Stroke by stroke, Piedmont University’s Erin Donovan walks her way through the kind of silence only golf can create. The lengthy periods between shots, the moments when it is just her and her thoughts, have been some of the hardest, yet most important, moments in her life.

Years ago, in Southaven, Mississippi, Donovan recalls her younger self getting frustrated as she watched another round slip away, wondering if she could ever catch up to the sport she loved, but which she had started so late. She would’ve never predicted that years later she would be one of the most accomplished collegiate golfers in the nation.

“I struggled with confidence on the golf course,” said Donovan, who started playing competitively at 14.  “I would play in some higher-level events, and I was getting beat by 12-year-olds, and I was like 16. So, I think that really took a shot at my confidence.”

Donovan did not start competitive golf until her freshman year of high school, so she constantly felt behind. She felt the pressure to catch up and to prove something. Over time, that pressure began to overshadow the sport itself. By the time Erin reached the recruiting process, she already had this idea of what she thought her college career had to look like.

“Any Division III or Division II school that talked to me, anytime they emailed me, I just honestly wouldn’t respond,” she said. “Not because I thought I was better, but because I was looking for this perfect fit, that I don’t actually think is real for student athletes.”

This immense pressure on herself began weighing more heavily. She felt it in academics, tournaments and even at home. “I was seeing a therapist for some anxiety multiple times a week,” she said. “I actually ended up going to family therapy over golf. So that was kind of a big road bump for me.”

This period in Erin’s life forced her and her family to rethink how she approached golf. And then, former Piedmont women’s golf coach Susan Martin reached out.

When Donovan visited the campus, there was no dramatic realization, but something about it felt right. “I think, honestly, it was a God thing. I didn’t know it at the time,” she said. “There was just this gut feeling that I belonged here.”

After committing to Piedmont, her game improved almost immediately. Tournaments went well, her scores dropped and suddenly the Division I schools she initially targeted began reaching out.

But Donovan stayed true to her commitment to Piedmont. “I was meant to be here,” she said.

Erin Donovan’s accomplishments at Piedmont came quickly. As a freshman, she won her first collegiate tournament, earned USA South “Rookie of the Week” nearly every time she was eligible and was named conference “Rookie of the Year.”

Her sophomore season proved even more impressive. She collected multiple tournament wins, was named conference “Player of the Year,” named a second-team “All American” by the Women’s Golf Coaches Association (WCGA) and won the individual conference championship title. She also qualified for the NCAA Tournament. Last year, she repeated as USA South “Player of the Year,” took second at the conference tournament and again was selected to the NCAA Tournament, earning WCGA first-team “All America” recognition.

Donovan’s success extended beyond Piedmont as well. She competed in the longest-standing amateur tournament in the country and came close to qualifying for the U.S. Women’s Amateur.

For a player who was once crying in a therapist’s office over not being able to break 80, Donovan has gained accomplishments that would have her younger self, “screaming through the hallways.”

Donovan’s growth at Piedmont was not just athletic; it was personal. For much of her life, she never really connected with her faith. That all changed after a couple of years, when a teammate finally convinced Erin to go to church with her. Finding a community outside of golf has really influenced the way she approaches golf, academics and herself.

“Being here has really taught me that there is something greater,” she said. “I am not just playing golf for myself; I am not just doing schoolwork for myself. I am doing all of this to glorify God. He is behind everything I have done and accomplished.”

Donovan’s spiritual journey had a substantial influence on her life. Always her own harshest critic, self-criticism became a weapon for her. “Initially, I used being my biggest critic less as motivation and more as a way to beat myself up,” she said. “When I flipped it to, ‘How can I pick out what is wrong, find the good in it, and figure out how I can improve,’ is when I really started to grow not only as a golfer, but as a person.”

This change in her mindset became crucial to her game, especially in a sport where there is ample time to think and self-criticize.

“Golf is really different from other sports,” she said. “If I hit a bad shot, I have a minute and a half to walk to my ball and think about that bad shot.”

Now she approaches the inevitable bad moments on the course with a new mindset. “I always say this: acknowledge your negative thoughts and let them go.”

Donovan has learned that a bad performance does not define her. “I am human, and I have to remind myself that it is just a round of golf. At the end of the day, that does not define me as a person.”

Donovan is still focusing on creating this separation and not making golf her identity, since it feels like it has been for so long. “That is what I have been really praying and working for, that I find my identity in Christ and not the sport I have worked on for eight years.”

Former Piedmont golf coach Hannah Satterfield, who left this year after coaching Donovan for the past three seasons, has seen her growth firsthand. “Erin is someone who seeks continuous improvement in all aspects of life,” Satterfield said. “She does everything she can to achieve greatness in all areas.”

Already the most accomplished women’s golfer in Piedmont history, one might expect her goal for her final season would be to capture that elusive national championship. That would have been the primary focus of her younger self, but Donovan has a different goal as she enters the spring season.

“I’ve been very intentional about just trying to enjoy the journey rather than forcing success,” she said.

Despite the countless accolades to back up her name, the thing she finds most rewarding is not her own success but rather the success of pouring into those around her.

“I knew the women’s golf program was growing,” she said. “I love watching teams grow into something. If I have a vision for something, I want to see it grow into that.”

She spoke very proudly of her seven teammates — five of whom are freshmen. Donovan has watched them grow and improve over the fall season and strives to be a positive influence for them as they move into the spring.

“I believe in them,” she said. “Pouring into people is something that I really enjoy. It is not just about the success that I’ve had, but what I can do to help others.