June 27, 2016
From Commodore Nation
By Rod Williamson
It was a dreary spring weekend afternoon, spitting rain and cool. Alexandra Farnsworth has stopped hitting golf balls inside Vanderbilt’s Conner Family Training Center to meet briefly with a reporter. When informed it might be 10 minutes before the interview could begin, she asked if she can study until things are ready.
While no doubt other college students might have used the same time to take a nap or watch TV, Farnsworth scrapes out every second of her allotted 24 hours. She is that driven.
Time might be her most valuable resource and she uses it wisely. She has a purpose heading into each practice and each competition, written down on notecards for emphasis.
“Putting goals on paper solidifies the thought for me,” Farnsworth shares. “That’s how I study. I write my personal goals before each tournament, non-score oriented points that I want to focus upon.”
If Alexandra sounds serious about golf, she is – and she comes by it naturally. “Golf runs in my family,” she says. “My grandmother is a Tennessee rules official and both my parents are avid golfers. Growing up we lived on a golf course. Golf began as a way for my family to get together and enjoy the outdoors. I started playing when I was three and began entering tournaments when I was eight. By the time I was 13 I knew this is what I wanted.”
Her competitive genetics run deep. A grandfather (Jim Cunningham) was captain of Vanderbilt’s Gator Bowl team and her mother (Amanda) gave basketball at Vanderbilt a shot until sustaining a very quick knee injury. An aunt, Kathy Cunningham, was a member of Vandy’s first varsity basketball team in 1977-78. Farnsworth herself played some basketball before focusing on golf.
Alexandra finds working on her game therapeutic.
“On days like today, when for once I have a light weekend of homework, all I really want to do is come out and have some good, quality practice,” she says. This is my happy place. It is tranquilizing to hit balls and (motioning to the new Conner Family Training Center) having these facilities makes it hard to stay away from the course.”
Farnsworth talks frequently about her teammates and all that they share.
“It’s great to have teammates who love golf as much as I do,” she says. “I know when I’m out here others will be here, too.”
These Commodores have had a spectacular run of success in the classrooms, recording team grade point averages exceeding 3.6 to lead all Vanderbilt women’s teams.
“We don’t do anything without putting in a full effort.” Alexandra proudly says of her teammates. “It can be hard to balance the needed time requirements of sports and rigorous academics but we all have the type of personalities that what we do, we want to do well.”
She has little free time so asking what she enjoys away from golf and academics produces a reflective pause.
“I like music,” she finally says, “and I love country music. I like cooking and next year my dorm room has a kitchen so my roommate and I can bake some. And I love food and Nashville has an endless number of restaurants. Morgan Ransom (a teammate) and I made a list of restaurants we wanted to visit and we tried to check them off but barely made a dent.”
It seems as though Farnsworth – a rising junior who came to Vanderbilt as a heralded junior golfer — has been a mainstay for quite some time but she reminds that success wasn’t instant.
“I didn’t play at all fall semester my freshman year,” she says. “The first semester was a real learning experience. Time management was huge. The rigorous academics and golf demanded time and I didn’t realize how much sleep I required. That took a toll on my golf. After Thanksgiving I took a three week break and then went back to practicing like I did for junior golf and worked really hard over winter break.”
She wants to take golf as far as she can (Who wouldn’t want to make these beautiful surroundings your office?, she wonders) but as one might expect, she isn’t putting all her eggs in one basket.
“I have a Plan B if golf doesn’t work out,” Alexandra says. “That’s a huge reason why I chose Vanderbilt. I major in economics and minor in Spanish so I’d love something in international business but I might also like something in sport management.”
Professional golf is on the far horizon. Right now, the organized “Farney” as she is called on the team, is all about being a Commodore.
“I enjoy spending time with my friends and I love the girls on the team,” she says. When time allows, you can find Alexandra in Memorial Gymnasium or Hawkins Field following the ‘Dores.
“I love watching sports, especially basketball and baseball. We painted up for the Kentucky basketball game and hopefully we can take a little credit for the victory,” she says with a twinkle in her eye.
