Kendyll Ferrall
Kferral1@uwyo.edu
Playing collegiate golf was never Gabrielle Gibson’s plan.
The Temecula, California native only saw golf as a leisurely activity enjoyed by her father, and basically fathers everywhere, but she never imagined an 18-hole future.
That is, until she failed to make the varsity soccer team her freshman year of high school.
“I never really got into golf and found my love for it until high school,” Gibson explained. “When I tried out for the high school team, for soccer, I didn’t make the team that the rest of my club team made. I made the freshman team, not J.V. or varsity. But, I made the varsity team for golf. That was kind of the turning point for me.”
Letting go of the sport that she had played for most of her life, Gibson turned her focus to golf. Quickly moving up the ranks on her team from sixth to second-ranked, Gibson began to rack up accomplishments.
After leading her Great Oak High School golf team to a Southwestern League co-championship, earning multiple First Team All-League and All-Valley honors, winning her team’s integrity award and Athlete of the Year award, Gibson began to envision a life on the greens.
Driven by her work ethic and competitive nature, Gibson set her sights on a Division I scholarship.
“Originally, I just sent out millions of emails, it felt like. I sent emails to any school,” said Gibson. “I just wanted to play Division I golf. I didn’t care where it was, at that point. In the beginning stages, I just sent emails to every Division I school.”
Millions of emails and thousands of birdies later, Gibson made her way to the high plains of Laramie.
“I remember coming on my recruiting trip here and just absolutely falling in love with the people here,” said Gibson. “I wanted to come to a school that was very school spirited as well, and Wyoming is very school spirited. I mean, the whole state of Wyoming is supportive of athletics. That’s something I really fell in love with.”
Despite falling in love with a town over 1,000 miles away from her hometown, Gibson’s freshman year was a trying transition.
“Moving away was definitely difficult, with being on my own. I grew up pretty independent because I’m an only child, but I was pretty attached to my parents,” Gibson said.
Quickly learning that golf at 7,220 feet is very different than golf at sea level, Gibson chose to redshirt her freshman season and use her first year at the University of Wyoming to adjust to her new surroundings, both on and off the course.
“Fortunately, I did redshirt and I was able to use that year to figure things out and see how everything goes,” Gibson said.
After two years at Wyoming and one season playing golf, Gibson’s lower scores began to reflect a shift in her mentality.
“My first season playing, I accomplished the goals I wanted to, which was make it to every tournament, but I also realized that I was holding myself back by putting the mentality in my head of, ‘Oh, I have to make it to the next tournament,’” said Gibson.
Crediting her improved performance to a new focus, Gibson’s sophomore season stats include a top-five finish and career-performance at the Denver University Ron Moore Intercollegiate after a 68 (-4) round, which she followed up with her second top-15 finish at the Rainbow Wahine Invite after shooting a 221 (+5).
“When you go to tournaments, in the back of your mind you’re always thinking ‘Okay, I have to play good so I can make it to the next tournament,’ and I think that mentality held me back when it came to my scores, because I always put that pressure on myself that I have to play good in this tournament, just so that I can make it to the next tournament,” Gibson explained. “I think compared to this year, that’s the difference. I switched out of that mentality and just started playing the best I could, not worrying about if I want to qualify or not.”
Although Gibson never intended to play golf in college, she can’t imagine her life without the game. A communications major with a strong interest in broadcast journalism, Gibson is open to a life reporting from the gallery, if she falls short of making it to the LGPA.
“My plan A, is to go pro,” said Gibson. “But, if that doesn’t work out I think I would love to use my degree to do something in broadcasting. I didn’t think I wanted to do something in broadcasting, until I started taking communications classes and found and interest in that. I can’t see myself doing any other media besides sports media.”
Looking back on her relatively short but successful career, Gibson’s proudest moment does not come from a hole-in-one or first-place finish. Gibson’s most proud of the way she handled her transition to Wyoming.
“My freshman year was really difficult for me athletically, socially, academically and I think overcoming that year and taking all of the things that were happening to me in a positive way was something that I’m really proud of myself for doing and I think it’s made me become the golfer and student that I am,” said Gibson. “I have to say that looking back on it now, I’m so glad that all of those things happened to me. I took everything in a more positive way, instead of being upset about sitting out for a season, I took advantage of it.”
