Tull’s exit leaves a hole in one golf team
As one part of Brooke Tull’s career nears its end, she hopes another awaits her in the professional ranks.

By Janelle Stecklein
Staff Reporter

Senior golfer Brooke Tull said she dreams of playing golf professionally after she graduates next May.

She is well on her way to that goal. She has won four collegiate tournaments, including the Conference USA tournament her sophomore year. Tull has also been named C-USA Golfer of the year each of the past two years, and was TCU’s Female Athlete of the Year for 2002-2003.

These are among numerous other awards.

Tull also played in the Collegiate World Championship in Taiwan two years ago. She was one of five women selected from the United States for the team that finished third out of a field of about 10 world teams.

Currently in her last year of collegiate eligibility, Tull is nationally ranked. She is ranked No. 31 according to www.golfweek.com, and No. 5 in Par-5 scoring according to www.golfstat.com.

Tull plans on playing in amateur tournaments after her college athletic eligibility is up until she graduates.

Head coach Angie Larkin has coached Tull four years and said Tull is “just a special player and a special person.”

Larkin said Tull is respectful, competitive, determined, laid-back and pushes the girls to win.

Also, she is coachable, Larkin said. Tull “takes the good with the bad,” and doesn’t take criticism personally, she said.

“She gives herself in so many ways,” she said. “We hate to lose her.”

Larkin said she sees Tull help other girls with techniques that they need to work on; she will tell the coaches if she sees a certain girl struggling.

Freshman Camille Blackerby first met Tull during her recruiting trip last year. She is now a teammate and described Tull as “fun and outgoing” and very competitive. She said Tull took the time to help her adjust to college and contributed to her golf game by giving her advice and tips.

“She’s an amazing player,” Blackerby said. “You learn so many things from watching her play.”

Tull is inspired by Angela Stanford, a 2000 TCU graduate, who went on to play professionally for the Ladies Professional Golf Association.

Still, Tull said no one has played a bigger role in her success and improvement than Larkin.

“She’s helped me get this far,” Tull said.

Golf has been in Tull’s life for a number of years. She started playing when she was 10 years old because her brother played competitively and her father played for fun.

“My brother was really competitive,” she said of her brother who went on to play at Texas A&M. “He played a lot of junior golf.”

Tull said she had to go along to a lot of his tournaments.

Tull said her parents, Ellen and Richard Tull, who live in Georgetown, have been very supportive of her golf career.

“They’ve gone to all of [my matches] but two so far this year,” Tull said. “They travel a lot. It’s cool for them to be there supporting me.”

She feels that the best part of golf is the competition.

“I like the competition a lot. That’s probably the thing that keeps me going. Wanting to be the best,” Tull said. “Right now, getting to travel around everywhere is really cool.”

When asked what she thinks about while competing, Tull said, “In golf, the key is to play one shot at a time and just focus on that one shot. I just try to relax and have fun.”

Tull said golf does have a downside though.

“You feel like you’re always going especially in the spring, and you never stop,” she said. “Traveling gets hard because you get worn out.

“You miss out on some of the social life stuff, or having one,” she joked.

Tull said she is pretty close to the other girls on the team, and they hang out a lot.

Larkin said Tull’s presence will be missed on and off the links next year.

“She’s a huge part of the program,” Larkin said. “You can replace golf scores, but you can’t replace her.”