BY JON R. LaFOLLETTE | STAFF WRITER
Kassandra Rivera is spending her first summer as a college graduate preparing for a potential job. Instead of writing resumes and searching the web for career openings, Rivera can be found at various golf courses around the Houston area, honing her skills for a chance to continue doing what she loves most.
“It’s my goal to someday make the LPGA tour,” Rivera said. “It’s something I’ve had in mind for awhile now.”
Rivera, who graduated from Weslaco High School in 2011, has spent her weekends readying herself for just that. Along with her swing coach Joe Powell, Rivera is refining her game in order to maximize her professional aspirations.
“I’ve really been working on my short game,” Rivera said. “It’s a big part of the pro level. I’m always driving to shoot the shortest course I possibly can. That’s not going to change. That’s always been my mentality, to execute shots.”
Rivera will showcase her talents beginning August 3 at the Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California as part of the LPGA Qualifying School. The tournament is the first step in an attempt make the professional circuit. Rivera will compete against golfers such as herself, talented amateurs striving for more.
“It’ll be good for her,” Powell said. “She’s like a sponge. You put her around good golfers, and she soaks up various elements of their game. She gets better as the competition does. It’s incredible to watch.”
Powell has coached Rivera for five years, and remembers the raw talent she demonstrated as a teenager.
“She’s such tremendous athlete,” he said. “She’s tall and very strong. She could hit pretty far, but there were still things in her swing that needed to be corrected. Once she grasped that, she just took off.”
Having long since mastered the mechanics of golf, Rivera has turned her attention towards elements of the game outside of her control, like the environment.
“I’ve been trying to play in courses outside the Valley,” she said. “The Valley has a lot of flat courses, but if I’m going to play at the professional level, I have to get more accustomed to playing on all different kids of courses.”
Rivera played collegiate golf on a partial scholarship at Texas Southern University, where she graduated in December of 2014 with a degree in Biology. Rivera routinely led the way for the Tigers, including four first-place wins and eight top 10 finishes. She was named to the All-Southwestern Athletic Conference first team three times. On June 19, Rivera was named the SWAC Woman of the Year for her achievements on the course and in the classroom.
“She’s highly intelligent,” Powell said. “Before all this she had some reservations about what she should do. She didn’t know if she wanted to go to medical school or play golf. What a great dilemma to have.”