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Poland golfer Maria Mancini toured Asia with NCAA All-Stars
By Curtis PULLIAM
Most college athletes take the summer off from learning and focus on staying sharp for next season.
Not Maria Mancini.
The 2012 Poland graduate was one of 10 women selected for the 2014 NCAA All-Star women’s golf team.
The group, which consisted of golfers from 10 universities, traveled to Asia with stops in Tokyo, Hong Kong and South Korea to play golf.
“The golf was really good,” Mancini said. “The golf courses are beautiful.”
Mancini, who’s heading into her junior at Indiana University, was nominated for the trip by her coach Clint Wallman.
Mancini was especially fond of the courses in South Korea.
“They are so few golf courses, the ones they have are special,” Mancini said. “To be a member at a country club there, it’s like $1.5 million to [join]. It’s a very exclusive thing to do in Korea.”
Mancini, who competed in 11 events this year for the Hoosiers, played 13 rounds of golf on the 25-day adventure. She battled with the courses, having not played them before.
“They are pretty similar, and the same idea,” said Mancini, comparing the United States and Asian courses. “A difference is that they use caddies a lot more in Asia. We had a caddie for every round almost. In college, we walk and carry our own bags.”
Mancini says it was a challenge having the caddie around.
“They told us a lot about the golf course, I mean they tried,” Mancini said. “But English was kind of a barrier. I communicated with a lot of smiling and hand signals.”
While trying to get on the same page with the caddies was a difficult task, Mancini managed to win one of the tournaments, at Camp Zama, a U.S. military base in Japan. Mancini shot a 73 for the victory on the Par 72.
She says the format of the tournament was a little different in Japan.
“They play nine holes and then stop for about an hour-and-a-half,” Mancini said. “They have a formal lunch and then change and head back out there. So they were long days.”
Mancini was not used to the style but it worked in her favor.
“It was kind of nice actually,” Mancini said. “I liked taking the break and going back out. It was fun.”
In addition to singles play, the group switched it up by playing a scramble against each other in Hong Kong.
“My team won and we shot like 14-under,” Mancini said. “I had a lot of fun with the group I was with.”
In traveling to the different places, Mancini also got a taste of the local culture.
“I tried everything because I probably wouldn’t be able to do it too many other times in my life,” Mancini said. “I had a lot of sushi and starfish in Korea.”
Mancini noted it was not the sushi we have in the U.S.
“They laughed at our sushi,” Mancini said. “They don’t make sushi rolls or anything.”
Despite being gone for so long, Mancini took away many memories from the trip.
“It was eye-opening,” Mancini said. “I learned a lot about culture and met a lot of really great people. I made nine new really good friends that I can see at different tournaments this year.”