Paige back in full swing

A major injury can have a big affect on the career of an athlete. It can mean the end of their time playing that sport or it can mean more work to accomplish the same tasks they could do easily before. However, in the case of UW golfer Paige Mackenize, the back injury she suffered sophomore year meant searching for her first victory in a collegiate tournament. "When I first came back, I didn't work on my swing at all and I hit the ball awesome," Mackenzie said. "All these swing changes that I was trying to go through before I was injured finally fell into place." Coming to Washington as a highly regarded prep golfer out of Eisenhower High School in Yakima, she showed signs of a bright future during her freshman year, with two top-10 finishes. She started off her sophomore season in 2002 looking like she would reach that potential as she finished the UW's first event that fall, the McGuire Invitational, in third place. However, something did not feel right. "I developed stress fractures and I am almost positive it began the spring of my freshman year," she said. "I continued to play on through the summer and through my fall season and it was excruciating." Not only was Mackenzie suffering from stress fractures, but an MRI showed that she had a bulging disc in her back. She had to sit out the rest of the year. "It was one of the most painful experiences physically and emotionally to go through," she said. "It affected every single aspect of my life." That season, the Huskies struggled at the end of the year and ended up finishing 13th at the NCAA West Regionals and missing a swing at the championship. "The amount that we counted on her to be part of our lineup, you can't underestimate the impact of that on a team," coach Mary Lou Mulflur said. "To go from having someone who is good for [a score of] 73, 74 or 75 everyday to replacing her with someone who couldn't break 85, that's a huge impact." Sitting out and watching her team struggle while she could barely move gave Mackenzie a new outlook on life and golf. "I was able to realize that golf is what I want to do, and I love golf more than ever and I realized what it's like to go without golf," she said. "I was also more accepting of where I'm at." Last season, as a redshirt sophomore, she set the UW single-season stroke average record at 74.1 and finished the year with six top-10 finishes, including her only tournament win during her time at Washington. She finished first at the Kent Youel Invitational in Hawaii as she carded a 2-under par with 214 over the three-day event. "I won my first tournament three months after I came back," she said. "I didn't play for 10 months, and three months later I won my first tournament." She suggested that the reason for her success after coming back from her injury was due to a new outlook she had on her golfing career. "It was based on that mentality of I need to let things happen and it'll work," she said. "Now, through the injury, I don't know what I shoot when I come off the course. I just play each hole as it comes, don't try to control the whole round, and don't try to force my swing." Even Mulflur said there was a difference in the second-team All-American after she returned from the injury. "You learn the most about yourself when you have had some adversity, and when you have something taken away from you, you don't know how much you miss it until it's gone," Mulflur said. "For her, she was really forced to take a step back and take a look at why she was playing and what she was playing for, and I honestly believe that the injury has made her a better player and a better person." Mackenzie has continued playing at a high level this season as she has placed in the top 10 in three of four events that the Huskies have played this spring. Her fourth place finish at the Spartan Invitational in March is the highest of any Husky this year. Mackenzie's comeback tour continues in full swing as she climbs the ladder of all-time Husky greats. The game of golf is in her blood, - -- her older brother, Brock, was a two-time All-American for Washington -- and the injury she sustained hasn't stopped her from becoming one of the most decorated women's golfers at the UW.

Paige back in full swing

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