By MARK MOLINA
Staff Writer
HARLINGEN — With her senior golf season underway, Harlingen senior Morgan McClaugherty won’t have to worry about where she’ll play golf next year.
Now, McClaugherty can go through her senior season knowing she’ll be playing golf for the Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina after inking her National Letter of Intent Wednesday afternoon at Harlingen high school.
McClaugherty wanted to venture out of state and after a process, decided that being with the Winthrop Eagle Lady’s Golf team is where she wanted to be.
“I knew I didn’t want to stay in Texas for college. So I basically sent a resume to every big college outside of Texas and saw what I got back,” McClaugherty said. “Three schools stuck out and I went on a road trip to visit all three. Winthrop was the second one.
Once I got there, the people stuck out and the area was gorgeous.”
McClaugherty is less than a year removed from a state tournament berth after what she calls a “breakout year” last season.
The Harlingen senior placed fourth at the regional tournament, qualifying her for state.
Still, despite the accolades, one of the biggest drawing points to Winthrop was the ability to up her game; something she feels Winthrop head coach Jodi Wendt can help her do.
“(Coach Wendt) believes in all her players. She saw something in me that (made her believe) I can become a better player and she can get me there,” McClaugherty said. “That made me really want to go there.”
Wendt was the ultimate selling point.
Before that point, McClaugherty prepares to continue her final season with new goals and motivation, as she wants to prove Winthrop made the right choice in signing her.
Harlingen head coach Chris Milligan knows the Eagles will get a good golfer in McClaugherty and feels she will make an immediate impact.
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Her (McClaugherty) work ethic stands out from the rest. I’ve seen golf at multiple levels and I’ve never seen anyone with her maturity,” Milligan said. “That is what is going to sustain her as she goes into the next level. I want to see her move on, but you can’t replace her. It’s bittersweet because you lose that foundation and are in for a rebuild. I’ll be smiling, but it’ll hurt a little bit.”
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or those coming after her, McClaugherty just hopes to be a standard for females in her sport.
“There aren’t a lot of girls who play golf. I want others to know that we can do something with this,” she said. “It doesn’t matter if you were born a natural talent, if you work at it, you can be whatever you want. I want other players to see that and hopefully be that motivation for them.”