Emma McMyler: A Rising Star in Amateur Golf

By Morgan Pruchniewski, Duke Athletics Communications Student Assistant
 
DURHAM — After a record-setting career at Xavier, Emma McMyler joined the Duke women’s golf program over the summer to continue her academic and athletic career.
 
The daughter of a former collegiate golfer at Stephen F. Austin State University turned golf teaching pro, McMyler was exposed to the sport at an early age. However, it wasn’t until her sophomore year of high school that she decided to follow in his footsteps.
 
“I’d always seen golf growing up, my dad was the person who introduced me to the game and started that love for it early on, but I didn’t quite take a hold of it until later in my athletic career.  It was kind of around my sophomore year of high school,” said McMyler. “I played all different sports growing up, with my main two being basketball and soccer.  I just saw more potential to grow and get better in golf. I like that it’s an individual and lifelong sport, I can work as hard as I want to and my results are based on my performance.”
 
McMyler’s father, Brian, has continued to inspire her golf career, serving as her coach throughout every stage of her career. Beyond just the technical aspects of the sport, he’s helped to show her all of the larger lessons that can be learned on the course.
 
“You can learn so many things in the sport that you can apply to your daily life: perseverance, patience and the ability to connect with other people on the course,” said McMyler. “I liked the aspect of being able to get better at something every day.”
 
These lessons led McMyler to focus on golf full time, a decision that has beyond paid off.
 
During her high school career, she was a two-time 6A Texas State Individual Qualifier, qualified for the 2019 US Girls’ Junior Championship and received the title of Golf San Antonio’s 2019 Junior Girls Player of the Year. McMyler ended her high school career with a commitment to play golf for Xavier University, where she continued to excel on the course.
 
“Winning the Big East Championship as a team the three years that I was there is something I am really proud of,” said McMyler. “That took not only three great individual performances, but it was more of a reflection of our team’s hard work and our culture of wanting to win.”
 
Beyond the team’s success, McMyler also…