Of all the challenges facing a brand-new, highly decorated college golfer following a cross-country trip, you would expect most of the heavy lifting to include golf, teammate assimilation and academic workload with a touch of homesickness.
But Anna Davis, 17, has found that the most surprising part of the transition from California high school early graduate to spring semester freshman college golfer at Auburn has been figuring out how to drive a new car … in the rain.
“I was practicing at our facility at Auburn, and it starts raining,” Davis recounted in her low-key manner, with a chuckle every few minutes. “Really raining hard when I left to go home. I bought a car when I arrived. I thought, Dang, this is really hard. I realized I had never driven in the rain like we get in the South. I guess the California kid had to face different challenges sometimes.”
Davis’ ascension over the last two years from accomplished junior to 16-year-old Augusta National Women’s Amateur champion in 2022 and on to the coolest kid and hat in golf has created expectations for the smooth-swinging left-hander. But she’s toured the world with her golf clubs and kept on trucking, now ranked No. 6 – the top American – in the latest World Amateur Golf Ranking.
“She does it her own way,” Auburn women’s coach Melissa Luellen said. “The first time we saw her play, she was carrying this low-slung Titleist bag and wearing a bucket hat. She just saunters along and plays golf.”
In college vernacular, Davis’ first month at Auburn has not sucked. She arrived on the Plains on January 4, an unusual midseason addition ready to play alongside 2023 U.S. Amateur champion Megan Schofill and teammates hailing from the United States, Canada, England, Ireland and Wales in chasing down an NCAA championship as a top-10 team. In her short time in the South, Davis has traveled even farther south. Luellen scheduled a team retreat to the Bahamas before the semester so that the team could meet Davis and bond ahead of the spring season. Last weekend, Davis was in South Florida at Curtis Cup team practice, taking on prestigious Seminole Golf Club and Pine Tree Golf Club alongside 11 other finalists for this year’s event at Sunningdale, England, with U.S. captain Meghan Stasi and a host of LPGA legends on hand to offer advice. And now it’s off to the first team tournament of the season, beginning February 4 … in Puerto Rico.
That early 2024 schedule is like the international circuit of late 2023 for Davis before trekking to Auburn. She played on the United States teams in September at the Junior Solheim Cup in Spain and the Junior Ryder Cup, with twin brother, Billy, also on the team, in Italy and on the World Amateur Team Championship squad in October at Abu Dhabi before concluding her frequent-flier mileage escalator in November as the low American scorer in the Pan American Games in Chile.
“I haven’t played in an event since November, so I’m excited to go out and compete,” Davis said. “I have had a lot of time to practice.”
“I’m more of a go-with-the-flow type of person. The closer I got to college age and watching some friends turn pro at a young age made me want to go to college more. I want to experience more in the outside world before turning pro. I don’t know how long. We’ll see.” — Anna Davis
Davis’ rise to stardom brought up the notion that she might skip college and turn pro after high school. She didn’t want to go back to junior golf this year, so her good academic standing and interest in team competition led her to Auburn, which is not dissimilar to hometown Spring Valley, California, located east of San Diego, because of the small-town feel.
“Beginning my sophomore year in high school, right after I won at Augusta, I’ve been going back and forth about college or pro,” Davis said.
“Playing on a team is super fun. Junior golf is a very individual sport, and playing on international teams proved it’s nice to know people are supporting you. And obviously, being in the SEC, I’m looking forward to football season. There’s a lot to look forward to here.
“I’m more of a go-with-the-flow type of person. The closer I got to college age and watching some friends turn pro at a young age made me want to go to college more. I want to experience more in the outside world before turning pro. I don’t know how long. We’ll see.”
Luellen was unsure whether the Californian could be coaxed into playing at Auburn or the duration of that stint in college. But the coach, team and Davis’ family found a comfort zone despite a trying first recruiting pitch via an on-again, off-again cellular connection soon after the ANWA win as the Davises were camping in the Northwest in the summer of 2022. However, Bill Davis knew all about Auburn as he holds former Auburn football and baseball star Bo Jackson among his sports heroes, annually showing Jackson’s ESPN “30 for 30” documentary to his high school students, a love he passed along to his children. Soon thereafter, an official visit happened for Anna and Billy, and both committed to the Auburn programs in late 2022. Billy, who qualified for the World Wide Technology PGA Tour event last November in Mexico, has one more semester of high school before moving 2,000 miles east.
Davis is majoring in communications at Auburn. She takes three in-person classes Tuesdays and Thursdays this semester (World History, Communications/Journalism and American Government) and two online courses (Sociology and Communications in the Workplace). She has balanced traveling with her academics all through a busy competitive career.
“I did put a little pressure on her this spring as the women’s golf team had the highest GPA of all the teams at Auburn,” Luellen said.
Davis also has taken advantage of the Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) financial opportunities in college. Titleist and FootJoy have long been her equipment, ball and shoe choices, and she is a brand ambassador. Generational Group, a leading investment banking firm, also sponsors Davis.
As for the signature lid, the bucket hat, Davis will wear the hat on occasion but not as a rule. She mixes in Titleist visors, too. She wore the bucket hat in winning the 2022 ANWA, and her family also donned the throwback headwear.
“At Augusta, I just felt like putting one on,” Davis said. “It was a good day for a bucket hat. I won with it on, and it was a huge thing. Pretty cool. I’ll still wear one every once in a while. But I don’t think it’s as big a thing as it was at first.”
Except that as a rookie Curtis Cup practice player, Davis joined the team for a recent dinner at Shuck-N-Dive, a seafood restaurant in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, owned by Curtis Cup captain Stasi and her husband, Danny. All members of the practice party received hats for the dinner – bucket hats with the restaurant logo.
A photo appeared on the USGA website of team practices and dinners. The group shot in the signature hats at the dinner table was notable in that Davis is in the background with a thumbs-up sign. It was another indication that Davis is just going with the flow in this newest golf venture.