Work in progress: Franklin College golfer seeking strong finish during senior year

As a junior, Hannah White finished Franklin College’s fall golf season with the Grizzlies’ lowest 18-hole scoring average (85.25).

The former Franklin Community High School player recognized well in advance that her contributions would be less significant once the Grizzlies teed off their spring campaign.

White, whose double major includes accounting, served an internship at RSM McGladery — an audit, tax and consulting firm on the north side of Indianapolis — from Jan. 30 to April 18.

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The 40-hour weekly workload, combined with lengthy drives to and from her job, greatly limited White’s availability for practices and meets.

“As an accounting major, I knew this internship was coming all along, so I was prepared for it,” White said. “I went to the practices I was able to make it to, and only played in the last two meets in the spring. My coaches and teammates understood.

“As a senior, I should be able to play all of next spring season.”

White placed 16th individually at the Franklin College Spring Invitational at Hillview with a two-day score of 183. At the Transylvania Invitational, she tied teammate Mary Tingle for 26th place with a 102.

Her objective is to work on her game over the summer to get her 18-hole scores back to the mid-80s by the time Franklin College opens its fall season in September.

Grizzlies coach Roger Lundy, who took over the women’s golf program prior to the 2007-08 school year, said White’s passion for the game is what makes such improvement possible.

“Hannah is another young student-athlete that makes playing collegiate sports worthwhile and plays for all the right reasons,” Lundy said. “She loves the game.”

White’s initial exposure to the sport of golf was watching some of her cousins play when she was a third-grader. Without having so much as swung a club, she was intrigued.

“They played golf when we were younger, so I just kind of wanted to join them,” White said. “Hillview (Country Club) was where I first started playing, and then I got some lessons from Scott Downing and the camps over at Gongaware (Golf Academy).

“I like the challenge of golf. It’s more of a mind game than anything.”

White, who played No. 1 as a senior in high school and split time there with a teammate as a junior, is currently serving a second internship — this one at Johnson County Community Foundation.

She has accepted a job offer from RSM McGladery and begins employment there following her graduation from Franklin College.

Until then, there is golf to be played. White hopes for a strong close to her collegiate golf career, both individually and as a team.

Seven of the Grizzlies’ 10 players on the 2016-17 roster were underclassmen.

“My mental game has gotten a lot better in college. It didn’t used to be that way in high school. I would get angry, but I’ve grown out of that,” White said. “I would like to be more consistent and get everything else (academically) out of my head to just focus on the game.”

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Hannah White

Age: 21

Born: Indianapolis

Family: Parents Brian and Cheryl; sisters Becca, 27, and Sarah, 24

High school: Franklin (2014)

College: Franklin College (2018)

Majors: Accounting and business finance

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