Suffolk University freshman golfer Krisna Mahendran is already making history in her first season with the women’s golf team, tying Isabel Smith for the most weekly awards in program history.
In her short time with the team, Mahendran has won four weekly awards. These awards include winning Northeast Women’s Golf Conference Player of the Week three weeks in a row.
“I’m loving it. My family’s definitely really proud of me, so that feels really nice,” said Mahendran.
With all the awards coming her way, Mahendran has been doing her best to not get overconfident and stick to the game that’s brought her so much success so far.
“I pretty much go into every tournament not really expecting to win and just trying to keep a level head. Anything can happen and I don’t check my score until the last hole,” said Mahendran.
Even though she’s won awards more weeks than not this season and that makes her happy, it is not just the awards bringing her joy. So far she has just been enjoying her time at Suffolk both as a student and as a student-athlete.
“I’m ecstatic. It’s great, I’m loving Suffolk, Boston, my coach, my team, my roommates, everything,” said Mahendran.
Mahendran came to Suffolk all the way from Texas, and although she has found a lot of early success in her athletic career, she is also admittedly not immune from the typical challenges students face when they’re moving to a new state away from their family.
“Some of my biggest challenges have been managing my social life, the academic side, being independent and on my own and being so far away from home,” said Mahendran.
Despite the challenges that come with being a freshman in a brand new state just starting college, Mahendran’s historic start to the season began with her winning the NWGC Rookie of the Week award after her first game with the team.
Mahendran credited both her teammates and head coach Jay Parker for helping her adapt to the college game so quickly into her collegiate golf career.
“They’ve definitely been a huge help. I can ask any of them for any sort of advice on what I should do, so it’s been great,” said Mahendran.
So far, Parker has been impressed with the progress Mahendran’s made on her game so far this season, but noted that he was already aware of her golf talent before she even played a game for the university.
“Obviously we knew she was a good player coming in, but I think she adjusted her game a lot to play at this level. She’s improved immensely in the six weeks she’s been here and hopefully she’ll continue to improve throughout her next three and a half years,” said Parker.
Something Parker gives Mahendran credit for is stepping up and adjusting to the intense schedule of a college athlete that many freshmen initially struggle to adapt to.
“One of the bigger things freshmen come into is that they’re just not used to the grind that we have. We’re competing almost seven days a week, they get one day off a week. They’re competing six days a week whether it’s in practice or playing in tournaments. It’s very, very tiring and mentally exhausting,” said Parker. “I think she’s made that adjustment mentally and prepared herself for the grind. We’ve done a good job with that.”
Not only does Parker credit his players for adapting to the schedule, he noted how difficult it is physically for these players to be as successful as they are.
“It’s funny because people don’t think it’s really a hard sport, but physically your hands, wrists, elbows, shoulders, back … all of these things take a toll on a long season when we’re competing like this. We have to stay healthy, we have to work hard over the offseason to get stronger and mentally stronger,” said Parker.
Mahendran did not come into college expecting to be so successful so quickly, but she credits her lifelong experience with the game of golf and the work she put in over the years as one of the reasons why she’s adapted so well at the collegiate level.
“I’ve put in a lot of work and I’ve been playing for a long time. I’ve been playing in tournaments every weekend since I was six. I definitely worked hard,” said Mahendran.
For Mahendran, golf has always been her main sport and the level she’s been playing at is the result of a lifelong dedication to the sport she loves.
“It’s been the only sport for me. I’ve dedicated all my time growing up to golf, so it’s definitely a main focus for me,” said Mahendran.
Though Mahendran has had an impressive freshman season, it is not just Mahendran who is achieving a lot this season. The team as a whole has been on a tear, coming in first in three straight tournaments followed by a second place finish in the NWGC Fall Invitational.
Despite the fact that this team mostly consists of freshmen, with the oldest player being a junior, the team has been competing with every other team crossing their path. Even with the amount of young golfers, Parker noted that this was exactly what he expected out of this team from the start.
“I don’t think they’ve exceeded my expectations. I expected us to compete at a high level and we’re doing that,” said Parker.
With all of the success, Parker wants this team to keep looking forward and keep working towards the Spring, where the team will possibly be competing for the biggest award in collegiate sports: the NCAA Championship.
“We have a lot of work to do over the winter to prepare ourselves for the Spring schedule, which for us is the most important schedule of the year. Competing in the league championship with a chance to get an automatic bid to the NCAA Championship,” said Parker.
