WORDS: Kara Chalmers
PICTURES: Whitney Patton
When asked what she likes about Golf, Phoenix Scanlan said: “I love the winning part.”
This simple statement demonstrates two important things about Phoenix. For one, she has a great deal of confidence – something that’s absolutely necessary to succeed in golf. Also, she wins—a lot.
“It’s basically like a mystery,” Phoenix said, explaining that no two rounds of golf are ever the same. Each time she picks up a club, although she tries to control her shots, anything can happen. “I kind of like that,” she said.
Phoenix picked up golf at age six when a family friend gave her a set of clubs for her birthday. She hit around in her backyard and liked it. At age nine, she started lessons at the Jon Bullas Golf Academy in Sarasota. She also took weekly lessons through First Tee – Sarasota/ Manatee, from ages eight to 10.
Today, Phoenix, 12, is one of the best golfers her age in Manatee County and beyond. John Hulbert, a former professional golfer, currently coaches Phoenix at Missing Link Golf Academy, which he founded in 2000 in Lakewood Ranch.
Hulbert said that Phoenix is talented, obviously loves golf, and has high expectations for herself.
“At nine or 10, you could tell she really had the drive,” Hulbert said. “She’s very focused for her age.”
According to Hulbert, Golf is such a mental game that it can be difficult for anyone, especially kids, to keep their cool. “I would say it’s the top mental game,” he said. “It’s just you and the course and your emotions. It’s probably the toughest of any sport for kids, mentally, for sure.”
Luckily for Phoenix, she might be dying to win on the inside, but it doesn’t show outwardly, Hulbert said.
“If she gets emotional, she knows how to refocus, get back on track and not come unhinged,” he said. “She’s very mature like that.”
Mental Toughness
At a Manatee Junior Tour tournament on a recent Sunday at the Longboat Key Golf Club, Phoenix was calm, consistent, and composed, never rattled. If she was disappointed in a shot, angry or nervous, she hid it well. She played against three other girls around her age, and all were respectful of each other. She displayed more sportsmanship than many adults.
Phoenix is small but strong and athletic — the type of kid who’d likely be good at any sport she tries. She likes playing soccer, football, and tennis, and, from age six to 10, she practiced Tae Kwon Do. After earning her black belt, she switched her focus solely to golf.
She credits Tae Kwon Do with helping to strengthen her body for golf, particularly her arms, but as she says, “You’ve gotta have a technique to hit it far.” In her case, according to her coach, she can drive the ball upwards of 200 yards.
Phoenix is confident but never arrogant. She works on being relaxed enough to have fun and aims to let bad shots roll off her back, the way she said her favorite player, Ricky Fowler, does.
Phoenix emulates Fowler because he “lets it go,” she said. She likes him so much that she only uses the golf balls that Fowler developed with TaylorMade, called TP5 Pix. At the recent tournament, she wore a stylish camo PUMA shirt and hat – the same brand Fowler often wears.
The last two summers, Phoenix attended the U.S. Kids Golf Foundation World Championship at the world-famous Pinehurst Golf Club in North Carolina. In the girl’s age 11 group, Phoenix placed 40th out of 89. It was a result she wasn’t happy with, even though she scored 36 in the first nine holes – a personal best. Also, to get to the world championship is a huge accomplishment – Phoenix had to play in local tournaments and win the tour championship to qualify. Now, she gets invitations to play all over the country and was recently invited to play in Hawaii.
Phoenix also has competed in Drive, Chip, and Putt — a free nationwide junior golf development competition. It was canceled this year due to COVID-19. But in summer 2019, Phoenix, then 10, won all three disciplines (driving, chipping, and putting) at Sarasota’s Bobby Jones Golf Club at the local qualifier. And she won the subregional qualifier at Grand Cypress Golf Club in Orlando.
The regional qualifier was held that September at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach. The best golfers from the entire east coast of the U.S. competed, and Phoenix came in eighth place. Unfortunately, only the winner goes on to the National Finals, conducted at Augusta National Golf Club, and broadcast on the Golf Channel. Again, making it to the regional qualifier was a huge accomplishment for Phoenix, in and of itself.
Phoenix also golfs for her middle school, Sarasota Military Academy. As a sixth-grader, Phoenix is the top-ranked of the six-member team (composed of four boys and two girls, including Phoenix). Every team member except for Phoenix is in the seventh grade. In her twice-weekly matches against other schools, she often plays against eighth-grade kids twice her size. And she still often comes in first.
“I love competition,” Phoenix said. “I don’t mind if I lose. I just kind of love having someone who’s better than me and trying to beat them.”
A Girl with Goals
During her school season (this year, from the start of school through late October), Phoenix plays four days a week – usually two matches and two practices. In the off-season, she takes lessons with Hulbert on Tuesdays and Saturdays for three hours each (more often in summer).
She sometimes plays in tournaments on Sundays. But she does that less frequently these days, usually only once a month. After racking up 70 ribbons, her parents decided her time would be better spent improving her game by taking lessons from Hulbert.
When she has free time, golf is what Phoenix chooses. Since she is lucky enough to live on a golf course and has her own cart, she can step outside and play two or three holes almost any day. When Phoenix golfs for fun, like on Sundays when she doesn’t have a tournament, she’ll play 18 holes with Jim Conahan, a personal trainer and family friend who is also Phoenix’s caddie when she plays in tournaments.
As a caddie, Jim not only helps Phoenix with technical decisions like which club to use. He helps her deal mentally with a bad shot or a bad day. “I try to keep her calm, keep her laughing and keep it light,” Conahan said.
Golf is hard and includes letdowns, Conahan said. It’s how a player responds to those letdowns that’s important. He said Phoenix is competitive but can rebound.
Conahan describes Phoenix as mature, outgoing, and poised. “She has focus, drive, and determination,” he said. “There is no doubt in my mind she’ll succeed at any goals she sets.”
And Phoenix has goals – very clear ones. In the short-term, they include playing under par: under 36 on nine holes and under 72 on 18 holes. She would like to do this by mid-2021. She would like to play golf in high school and then in college, specifically for Duke University, which ties with two other colleges for the best collegiate women’s NCAA Division 1 golf program in the country.
Long-term, she wants to play for the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA).
To reach her goals, Phoenix practices as often as she can. She has two 15- by nine-foot putting greens in her home – one on the lanai and one in her bedroom. Her father, Dave Scanlan, said she’d usually hit a few balls right before bed.
Also, Phoenix views YouTube golf instructional videos and watches Golf on TV. “She’d always rather be out and playing,” Scanlan said. “But yeah, she’ll watch if it’s rainy.”
Couch Caddies
Phoenix is lucky to have parents, Dave and Rachael, who aren’t overbearing or critical – just supportive and easy-going. They both attend all Phoenix’s tournaments, and Dave Scanlan accompanies his daughter every time she plays.
“I’m an older father, and she’s 12,” said Scanlan, 58. “Golf is where we found common ground. She started playing, and I started watching.”
Neither parent plays golf, and neither has an interest in learning. Scanlan said they would rather watch and support Phoenix, and in that way, share the sport she loves. He likes spending time with her, being outside, and enjoying the scenery at beautiful courses.
Also, he has come to love watching Golf on TV, and he researches techniques and gear constantly, sharing what he finds with Phoenix.
“She calls me her ‘couch caddie’ because I read everything about golf,” Scanlan said. “But unfortunately, I can’t read the putting green, which is why I don’t caddie her when she’s playing.
“Besides, I get way more enjoyment out of watching Phoenix than I would playing,” he said. “It looks like a pretty tough game to me, and you know what they say about old dogs and new tricks.”
