By John Frierson
Staff Writer

Back on Sept. 20, in the opening round of the Schooner Fall Classic at Belmar Golf Club in Norman, Okla., Sydney Givens played the round of her life. So far, at least.

“It may be easy to think that that’s a once-in-a-lifetime type of round for her,” Georgia women’s golf coach Erika Brennan said, “but I’m not convinced that it is.”

Givens, in her second tournament as a Bulldog after transferring from Colorado, shot a bogey-free round of 63 on the par-70 course. It was the best round of her career — her previous low was a 66 — and the lowest round in program history, topping Caterina Don’s 64 in 2021.

“I think my overall game was in a great spot,” said Givens, a sophomore from Austin, Texas. “I really was working hard throughout the week with my team, my coaches, to work on my game, to get it in the best spot that it could possibly be for that week.”

Clearly, she did. Givens had seven birdies, including four on par-3s, two of them 180 yards or longer.

“I think she unlocked some things for herself, and she’s proven that when she’s able to stay that present and not get ahead of herself or behind herself, some really good things can happen,” Brennan said.

Givens didn’t have long to bask in the glow of an exceptional round, which might have worked in her favor. She played another 18 holes that day, shooting a 1-under 69. The next day, after shooting 1-over through her first 13 holes, Givens had dropped to third on the leaderboard. A weather delay gave her a chance to reset, and she went on to birdie two of her final four holes to earn a share of the tournament victory.

“It was very stressful,” said Givens, who was named the SEC Player of the Week after her win. “During the lightning delay, I never looked at my phone. I never like to get my mind off of something that I’m still kind of into, which was the golf course and my round. … I just stuck to what I knew and, win or lose, I felt like I had a great week.

“Winning or losing really doesn’t define you. It just kind of puts a fire in my soul to get better.”

It’s one thing to have a spectacular round, but her ability to back it up with consecutive 69s, and to close so strongly to finish tied for first, was just as impressive, Brennan said.

“It’d be so easy after a round of 63 to then shift your expectations. Expectations are a killer in our sport,” Brennan said. “So for her to back it up with two more under-par rounds of golf is just phenomenal.”

When Georgia opened its season at the Cougar Classic at Yeamans Hall Club in Hanahan, S.C., Givens led the Bulldogs with a score of 4-over after three rounds. It was a decent result, but it wasn’t good enough for Givens.

“My approaches weren’t as good as I would like them to be, so my coaches and I did some practices to get them dialed in,” she said, adding that she spent a lot of time on multiple phases of her short game, all of which have paid off so far.

Brennan said Givens’ putting is one of the things that stands out about her game right now, which wasn’t always the case after she transferred.

“She was actually struggling with her putter after getting started here, especially in those early (team) qualifiers,” Brennan said. “But instead of panicking, instead of rushing to find the quickest solution, she was really committed to finding the right solution.

“If you’re going to shoot 63, your putter is on fire.”

In her one season at Colorado, Givens led the Buffaloes with a 73.59 stroke average, two top-10 finishes and five in the top-20. She was interested in going to Georgia long before she entered the transfer portal. Givens visited Athens and the UGA campus when she was young, tagging along with the family when her older brothers were looking at schools.

“We came to Georgia just to look, and I fell in love with it. It’s an amazing campus, amazing school, and the golf course is insane — and so are the coaches,” she said. “It was always a dream school growing up, and now that I’m here, it’s surreal.”

Givens enjoyed her time at Colorado, but said she felt like a move was necessary to bring the best out of her.

“I didn’t really see my game growing over the years,” she said. “And the winter was pretty brutal.”

Brennan said she and associate head coach Dalton Stevens were immediately interested once Givens entered the portal.

“I got really excited really quickly,” she said.

Getting to know Givens in the recruiting process and since she arrived in Athens, Brennan is more impressed every day.

“When she comes in here for a one-on-one meeting, she’s got her notebook with her list of questions she’s ready to ask, and she asks really insightful, really thoughtful questions. She’s a sponge; she wants to learn all the things to be the most complete player she can be,” Brennan said. “So to see her get rewarded for that effort, in only her second tournament as a Dawg, is pretty special.”

The Bulldogs are back in action next week when they play in the Evie Odom Invitational at the Princess Anne Golf Club in Virginia Beach, Va.

 

Assistant Sports Communications Director John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men’s Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files.