Kellyanne Hurst has been celebrating the end of her first year in the United States Naval Academy, joined in Maryland by her family. Having survived both her “plebe summer” and “plebe year,” all while staying committed to the women’s golf team, the Plant City High alumna is ready to begin her major in oceanography and start the final leg of her time at the USNA.
It’s easy to see why plebe year isn’t to be taken lightly, especially when compared to the average freshman year of college.
“It was tough in the beginning, but it really went well,” Hurst says. “Just getting used to going from civilian life to a military lifestyle, it was a big adjustment. And time management — we take 18 credit hours, plus military and sport obligations. A lot to do in not a lot of time.”
A DAY IN THE LIFE
After a summer spent learning the Navy’s fundamentals, all USNA freshmen have a similar plebe year experience: general education classes, coupled with military and sport activities. The daily routine is pretty much the same throughout the entire year.
Hurst is up by 5:30 a.m., when every company goes through a morning workout. By 7 a.m., the plebes are in uniform and ready for formation.
“Accountability purposes,” Hurst says.
After formation, the school day begins.
All students must be enrolled in at least 15 credit hours — Hurst took 18 — and class scheduling is set up much like a high school’s block. Each school day consists of six periods, with a lunch break for everyone at noon, following fourth period. As in college, certain classes are often held on alternating days.
Athletes like Hurst get a sixth-period blocker, meaning that they can go to practice before the day wraps up at 3:20 p.m. Sports period is held from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., and that’s when Hurst hits the Navy course. At 6:30 p.m., she must be present for evening meal formation, and dinner lasts until 7:15 p.m.
The 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. block is considered a study period, though many plebes will often be up later than that.
The schedule is as tough as it sounds.
“It was hard to adjust,” Hurst says. “I didn’t have as much practice time as at home. We (the golf team) had a few meetings with a Navy sports psychologist, and that was really helpful.”
This was the case for most of the team, as six of the nine golfers in the USNA women’s program were plebes this year. The psychologist’s advice seems to have worked for Hurst, as she was able to handle her schedule on top of adjusting much of her golf game, and come out of it with her sanity intact.
ALTITUDE ADJUSTMENT
Compared to many other courses in the country, Florida’s are easy. Sure, there are alligators every now and then, but golfers rarely need to worry about how the landscape, rather than the surface, will affect their shots.
In Maryland, those things called “hills” have Florida golfers like Hurst thinking more strategically than before.
“Back home, you don’t have to account for difference in yardage, but it’s a really big deal here,” Hurst says.
There’s also the weather, but that workaround is a little easier: Hurst says that she and her teammates simply had to figure out how to swing while wearing three jackets.
Some of her favorite courses were in South Carolina: Country Club of Charleston, Osprey Point and Cougar Point. They were as close to Florida courses as could be. But, much of her work was done in Maryland, which meant less water, more trees and more slopes than in Florida.
Hurst finished the season averaging about an 85 through eight tournaments, shooting a few rounds of 77 in March and April and finishing as high as 15th overall in the Patriot League Championship. The team itself did fairly well, especially for such a young group: It entered the Patriot League tournament as a 5-seed, but fought its way to a third-place finish.
Finishing up at the Naval Academy will not be easy, and neither will be Hurst’s quest to excel on these courses the way she did in Florida. But, with some of her most trying times now in the rearview mirror, she’s already ready to take the next steps and leave plebe life behind.
“They say they break it down into three parts: plebe summer, plebe year and the rest of the way,” Hurst says. “In a way, it’s like we finished two-thirds of the academy.”
Contact Justin Kline at jkline@plantcityobserver.com.
A NEW APPROACH
While at Plant City High, Kellyanne Hurst earned a reputation as one of the county’s most unflappable, consistent golfers. But moving to another part of the country meant having to adjust to new terrain. Adding that extra burden is enough to faze some golfers.
But the entire team avoided any mental breakdowns, since its members were required to meet with a sports psychologist early in the year. The meetings had a positive effect on Hurst’s approach to the game.
“Get yourself out of the way and focus on golf,” Hurst says. “I try to focus on the same pre-shot routine, so that I’m comfortable over the ball. We talked about breaking the round into three-hole segments: You set yourself a goal for three holes, and once they’re done, you just move on.”
Whether a three-hole stretch was good or bad, Hurst and her teammates are hitting the “reset” button and moving on after that ball sinks into the third hole.