FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (December 18, 2020) – It has been two years since
Carly Akine has been a Lumberjack women's golfer, but the lessons she learned have never left her mind.
Born in Phoenix, Akine started playing golf at the age of 10 by just simply going out to the range with her dad and brother and when she began to play more and more, things just clicked. From that point on until she graduated high school, Akine participated in many tournaments and events through the First Tee organizations for young golfers which helped her love and commitment to the sport flourish.
"[First Tee] really just helped me get more involved because they teach you everything from etiquette to their nine core values and it was just always super great to be around an awesome group of people with similar goals," said Akine, who also said it helped her to see that it was possible for girls to play golf and be successful in doing so.
Even though Akine had the ability, the draw to play golf at the collegiate level was not always prominent, but her dream of coming to Northern Arizona University was.
Besides her mom being an alumna, Akine had always loved the mountains and trees and how they almost "hugged" the campus. However, because of the nudges and her former college coach
Brad Bedortha's persistence, Akine decided to pursue golf at NAU which she says ended up being "exactly what I wanted and didn't know she I needed."
While at NAU, Akine studied environmental engineering, a branch of civil engineering, so that one day she would be able to work with water and wastewater, which is exactly what she is doing now.
"Playing golf as well as being involved in such a hands-on and heavy loaded major like environmental engineering and trying to always balance everything definitely taught me so much time management and that has helped me most," Akine said.
Since graduating from NAU in 2018, Akine has been working as a consultant for Carollo Engineers, a water and wastewater company, down in Phoenix. Even though she now works more as a civil engineer she "absolutely loves it."
Amidst the pandemic, Akine says while things have changed drastically, it hasn't been the worst thing despite not stepping foot in her office since March. Her company's transition has been really seamless and it has worked really well and she feels very comfortable with it, although she doesn't get to have face-to-face interaction with her mentors.
"I don't really mind it. I like rolling out of bed and just walking to my computer," Akine said. "I can a lot of the time just call (my mentors) up and we can share screens and do it that way but sometimes it is just not the same."
Even though golf is no longer a part of her everyday life, Akine said she still loves the game and the opportunities it gave her.
"After college, I was so burnt out and didn't play for a year, but now it is cool to be able to play for company tournaments and have women representation," Akine said.
To future women golfers, Akine has a message.
"It is so important to learn skills like time management and how to prioritize things, but it is just as important to have fun and be able to relax. In the grand scheme of things, grades are not the end all be all, but your happiness and mental health are the most important. Golf is just a game, so enjoy it."
