Kimberley’s Julia Dereniwsky signed to NCAA Division I university

Julia Dereniwsky is off to Texas A&M Corpus Christi in September to begin her first year of a full-ride golf scholarship.

For the second time in as many years, a junior golfer from Kimberley, B.C., has been granted a full-ride scholarship to an NCAA Division I University. Tom Vold, director of the Kimberley Golf Club, calls it a historic event.

"I've been around a long time," said Vold, "and they're the only two from this area that I've ever heard of coming out of one golf course. For a small community to have that happen back to back is pretty rare."

Signed this year was Julia Dereniwsky, a 2014 graduate from Selkirk Secondary School. This September she will be beginning her freshman year of university with the team at Texas A&M Corpus Christi—following in the footsteps of 2013 Selkirk graduate Jared du Toit, who just completed his first year with the golf team at University of Idaho.

Growing up golf

Dereniwsky said that a lot of her inspiration comes from her father Kevin, who introduced her to the game.

“When I was three, he’d bring me out and we’d hit balls on the range,” she said. “And he’s helped me pursue it more, taking me to bigger tournaments.”

The two have played together at Kimberley Golf Club for many years, where her father is a member and Dereniwsky works in the pro shop. She also is a junior member of the course, where she takes lessons from Tom Vold.

“Right now, when Tom is coaching me, it’s just working on swing fundamentals and working on different shots, how to play in the wind, how to play wherever,” she said. “I try to get out to the course as much as I can, whether it’s going out to the range or going out to play nine or 18 holes.”

As a seasoned junior golfer at Kimberley, Dereniwsky does what she can to give back and to help other young golfers at the club try to find their niche in the game.

“Last summer I helped Tom with a few junior clinics, teaching kids how to work with longer clubs at the driving range and on chipping and putting,” she said. “We have a few holes set up on the driving range. We cleared that all out and set pins up, then let the kids play to the holes.”

The mental game

The kids she teaches are young enough to not get too stressed when the game doesn’t go their way—something that an older player like Dereniwsky can struggle with. An event she remembers as quite a challenge was the 2013 BC Junior Championship. She didn’t walk away with a win, but she did find a way to push through what she said is one of her biggest weaknesses—the mental game.

“I had one of the worst rounds of the year on my first day, and I was a little frustrated after that,” she said. “So I just thought, ‘tomorrow’s a new day,’ and I went out and played better the next day and shot my career low.”

Since December Dereniwsky has been working with a mental coach, trying to fine-tune the area of the game that she struggles with.

“We do some training sessions through Skype or phone, just working on visualizing shots, how I’d make certain moves, and practicing keeping emotions level through the round.”

Dereniwsky has found that having a coach for the mental side of the game as well as the practical side has proven to be very beneficial, and she is looking forward to working with all the coaches in Texas next year.

Selecting Texas

So how exactly did a school in the southern United States find Dereniwsky, an 18-year-old from small-town British Columbia?

“I went to a college golf combine in December in Las Vegas,” Dereniwsky said. “A bunch of coaches came down to watch the skills competition and the nine hole competition.”

The combine was an opportunity for players who have not yet been seen by recruiters to go out and show what they’ve got. The competition involved skills testing on the front nine, followed by stroke-style play on the back nine—the latter of which Dereniwsky ended up taking first place.

“I’d seen a few coaches around, but they’re not allowed to talk to the players—just the parents,” Julia said. “My dad ended up telling me after the fact that one coach, Carol Blackmar, had given him her business card and said, ‘We’d like to talk.’ "

Though Blackmar had shown interest at the competition, the regulations of the combine meant that Dereniwsky didn’t actually get to meet her until the official visit later on. But it was that visit combined with the full scholarship offer that really solidified Dereniwsky's decision to play for Texas.

“When we went down, I really fell in love with the location,” she said. “I’ve never lived by the ocean, but I’ve always loved it. And the coaching was great and the academics were really great, too.”

Sharing the news with her current coach, Tom Vold, reassured Dereniwsky that she was making the right decision.

“He was really excited,” she said. “Before I went down for the official visit, I talked to him about Texas and he said, ‘Oh, if I could go there, I would go too,' and I came back and told him the news and he was just really excited for me.”

Getting inspired

Dereniwsky's golf career, she said, has been largely inspired by following sports in the media.

“I always liked watching higher calibre play on tv and watching those bigger tournaments,” said Dereniwsky. “Then I started playing bigger tournaments and I realized that this was something I could do and I kept doing it.”

Though seeing big-time golfers on the television screen can be a great motivation from a distance, nothing quite hits home like playing alongside a local success story.

“Watching Jared du Toit, another player from Kimberley, that also encouraged me,” she said. “I’d grown up with him, and the way he furthered his golf career encouraged me to try to pursue mine.”

Dereniwsky also said that while golf may definitely be an option in the future, she will be happy to have a biology degree as well—a degree she intends to use to become a veterinarian.