf in high school, so I was pretty used to dealing with the sports work-life balance. It was organizing my free time that really got to me. I had so much more free time, so the big thing was figuring out how to use that in the best way. Even so, I don’t know if there were any huge adjustments. It was also just learning how to balance all of it while also spending time with friends and having a life outside of work and golf that took a little time.
A: Though golf is an individual sport, how does your team embrace the team aspect of college golf, on and off the course?
MH: On the course, we obviously don’t play together in groups, but we’re usually bunched together in a few holes, so we’ll see each other pretty frequently in passing. We’ll have little hand signals or sayings to each other just to give a little boost. After rounds, we all come together and talk, discuss the course and what could be done better. Off the course, [the team] feels very unified. We get team dinners after practice. During practice, we’re all very collaborative with each other, so it doesn’t feel like you’re totally alone out there when you have those five other people you can give a wave to or say hi to when you are a little bit down.
A: Do you have any pre-match superstitions or traditions?
MH: Numbers on the golf ball is a big one for me. I like the number three on my golf ball. That’s my good number. I wrap red pre-wrap around my right wrist. I’ve played well the past few times I’ve done that, so that’s now my little thing.
A: On March 29, you competed in the Vassar Invitational I and played quite well, shooting a 78 and finishing in second place individually. What was working for you that round? And take me through the eagle on the 5th hole that stood out on the scorecard.
MH: The whole weekend, I was hitting my drives really well. I was hitting a lot of fairways, so that was definitely a highlight of the first day. The eagle was my 14th hole, and it came at a very needed time. I think I bogeyed one or two holes before it. It was a pretty short par five. I’m in pretty good shape to at least make a birdie. I hit a really good drive to the middle of the fairway, and had about 180 [yards] left to the green, which for a par five is pretty short. I hit a pretty good shot. I couldn’t actually see where the ball landed, but I knew it was on the green, so I was like, “alright, I’ll take a two-putt for birdie any day of the week.” And then I hit a really good [25-foot] putt, and it happened to go in. I was able to get a few more pars in to end the day well, which was really exciting.
A: Heading into the second invitational the next day, what were you looking to capitalize on from the day before?
MH: I definitely left a lot of putts out there on the first day. The greens were super wet, so I knew that my putting could have been better, and that really did make the difference on the second day. I think I only had one three-putt, as opposed to the day before, where I had two or three. And also, it being a new tournament was kind of nice. I went into that day, after finishing second the first day, being like, I really have a shot to place well here. So going in with that mindset was key. I had a lot of confidence that I could do really well.
A: Tell me a little bit about the birdie on the 16th hole that got you to finish tied for first place on the day.
MH: So on my 16th hole, I three-putted. I missed a two-foot putt for par, so that was a heartbreaker. I was not happy about that, because I’d been putting so well the whole day. Then I parred my 17th hole and I got up to my 18th hole, that par three, and I’m just like,“I’m just gonna put it on a two-putt for par.” I left myself a 40-foot putt for birdie, and it was super slow, super uphill, so I just hit it as hard as I could, and I just watched it trickle right into the hole. So that was a very exciting way to end and very unexpected. Overall, day two was a bit of a grind because the course was playing long and wet, and so I was really happy to pull out a good score on that day.
A: The team as a whole had a pretty impressive weekend, finishing in second place on Sunday, in large part due to strong showings from yourself, Kayla [Howell ’26], and Amanda [Phillips ’28]. How proud are you of the team for putting the work in to get a great result on Sunday?
MH: I’m so proud of us, because a couple of us had pretty tough days on Saturday. So to be able to bounce back with three scores in the 70s and a couple other mid-low 80s, that was super impressive. And obviously, with golf being such an individual sport, it can get mentally taxing, so I was really proud that we were all able to improve a little bit to get our team that second-place finish and completely put Saturday in the rearview.
A: The mental side of golf is often overlooked and significantly underappreciated. After you have a rough hole, what are you telling yourself to get back on track?
MH: My mental game is something I’ve been working on a lot this past year. It’s always really difficult to stay super steady for so long. A thought I’ve had a lot is just, “Oh, it happened, there’s nothing I can do about it now. Let’s just go try to make par on the next hole,” and really trying to steady myself internally. Definitely easier said than done, but I have gotten a lot better at it in the past year.
A: Looking ahead, the team has two tournaments—one at Amherst and one at Williams—before NESCACs on May 2–4. What can we look forward to for women’s golf, and how is the team getting ready for NESCACs in the near future?
MH: So the next two tournaments are gonna be very exciting. We’re playing one at Amherst at a pretty challenging but nice course, Orchards [Golf Club], and same with Williams at Taconic [Golf Club]. These are two courses that our team has played before, so it’ll be exciting to get back out there and try to improve in places that we fell short last year. I think we’ve got a lot of potential right now to be really good. I’m feeling positive about NESCACs. Everybody’s really coming together and improving every day, and I think that we’re all heading in a good direction.
Max Forstein can be reached at mf*******@******an.edu.
Leave a Reply