Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Photo by: Christina Long, Missouri Athletics
Freshman Burks excelling in new ‘sweet home’
4/11/2018 4:00:00 PM | Women's Golf
When you hear the Southern-sounding guitar twang of Lynard Skynard's "Sweet Home Alabama" play through your speaker, what comes to mind? Most would think of football, barbecue, fast cars and winding country backroads.
Many Alabama natives are known for their love of the "Yellowhammer State" and often never leave. So, when a brown-haired, brown-eyed Southern girl from Montgomery vacates the place where she planted her Southern roots, chances are there's a little something extraordinary about her.
Middle Tennessee freshman Sophie Burks has been nothing short of extraordinary in her five-year career on the golf course.
Growing up playing softball and basketball, Burks simply wanted to try something new when she donned the red, white and blue of Trinity Presbyterian Academy and put a golf club in her hands for the first time.
The one dogleg in all of it? Trinity Presbyterian didn't have a girl's golf team.
Prior to 2016, head coach Tim Bethea led both a junior varsity and varsity boy's squad, but the Wildcats never had a girl's team. That meant when Burks started competing her freshman year, she was a one-girl band.
"I wanted to try something new and I didn't think soccer was for me, so I said 'Oh, let me play golf,' and it all took off from there," she said.
Though she played individually on the golf course, Burks was also a vital part of Trinity Presbyterian's team on the hardwood. After going a disappointing 5-12 as a junior, the 5-foot-3 guard was one of the team's leading scorers.
Her prowess as a basketball player caught the eye of Middle Tennessee women's golf coach Chris Adams.
"It's nice to get players that have played other sports," Adams said. "It makes them much more well-rounded and tough in all the adverse conditions that we can play in."
On the golf course, Burks shot over 100 in her first high school tournament. Her adjustment to the game didn't come overnight, but when she found success, overcoming the adversity she faced was only sweeter.
Burks eventually assembled a team of five girls and led them to a state title her senior year, completing an astounding turn from new program to state champion in just four years. She led the team at the tournament with a 2-under 142 two-round score, posting back-to-back rounds of 71 to finish as a state medalist.
"Being able to help start (the program) is one of the greatest things I've ever been a part of," Burks said. "I got to know girls I wouldn't get to know otherwise, and I'm really thankful for that."
Much like the way her Middle Tennessee men's counterpart Tyler Johnson was discovered by men's coach Brennan Webb, Adams actually stumbled upon Burks the summer between her junior and senior seasons while on a trip to look at an older player. Bethea provided Burks with perhaps the biggest opportunity of her career thus far, convincing Adams to take a look at the girl who started Trinity Presbyterian's program.
Burks' mature personality on and off the course combined with the athleticism she developed growing up among some of the South's premier sports stars made for a perfect marriage between MT's women's golf squad and the even-keeled Burks.
"Even the first couple of times we spoke over the phone, I liked talking to her," Adams said. "I was comfortable in my conversations with her. Nowadays, high school players don't like to talk as much as they text.
"She's very athletic and fun to watch. She shows disappointment in the bad shots and excitement in the good shots, and that shows her true competitiveness."
The former three-sport star has had to compete just to stay afloat in the collegiate game.
Aside from going through an injury early in the season, Burks has undergone a change in the mechanics of her swing as she tries to adjust to the longer distances per hole in NCAA play.
In high school, Burks' swing resembled more of a flat, laid-off motion. Since stepping onto the first tee box at the Johnnie Imes Invitational last October, though, her new-look, steep-upright swing has resulted in better contact and ball flight.
The swing change came about to help correct the biggest bugaboo in Burks' game: par 5s.
"It's funny," Burks chuckled and humbly admitted, "but (par 5s) are the holes I struggle with, and those are usually supposed to be the holes you take advantage of."
"The par 5s require a little more thinking, and she's already gotten better at that," Adams said. "I always tell (my players), 'Two heads are better than one – if I can help you think, we'll be pretty good together.'"
With the improvements and consistency that she's slowly picked up this season, Burks has found herself in the lineup in each of the past six tournaments and battled her way onto the traveling roster.
Tabbed as a "gamer" and "course rat" by Adams, Blue Raider fans are likely to see Burks' name in the lineup when the Lady Raiders head to Fort Meyers, Florida, for the Conference USA Championship beginning April 16.
"I think she's only begun to scratch the surface," Adams said. "I think what you're going to find over the next few years is that those scores are going to get lower and she'll be much more consistent. With the guidance she's had and the guidance she's received from players like Jenna (Burris) and Hanley (Long), the better she's going to be."
Every time the extraordinary brown-haired, brown-eyed girl from Montgomery goes to her "Sweet Home Alabama," it's her new sweet home at Middle Tennessee that carries her back to see her kin in Murfreesboro.
"(The girls and I) can go seven days and literally be together for all 24 hours of them, and I wouldn't have it any other way," she said.
Her teammates wouldn't have it any other way, either.
Many Alabama natives are known for their love of the "Yellowhammer State" and often never leave. So, when a brown-haired, brown-eyed Southern girl from Montgomery vacates the place where she planted her Southern roots, chances are there's a little something extraordinary about her.
Middle Tennessee freshman Sophie Burks has been nothing short of extraordinary in her five-year career on the golf course.
Growing up playing softball and basketball, Burks simply wanted to try something new when she donned the red, white and blue of Trinity Presbyterian Academy and put a golf club in her hands for the first time.
The one dogleg in all of it? Trinity Presbyterian didn't have a girl's golf team.
Prior to 2016, head coach Tim Bethea led both a junior varsity and varsity boy's squad, but the Wildcats never had a girl's team. That meant when Burks started competing her freshman year, she was a one-girl band.
"I wanted to try something new and I didn't think soccer was for me, so I said 'Oh, let me play golf,' and it all took off from there," she said.
Though she played individually on the golf course, Burks was also a vital part of Trinity Presbyterian's team on the hardwood. After going a disappointing 5-12 as a junior, the 5-foot-3 guard was one of the team's leading scorers.
Her prowess as a basketball player caught the eye of Middle Tennessee women's golf coach Chris Adams.
"It's nice to get players that have played other sports," Adams said. "It makes them much more well-rounded and tough in all the adverse conditions that we can play in."
On the golf course, Burks shot over 100 in her first high school tournament. Her adjustment to the game didn't come overnight, but when she found success, overcoming the adversity she faced was only sweeter.
Burks eventually assembled a team of five girls and led them to a state title her senior year, completing an astounding turn from new program to state champion in just four years. She led the team at the tournament with a 2-under 142 two-round score, posting back-to-back rounds of 71 to finish as a state medalist.
"Being able to help start (the program) is one of the greatest things I've ever been a part of," Burks said. "I got to know girls I wouldn't get to know otherwise, and I'm really thankful for that."
Much like the way her Middle Tennessee men's counterpart Tyler Johnson was discovered by men's coach Brennan Webb, Adams actually stumbled upon Burks the summer between her junior and senior seasons while on a trip to look at an older player. Bethea provided Burks with perhaps the biggest opportunity of her career thus far, convincing Adams to take a look at the girl who started Trinity Presbyterian's program.
Burks' mature personality on and off the course combined with the athleticism she developed growing up among some of the South's premier sports stars made for a perfect marriage between MT's women's golf squad and the even-keeled Burks.
"Even the first couple of times we spoke over the phone, I liked talking to her," Adams said. "I was comfortable in my conversations with her. Nowadays, high school players don't like to talk as much as they text.
"She's very athletic and fun to watch. She shows disappointment in the bad shots and excitement in the good shots, and that shows her true competitiveness."
The former three-sport star has had to compete just to stay afloat in the collegiate game.
Aside from going through an injury early in the season, Burks has undergone a change in the mechanics of her swing as she tries to adjust to the longer distances per hole in NCAA play.
In high school, Burks' swing resembled more of a flat, laid-off motion. Since stepping onto the first tee box at the Johnnie Imes Invitational last October, though, her new-look, steep-upright swing has resulted in better contact and ball flight.
The swing change came about to help correct the biggest bugaboo in Burks' game: par 5s.
"It's funny," Burks chuckled and humbly admitted, "but (par 5s) are the holes I struggle with, and those are usually supposed to be the holes you take advantage of."
"The par 5s require a little more thinking, and she's already gotten better at that," Adams said. "I always tell (my players), 'Two heads are better than one – if I can help you think, we'll be pretty good together.'"
With the improvements and consistency that she's slowly picked up this season, Burks has found herself in the lineup in each of the past six tournaments and battled her way onto the traveling roster.
Tabbed as a "gamer" and "course rat" by Adams, Blue Raider fans are likely to see Burks' name in the lineup when the Lady Raiders head to Fort Meyers, Florida, for the Conference USA Championship beginning April 16.
"I think she's only begun to scratch the surface," Adams said. "I think what you're going to find over the next few years is that those scores are going to get lower and she'll be much more consistent. With the guidance she's had and the guidance she's received from players like Jenna (Burris) and Hanley (Long), the better she's going to be."
Every time the extraordinary brown-haired, brown-eyed girl from Montgomery goes to her "Sweet Home Alabama," it's her new sweet home at Middle Tennessee that carries her back to see her kin in Murfreesboro.
"(The girls and I) can go seven days and literally be together for all 24 hours of them, and I wouldn't have it any other way," she said.
Her teammates wouldn't have it any other way, either.
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Golf
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