Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
'This one's for you, Paps'
4/25/2017 1:00:00 PM | Women's Golf
Burris dedicates championship performance to grandfather
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Middle Tennessee redshirt sophomore golfer Jenna Burris took home the second individual conference crown in school history and the first in 11 years at the Conference USA championship held from April 17-19.
But her dominating, six-stroke victory in which she was the clear class of the field meant much, much more than that.
As Burris made the turn at the Verandah Club in Fort Myers, Florida, on the first day the tournament, she looked down to her wrist. Written there in pink Sharpie was a simple saying: "This one's for you, Paps."
She was already having a decent day, shooting a 1-under 35 going out. But as she looked at the words, an encouraging feeling went through her mind and body that she couldn't exactly explain. All she knew was she had a chance to have a good day and a good tournament.
She was right.
Burris birdied five of her next six holes and finished the first round with a career-best 67, good enough to give her a one-stroke lead that she would eventually turn into a six-stroke victory by the end of the third day. Her three-round score of 209 was the second-best in school history.
"It all just kind of happened," she said. "I was making putts left and right, and everything just came together."
The slogan written on the redshirt sophomore's wrist was an inspiration born from a heartbreaking circumstance too many of us face in our lives.
Burris' grandfather and biggest supporter, David Burris Sr., wasn't in his normal place those three days watching his granddaughter navigate the golf course. Instead, the 79-year-old was in a hospital bed 700 miles away fighting for his life against the dreaded disease that causes so much despair and heartache for so many people – cancer.
David was first diagnosed about six years ago. After going into remission, everything was well until a few months ago when he went to the doctor with back pain. It was discovered the cancer had returned.
He started to go through rounds of treatments, and when the Blue Raiders were taking part in The Brickyard Collegiate in Macon, Georgia, on April 10-11, things took a turn for the worst.
"I found out on the third hole of 36 that day that he was really sick," Burris said. "I didn't play well. That tournament was my worst one of the spring."
The 16-over 232 she shot in The Brickyard Collegiate was a small blip in what was an incredible spring for Burris.
After a tough fall in which she averaged just 78.2 per round, she bounced back to cut that average to 73 this spring.
She points to a mindset change she made because of a need to focus on something other than what was going on in her off-the-course life as the reason for her improvement.
"If you play golf, you understand that if you just go out there with a free mind and focus on one specific thing, there's not a whole lot that can go wrong," Burris said. "I told my teammates the [conference] tournament would either go really good or really bad because I had so much mentally going on. I've just tried to make the best of a bad situation that we can't do anything about. It's just life."
Even though she was riding the momentum of her hot spring play, it would have been easy for Burris to skip the conference tournament and stay at home with her grandfather and her family.
For a while that looked like more of a probability than a possibility, and no one could have blamed her.
"The Friday before we left was one of the hardest days I've ever had to go through," Burris said. "Having to see him like that – he was unconscious for two days and wasn't responsive – it was a very sad day."
But, with the encouragement of her family, she told David goodbye for what she feared would be the last time and prepared to board a plane with her team.
"Before I left the hospital I told him, 'This one's for you, Paps,'" she said.
While Burris tried to show strength around her family and her teammates, she was fragile on the inside. She didn't even know if she would be able to compete, and her head coach shared those feelings.
"I think anytime you have emotions with golf combined with the personal emotional feeling that you should be with your family or whatever it may be, it's scary," MT head coach Chris Adams said. "To be frank, I didn't know if she was going to be able to tee it up."
Burris was able to find enough mental fortitude to get on the course the first day, and after the second round she received something that three days earlier seemed impossible.
After she opened up a four-stroke lead with a 2-under 70 on the second day, she got a call from her family and was greeted by David, who had come out of the coma and was responsive.
Burris told her grandfather about the 70 she carded that day, and just hearing his voice gave her the motivation she needed to close the tournament with an even 72 in the third round. She was the only golfer to finish with an even-or-better round all three days.
"I told her she had to let me know if she needed something, that I was going to just let her go unless she needed me," Adams said. "She just got in that little comfort zone, like it was a very, very comforting spot for her. You could see a very relaxed Jenna on the golf course."
How she was able to find a calmness on the golf course was nothing short of amazing, and Burris attributed that demeanor to what she saw on her wrist every time she looked down.
Whenever she was in trouble, she took a glance and saw, "This one's for you, Paps," and was reminded of her grandfather.
"Anytime I was discouraged throughout the tournament, I looked down and saw that on my wrist and kept playing hard," she said. "When you play for something other than yourself, it comes to show you can get better results."
She was also aided in between rounds by a pair of individuals who became almost like parents away from home during the tournament.
Most of the girls on the team were housed by host families. Three of them, including Burris, stayed at the home of Steve and Lynn Truta.
"They have a humongous dog named Fletcher, and Jenna is a dog lover," Adams said. "It was almost like she was coming home every night even though her mom and dad weren't there. They treat these girls like they're their daughters … and I think that helped a lot."
After the long, successful week, Burris made the flight back with her team, trophy in hand.
She arrived in Murfreesboro and was greeted by a surprising sight. Standing there awaiting her were her parents and dog, all braced for immediate bear hugs and congratulations.
"To pull in and see them really made me smile and tear up," Burris said. "They just knew that was the only thing they could've done, and it meant just as much to me as it did to them."
The family made the trek back to the hospital in Chattanooga, and along with them went the black trophy engrained with "Individual Champion."
Burris had no intentions of taking the trophy back to Murfreesboro or to her hometown of Manchester, Tennessee, though.
Instead, she wanted it to be with David to inspire him to get out of the hospital. He was the encouragement that helped her win the tournament in the first place, so it felt right that he should share in the victory.
"He's been to countless golf tournaments with me over the years," Burris said. "The trophy meant a lot to him, but making him proud was my biggest achievement."
And as the C-USA champion handed the trophy to her grandfather, one thing came out of her mouth: "This one's for you, Paps."
But her dominating, six-stroke victory in which she was the clear class of the field meant much, much more than that.
As Burris made the turn at the Verandah Club in Fort Myers, Florida, on the first day the tournament, she looked down to her wrist. Written there in pink Sharpie was a simple saying: "This one's for you, Paps."
She was already having a decent day, shooting a 1-under 35 going out. But as she looked at the words, an encouraging feeling went through her mind and body that she couldn't exactly explain. All she knew was she had a chance to have a good day and a good tournament.
She was right.
Burris birdied five of her next six holes and finished the first round with a career-best 67, good enough to give her a one-stroke lead that she would eventually turn into a six-stroke victory by the end of the third day. Her three-round score of 209 was the second-best in school history.
"It all just kind of happened," she said. "I was making putts left and right, and everything just came together."
The slogan written on the redshirt sophomore's wrist was an inspiration born from a heartbreaking circumstance too many of us face in our lives.
Burris' grandfather and biggest supporter, David Burris Sr., wasn't in his normal place those three days watching his granddaughter navigate the golf course. Instead, the 79-year-old was in a hospital bed 700 miles away fighting for his life against the dreaded disease that causes so much despair and heartache for so many people – cancer.
David was first diagnosed about six years ago. After going into remission, everything was well until a few months ago when he went to the doctor with back pain. It was discovered the cancer had returned.
He started to go through rounds of treatments, and when the Blue Raiders were taking part in The Brickyard Collegiate in Macon, Georgia, on April 10-11, things took a turn for the worst.
"I found out on the third hole of 36 that day that he was really sick," Burris said. "I didn't play well. That tournament was my worst one of the spring."
The 16-over 232 she shot in The Brickyard Collegiate was a small blip in what was an incredible spring for Burris.
After a tough fall in which she averaged just 78.2 per round, she bounced back to cut that average to 73 this spring.
She points to a mindset change she made because of a need to focus on something other than what was going on in her off-the-course life as the reason for her improvement.
"If you play golf, you understand that if you just go out there with a free mind and focus on one specific thing, there's not a whole lot that can go wrong," Burris said. "I told my teammates the [conference] tournament would either go really good or really bad because I had so much mentally going on. I've just tried to make the best of a bad situation that we can't do anything about. It's just life."
Even though she was riding the momentum of her hot spring play, it would have been easy for Burris to skip the conference tournament and stay at home with her grandfather and her family.
For a while that looked like more of a probability than a possibility, and no one could have blamed her.
"The Friday before we left was one of the hardest days I've ever had to go through," Burris said. "Having to see him like that – he was unconscious for two days and wasn't responsive – it was a very sad day."
But, with the encouragement of her family, she told David goodbye for what she feared would be the last time and prepared to board a plane with her team.
"Before I left the hospital I told him, 'This one's for you, Paps,'" she said.
While Burris tried to show strength around her family and her teammates, she was fragile on the inside. She didn't even know if she would be able to compete, and her head coach shared those feelings.
"I think anytime you have emotions with golf combined with the personal emotional feeling that you should be with your family or whatever it may be, it's scary," MT head coach Chris Adams said. "To be frank, I didn't know if she was going to be able to tee it up."
Burris was able to find enough mental fortitude to get on the course the first day, and after the second round she received something that three days earlier seemed impossible.
After she opened up a four-stroke lead with a 2-under 70 on the second day, she got a call from her family and was greeted by David, who had come out of the coma and was responsive.
Burris told her grandfather about the 70 she carded that day, and just hearing his voice gave her the motivation she needed to close the tournament with an even 72 in the third round. She was the only golfer to finish with an even-or-better round all three days.
"I told her she had to let me know if she needed something, that I was going to just let her go unless she needed me," Adams said. "She just got in that little comfort zone, like it was a very, very comforting spot for her. You could see a very relaxed Jenna on the golf course."
How she was able to find a calmness on the golf course was nothing short of amazing, and Burris attributed that demeanor to what she saw on her wrist every time she looked down.
Whenever she was in trouble, she took a glance and saw, "This one's for you, Paps," and was reminded of her grandfather.
"Anytime I was discouraged throughout the tournament, I looked down and saw that on my wrist and kept playing hard," she said. "When you play for something other than yourself, it comes to show you can get better results."
She was also aided in between rounds by a pair of individuals who became almost like parents away from home during the tournament.
Most of the girls on the team were housed by host families. Three of them, including Burris, stayed at the home of Steve and Lynn Truta.
"They have a humongous dog named Fletcher, and Jenna is a dog lover," Adams said. "It was almost like she was coming home every night even though her mom and dad weren't there. They treat these girls like they're their daughters … and I think that helped a lot."
After the long, successful week, Burris made the flight back with her team, trophy in hand.
She arrived in Murfreesboro and was greeted by a surprising sight. Standing there awaiting her were her parents and dog, all braced for immediate bear hugs and congratulations.
"To pull in and see them really made me smile and tear up," Burris said. "They just knew that was the only thing they could've done, and it meant just as much to me as it did to them."
The family made the trek back to the hospital in Chattanooga, and along with them went the black trophy engrained with "Individual Champion."
Burris had no intentions of taking the trophy back to Murfreesboro or to her hometown of Manchester, Tennessee, though.
Instead, she wanted it to be with David to inspire him to get out of the hospital. He was the encouragement that helped her win the tournament in the first place, so it felt right that he should share in the victory.
"He's been to countless golf tournaments with me over the years," Burris said. "The trophy meant a lot to him, but making him proud was my biggest achievement."
And as the C-USA champion handed the trophy to her grandfather, one thing came out of her mouth: "This one's for you, Paps."
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Golf
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