Bella McCauley (University of Minnesota) with Emma Carpenter

Emma Carpenter was joined by her University of Minnesota golf teammate Bella McCauley and the Golden Gophers duo discussed their time together as well as the path that has led to Bella to becoming one of the top collegiate players in the country. McCauley was an accomplished junior player in the state of Minnesota and has qualified for the NCAA Tournament the last two years as an individual.

Other topics the two discussed were McCauley’s recruiting process which occurred during Covid restrictions, what led her to stay in her home state, playing in the cold, the early success that lead to getting hooked on golf, how she grew up more as a “feel” player versus diving into the analytics, her devotion to her short game, her ability to perform and go low in pressure situations, winning the Big 10 Championship, and some fun questions to close it out.

Read More:
Website: https://www.5clubsgolf.com/
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/5ClubsGolf
Twitter:
Tweets by 5ClubsGolf
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/5clubsgolf/

[Music] welcome into this five clubs conversation I’m Emma Carpenter and I’m doing something today on five clubs that I have never done before I’m having someone on the podcast who is very very close to me someone I see every single day she is the youngest Minnesotan to qualify for a US Open it was in 2021 at the Olympic Club in San Francisco she’s a two-time Collegiate event winner including the Big 10 championship she Advanced at the NCAA National Championship as an individual two years in a row backto back years it is my teammate my dear friend Isabella McColly [Music] in this Split Second your hands make all the difference it was time for a grip to help them own the moment introducing reverse taper technology to stabilize both hands for a more Square putter face at impact the most important Split Second and golf reverse taper only from Golf Pride respect the grip and with that I welcome in my teammate my dear friend Isabella McColly Bells thank you so much for joining me today on the podcast and thanks for having me I’m super excited I am so excited you are officially the first ever guest that I’ve had on who was like a close friend or a member of my team like all all of the above so this is going to be so much fun I’m so excited I know I’m excited too when you when you asked me if I wanted to join I was like of course is that even a question you’ve been you’ve been so supportive of me over the years and you’ve just been the absolute best so now I’m so excited to have an episode that’s all about you so I we I haven’t gotten to seen you I haven’t gotten to see you since uh you got back from California and we’ll definitely get to a little bit more of that later but how how was the trip to California how was the national championship it was amazing you know so the national championships was hosted in Carl’s Bad at omn Lacosta Resort so just the whole Resort experience itself was amazing um the NCAA just really outdid themselves this year and the venue is amazing so the experience was incredible I can’t Rave enough about it yeah what what was the the most memorable part of all of it yeah for sure I think one of the coolest Parts was you know throughout the whole season you’re you’re just kind of in Grind Mode I feel like The Season’s very very long as you know and so national championships was was just a really cool time to um celebrate the whole year and celebrate what I’ve kind of accomplished and um to have my family there my dad came my grandpa and then my boyfriend surprised me as well when he came out there and so to have all of them and obviously coaches and just it was s it was such a special time with them wow wow oh I wish I could have been there to support you it’s just it it looked amazing could not be more proud of you so definitely want to get to a little bit more of everything that got you there in your experience but so Bells you’re homegrown you’re born and raised here in Minnesota you come from a super tight-knit family you and your little sister Reese are a couple Superstars and your dad who I love and adore is your coach before you became the Bella mully around here in the state of Minnesota and Nationwide in the golf world I want to hear the story of how you really got started in the game of golf yeah absolutely I don’t even know if we’ve talked about this before if we have either but so my dad about like 20 25 years ago he actually used to teach Golf and he had stopped well before I was even born but once my sister and I were born when we became around the age five or six he really just wanted um he loved golf so much himself he just wanted to have to have my sister and I love it that much and um experience what he had experienced through the game and so he kind of just took us under his wing as students and um we’ve been we’ve been his uh his students ever since and we just love it you know I think from ages like six to 10 still very young so we we’re kind of just getting into it just seeing how golf went and then by ages 10 to 11 I’m very competitive so once I kind of was able to start playing in some tournaments and stuff I was I was hooked for sure do you remember the first time that you really either touched a golf club played or the a moment that you had when you really fell in love with it you know I think I don’t remember the first time I like played because it was just so long ago but one of a big one of one big turning point for me was probably the winter of when I was 10 or something which sounds so funny because it was just it’s like 10 like how is that a you know a critical moment in your life but it but I was um it was just kind of a winter where I was like okay like you know in golf in Minnesota you’re in the domes or you’re an indoor simulator so it’s not as enjoyable as being outside and I was kind of at a Crossroads of do I start taking this game more seriously do I really love it do I want to play something else kind of what what I wanted to do and um after that winter of working really hard I saw a lot of really cool results and then from there I was like you know what I’m hooked I want to continue to see that yeah that’s so that actually makes so much sense that you know where because you’re right in the winter time and this is actually something that I want to get to later growing up in Minnesota living in Minnesota year round the challenge es that you face being having to be indoors so it’s interesting that you kind of made that decision and then saw those results and then I mean there’s nothing more motivating than results right oh absolutely couldn’t say it better myself so how about when you realized how good you were how much talent you had because you I mean you were such a dominant Junior golfer so early on and just kept on progressing and getting better and better and better did did your dad did Sean tell you that you were really good or or is this something right away and did you believe him how did how did that go you know that’s really funny I I’ve actually never really thought about that I would say when I was when I was like 12 13 you know starting golf so young I was able to have some success early on in tournaments and that’s just fun you know as a young kid it’s encouraging to have that those results right away and that definitely spurred me on to to keep practicing and keep working hard but I would say when I was um when I was about 14 I I really hit a point where I was doing well in some some bigger Junior events and um just even around here in Minnesota nothing National nothing crazy but I was putting down some some low 70s and some scores that you know turned some heads for someone my age and uh that definitely was was a critical point for me just having that early on in my career it’s just very encouraging and then you know going forward it makes it easier to practice you know you have a taste of what success feels like at least on the golf course and um and then you’re just you’re kind of hooked it’s so true so true I I think about um when I uh when I felt like I really started having a click in college there was like yeah it was actually the time when I felt 100% the most motivated to go ahead and keep practicing it’s like wow this is this is exactly why I do this performing on the golf course performing Under Pressure doing well in these tournaments everything that I’m working for when you get a taste of it it’s like it’s addicting right absolutely so Sean Mr McColly really really loved golf wanted to get you and grease into golf did you play any other sports that’s that’s funny that you ask um I played so I tried like soccer but and I tried some other sports but I just didn’t well one I’m very I’m I’m 5’2 for everyone out there who doesn’t know so kind of some like that’s basketball was immediately out I was kind of like you know what that’s not happening my parents are short too um and I loved horses so I did horse riding for a little bit um that was probably as serious as I got in other sports but honestly it just kind of golf just kind of fell in my lap and I loved it and um I did like that I wasn’t as good in soccer in other in other sports so um you know I didn’t really last long too long and I’ve kind of always stuck with golf yeah no 100% girl that’s totally fair we all we all want to do what we what we’re good at right and and what we have a passion for it seems like seems like it was just kind of what you were born to do I know it’s what you were born to do but so um in speaking of speaking of your childhood and the way that you grew up and and your dad getting you into the game um Bells you were homeschooled up until College was this decision related to golf at all no I get asked that a lot actually a lot of people wonder if homeschool was related to golf as that’s pretty common for some for some Collegiate golfers but actually my parents just decided from right away from the get-go when I was young that they were going to take it year by year and wanted to do homeschool and that was just kind of their decision just a family decision obviously I was too young to even comprehend really the difference um and then as I got older I just really liked it you know we were able to get the social piece um that homeschool doesn’t have out on the golf course and doing fun activities and other groups and things like that and so I just loved home school I loved being able to get school done in the morning and then um being able to be social in other activities afterwards and I think that’s like one thing that’s crucial about homeschool is if you don’t have that social piece it can be really hard it can be really isolating but if you find have if you have other Hobbies or sports or activities that you can do it’s actually it’s it was really beneficial for me so true so true it’s funny you say that because um I grew up going to public school School obviously all my friends who I met in public school I I grew up going to public school so then I always thought that being homeschooled you would miss that social piece but then it was like right away when I met you it’s too funny it’s like whenever we’re writing thank you notes to uh to any staff or any golf course we’re like have Bella write it she’s she’s the best with like knowing knowing how to talk to people and you’ve always like you your your maturity when you came in as a freshman was something I was so impressed with and it was like clearly this girl spends a lot of time around people and um you definitely did not lack that social aspect at all oh well that’s really nice of you to say I will say I’ll take this opportunity to say I had amazing role models in you and Grace in the other seniors so um I definitely learned a lot more about you know how to interact around people and just the social aspect and how to carry yourself thanks to you guys oh well that’s that’s really sweet of you to say and back to homeschooling also a lot of times like you said which I doesn’t shock me that you get that question a lot because we’re seeing it more and more now too that that parents are choosing to homeschool their kids for golf and more and more we’re seeing young boys and girls particularly in sports in general but particularly in golf who are homeschooled solely so they don’t miss out on those Prime Time hours on the golf course um but would you say that you found being homeschooled to have been helpful for golf or to have maybe made you a better player definitely um you know I think golf is definitely one of the sports that one of the reasons I really like it is it’s just it’s an individual game and it’s really the onus is on you to to take you know ownership of your game and where you’re at and being able to improve and so you don’t need a team you don’t need a set time to practice and waiting for people you know it’s not like basketball where if you’re playing a game a match or whatever whatever you even call I don’t even know what you call it but where you’re playing and you have to have your your teammates with you you can just go out and try to improve on golf yourself and so I think that is one one of the reasons golf is just super common for people to homeschool and spend more hours on the courses it’s on you you know it’s on you to practice and get better and I think um I definitely credit homeschool in just success for me in golf as well I mean just having the ability to you know knock out school in the morning and then being able to practice and hang out with friends or do whatever I wanted to afterwards was really help ful it also was you know gave me a lot of flexibility in um in weather too so sometimes I would do school if it was a really rainy day I’d get I knock out a bunch of subjects early on in the day or that whole day and then the rest of the week I’d have a lot more time to go on the golf course so with homeschool you can just be really flexible and that part was super nice totally totally that that I’m sure that’s super nice that flexibility and also just habit creating I’m sure that you learned some really amazing habits like you said golf I mean golf is an individual sport uh and you you don’t need a team you don’t need a set time when a lot of people I’m sure uh transitioning if say that you started out with golf camps or you started out with golf private lessons into maybe a high school golf team whatever it is and you’re used to that structure but you’re not necessarily used to okay I have six hours free in my day how do I structure practice how do I make this time productive on my own I’m sure that you developed amazing habits at a really young age no that’s that’s really nice of you to say well one thing I will say that it transitioned into was even college and just um you know the time management schedule often in high school from what I hear in public school you know it’s a very structured you’re told what to do in college obviously people learn to to have to schedule their own Time and Time manage really well and that was something I’d kind of already learned um learned with homeschool and golf and being able to do that at a young age has really helped me in just in life definitely definitely yeah that’s so interesting that makes a lot of sense for sure now Bella you’re making me want to homeschool my kids one day I’m a huge proponent it’s not for everyone it’s okay there’s there’s pros and cons to everything of course absolutely but so you mentioned weather and that’s something that I I really want to talk about something that I obviously experienced growing up in Illinois then moving even further up north you born and raised in Minnesota living year living excuse me living year round in Minnesota people are always asking me this question and I’m sure you always get this question how how are kids from Minnesota getting so good how did you get so good when you can only play for four or five months out of the year maybe yeah absolutely that’s a great question you know I I kind of try to look at it as a challenge rather than an obstacle and just um you know it it can be a really big asset if you choose to make it one I really entered I kind of compartmentalized the two seasons of winter and summer and just said okay during the winter I’m going to spend a lot of time working on my golf swing working on fundamentals working on things I need to work on that I don’t want to in the summer months when I’m on the golf course and playing and so then once I hit summer I was able to just enjoy playing golf and enjoy being on the golf course and trying to put down a good score whereas in the winter I was able to just work on swing so compartmentalizing and making it feel like a positive was really key and honestly just a lot of a lot of motivation and just trying to find that motivation during the winter months whatever it might be a podcast or um a video or whatever it is just keeping in mind what the motivation is during those summer months where it can get long and boring um and know why you’re why you’re doing it once summer comes so specifically you know for all especially especially for all of the all of the Young Junior golfers who might be listening who are are interested in working on their game over the winter months if they’re from the mid mid Minnesota or the midwestern area or anywhere where it gets cold over the wintertime what did a week of practice look like for you how did you structure that how many hours did you put in yeah so I tried to change things up a little bit as much as possible I have a net in my basement so I would spend a couple days a week down there and then we would go to a dome or a Simulator the other couple of days a week I would probably do two to three hours of practice a day six days a week during the winter um which isn’t crazy anything compared to to Summer but it was just consistent and I think that was key and um just creating the time and finding the time to go do that and uh it it just really paid off and having in dividends really like just muscle memory um was super key and just I spent a lot of time biding with my golf swing uh when I could find a putting green I would and then on occasion we’ we’d we’d be able to go down south and play play a couple of rounds but most of the time it was just repetitive it was just continuing to work on the things that you know I wanted to work on right right are you uh are you a big proprietor for uh trackman do you do you really like technology or would you mainly just kind of look at video or feel how did you feel especially during the winter months so growing up I almost never used trackman I don’t even think I really knew how to use it until I got to golf college and I’m just more of a field player I can see things a little bit better um my dad likes to say I have a pretty good golf IQ so just like being able to see things and um having a good feel on the golf course was more my strength than being super analytical but I will say since I’ve gotten to college I’ve been able to use trackman quite a bit a bit more to my advantage and um really specifically getting technical with distances carries and um you know even just weather or altitude kind of factoring that in before different tournaments and wherever we might be traveling so those kind of different things different tests and whatever but most of the time I would say once I’m on the golf course I’m not analytical um I’m a lot more field player and I kind of just go with my gut yeah yeah I love that that’s super interesting do you do you ever use trackman to actually work on your golf swing and numbers or do you mainly just look at those carry numbers and distances because I know especially when we’re all spring when we’re in side and trying to prep for tournaments car carries uh distances are what we look at a lot being able to dial in on how far your Club clubs are going but do you work on swing stuff at all sometimes you know when I’m specifically trying to work on club path I I have a bit of a tendency to come from the inside a little bit and so sometimes seeing that those numbers on trackman can be can be helpful for me to to have a feel of where I’m at sometimes if something feels off in my swing I’ll know that it’s probably has something to do with my club path there and coming from from the inside again so I’ll pull it out for that but most of the time it’ll just be used for carries and totals especially leading up to tournaments when I don’t want to be overthinking too much technical stuff within the golf swing yeah totally totally I love that that’s super interesting that’s actually it’s it’s a similar answer to um what I give when people ask me what I do in the winter time um although it’s different from you and that um I spent so much I practically learned to play golf on track Man actually super that’s crazy like I like learned to play golf on trackman and um it was kind of like I felt like looking at numbers made me a field player in a way like my coach would be like okay um now hit a shot where it goes 80 feet high and I you know would do whatever I I felt to to get it to go 80 feet high rather than 110 and then he after I did that he’d say okay so what you like that worked you hit it 82 or whatever um what did you feel to get that done so if was really helpful for me worked a lot for me but um I always answer the question in terms of what I work on in the winter time to actually it’s it’s a really good time to work on the work a lot on technique and work a lot on um some fundamentals rather than when you have the opportunity to play golf like there’s so much to learn out on the golf course that you can’t learn when you’re not playing like all about your golf IQ your course management your just everything that goes into being a good golfer a lot of it you need to learn on the golf course but I definitely answered that question in a similar way to you for sure did you really enjoy learning golf on trackman that’s just so different to me I’m curious I know well and it’s so different for most people too because you know trackman isn’t isn’t even that uh old like it’s it’s relatively new um and now uh Gary Williams did a did a podcast with I I believe it was Ryan armor and uh PJ Tour player and he was saying like yeah you know I’m just kind of learning now about club path and Club face like here’s a professional golfer who’s insane and is just now learning because that’s that’s not what they did back in the day right it’s it’s interesting to me um and you know our teammate Megan like I we were talking about we were hitting one time and she had a golf ball and her club path was like 1.2 and then she was like wait so like does that mean I came from the inside or the outside Bella I laughing at her like I literally was like are you J like are you joking like sure have been one of the best players in the nation for like 10 years and you don’t know like you don’t know what that me and you don’t need to like you don’t you don’t need to so some people at works for me I really liked it sometimes it was a little bit of a crutch and I would feel like I would go back to it and like obsess over it more than I needed to um but because it’s all about at the end of the day but uh it’s just you you don’t need it like different people have different preferences absolutely I I couldn’t agree more that’s just so interesting because I was on more on Meg’s perspective office that end didn’t really know how to use track man uh till college and so that’s really that’s really cool that you that you kind of learned it from the get-go yeah yeah and I I feel like it helped me learn a lot about the golf swing like whenever I’ve coached any lessons or anything like I feel like I um you know I know what swing delivery to the golf ball produces what kind of shot so I feel like whenever I can articulate that to someone that I’m helping it can help a lot but well that would definitely make sense because I feel like you’re one of your strengths at least that I’ve noticed is being able to shape the golf ball or work different shots and you know that that would definitely make sense if you grew up on trackman and knew how to do that yeah no for sure and that’s something that we did all the time it was let’s hit a cut let’s hit a draw now say you were behind a tree how how how much can you draw it we would we would play games even like y my coach would call it dialos shot he’d be like give me this path in this face and do this and that but I love that what I should have been working on is hitting it as straight as you Bella that’s what I should working on oh but so you know back to back to the weather BS I would ask if the Minnesota weather has like made you tougher but I feel like I know the answer to this question because no so bad I hate the weather I’m so so I’m such a freeze baby you and I for for those that don’t know out there em and I are definitely the freeze babies on the team we hate the cold we hate it all I will go up like truly almost every single golf tournament I think I play Maybe 80% of the rounds I played I started the round in three layers yeah yeah no seriously like a lot like I just I hate the cold I’d rather be hot than cold and so people ask like why do you like Minnesota then and you know I think we TR so much it doesn’t seem to necessarily impact that and plus when we’re here we’re not playing golf outside I’m like I just don’t like playing golf in the go yeah right so uh we just we just get through that but uh yeah definitely not made me tougher but it’s okay it’s so it’s so funny like the the conversations that you and I have had and then the teams have had with us the teams had with us because we’re always like how many layers can I possibly put on to swing the club like or I’ll be it’s like 60 degrees and I’ll be wearing my beanie and then Grace will be like seriously like you need a beanie and I’m like I’m I’m comfortable okay I’m comfortable I love that for you I totally feel that in every single level seriously seriously like coach sometimes would be like man it’s cold like honestly I’m just worried about you and Bella like I’m just worried about you and Bella no for real I think the most I got was to five layers we don’t we had a tournament our I’m sure you remember our fresh my freshman year in Kansas in the fall and it was it was October it was 34 degrees as a high I mean it had to have been the high for the day and like 20 M hour winds and I just remember having at least five layers on and being probably some of the most miserable I’ve ever been I was like this this this is terrible terrible are you talking about Kansas yes Kansas oh my gosh that was that and it was the wind too because the wind gusting that was bad that was that was bad that was really bad do you remember my GTE any five goch anybody uh it’s a it’s a heated it’s like a h you can strap it around your waist and you can put your hands in it’s actually like electrical and it warms up your hands that thing is so nice I brought that but where were we though where it was one of the coldest it was all year and you had the gtec or something and you didn’t wear it I that’s no see that’s my mistake this is my mistake I am the somehow I somehow no matter how hard I try I am always the most unprepared person it is so it’s truly sad like I oh um like it was po Bella when it was pouring down rain in Tucson and coach was like Emma where’s your rain jacket I was like oh it’s in the van like I brought it with me I just didn’t bring it on the golf course why I have no idea we’re actually in golf course there’s no reason why not to but so yeah brought the Gtech and then just like left it in the hotel because what because it’s it’s making really good use there right oh my gosh it it has amazed me sometimes where we get to a course and I’m like it is it is raining like the whole the whole week raining and there will be there’ll be no rain jacket or umbrella n or umbrella holder the holder I I don’t think I remembered the umbrella holder once like I don’t think that ever made it you know it’s okay I think we’ve all been there though on a level so we always knew you were relatable I never learned yeah I was a fifth year senior never learned never learned but so um now going into uh rewind here we are retelling all these stories from when we were teammates rewind to when you were getting recruited Bella I remember vividly we talked on a call when I was a sophomore and you would have been a junior in high school um I believe and uh very early on so I mean gosh years ago now three four years ago now and uh um I I remember meeting you on the call and I remember how uh big of a recruit you are how big of a deal it would have been if we if we got you to commit here so can you just tell me a little bit about your recruiting process and what the deciding factors were for you in choosing the University of Minnesota yeah really good question you know so I was recruited during covid and just that whole process process was really crazy because of the Dead period so I actually wasn’t even able to go visit a lot of schools during Co which was which was really interesting during the recruiting process because I think a big deal is just how you how do you feel on campus you know what’s house safety what’s you know how do you how close is it to the to the golf course just a lot of things that you it’s hard to tell unless you’re there right and so that was really interesting you know um I was able to spend a lot of time on the phone with coaches though so that was a plus you know they didn’t have anything else to do except talk to recruits so I spent a lot of time doing that and you know towards the end uh Minnesota Minnesota was one of my top picks we had a coaching change um you know during that year for you guys and uh and so I was recruited under under a different person than you were um and so so that was that was definitely different seeing how minnesot who was end gonna end up being the head coach I didn’t know for a while so it was kind of an interesting time where I was like I really can’t make a decision if I don’t know who the head coach is going to be or what the changes would look like there and uh I just remember but I just remember really loving the Team Dynamics at the U that was one of my biggest criteria I love talking with you and Grace um and just everyone on the team was so nice so welcoming it’s very understated I think in the recruiting process or just in sports in general how important it is to have good Team Dynamics and good teammates because you really are doing life with them you’re spending day and day out on the road at practice at workouts everything and so if you don’t really mesh with the people you’re spending time with that can be really hard so that was a huge thing for me um I really was attracted to the idea that Minnesota’s home you know and I was be close to my family and I’d be able to represent the home school and then also you know having finding out that R was the coach and Coach Matt was was her assistant and just having them as coach Coes was was really exciting for me real that um was huge as well so those were kind of some of my main factors but it was it was definitely different it was different because I wasn’t able to take my official visit till after I I committed and a lot of the other schools I had to go there on unofficials or visit myself no kidding wow I I always I always say that it was like your class and the class above you really just so hard with with covid and recruiting but obviously everything worked out the way that it should for you and um I couldn’t be happier but so and not only uh have you chosen to come here but your little sister Reese McColly who’s a another Superstar is gonna be a freshman this coming year um Bella I’m like joking but I’m also never been more serious Sean does he not already have like so many people knocking on his door being like can you coach my kid you know actually it kind of does he has he’s like I’m going you know like we’ll be talking and I’m like oh what are you doing today and he’s like um just gonna go help out someone out with their golf swing and like oh just for fun like you’re just gonna go he’s like yeah it’s great it’s great gonna chat with some people gonna help them figure out their golf swing I’m like okay have fun so nice of him he just loves the game he’s such a student of the game and he’s really good at just um helping people with everyone has a kind of a different swing and he’s really good at um analyzing that and also just encouraging people at where they’re at in their game too so um really really been fun to work with him as a coach oh gosh well that’s so nice that he’s so willing to help people I mean he went two for two in a pretty big way and that he coached I can’t even I can’t even believe like my dad always says gosh what did Mr mccol do seriously those two girls are so good that’s so nice no I’m but I am very excited to have Rees on the team you know it’s that’s going to be just an incredible experience I think I I think about it and I’m like you know there’s a lot of siblings in sports obviously but to have them on the same team I feel like there’s not many and I that’ll just be memories that’ll have last a lifetime absolutely I think you know even just the the team trips and you know rooming together and all of that that’s going to be so fun so fun and you guys are already so close and now you’ll just be even closer having to getting to share the college golf experience and college experience together it’s going to be so amazing I I wish I could be here for a sixth year to be teammates with Rees as well but we wish so too but so BS when I describe your game to people I always say that you’re never going to miss a fairway and pretty much from inside 150 especially 100 you’re always gonna hit it in super tight to the flag and when your Putter’s on you’re probably going to shoot in the low 60s so I as far as technique when um specifically with how good you are um inside 100 uh do you have a system that you use do you have a clock system or anything that you use for for your wedge distances okay I see what you’re yes I see what you’re saying I spend a lot of time as you said like a 100 yards in it that’s really where I spend a lot of time I think when I was at the US Open in 2021 I had um my dad actually had a convers ation with um one of the janard sisters actually her caddy and he was saying that she spends about 80% of her time 120 yards in in and that’s coming from one of the best players in the world and so I was like you know if that’s good enough for her that’s good enough for me so I uh I spend a ridiculous amount of time on the pting green around the green and like I said I’m a very field player so it’s not as much technical as you would think um just kind of feeling different shots but I would say when it comes to specifically wedge distances I would it’s kind of almost just like muscle memory you almost have a um have an idea of okay just just past waist high you know is is 40 yards a little bit further back is 50 yards whatever all the way up and so having but just continuing to do that repetitively was really ingrained in me and um eventually you know you can get within a couple of yards at least at at a short distance and so that’s kind of what I just like to do and and it’s it’s nothing special it’s really just being on the Range or by a short game area and just doing it again and again for a couple hours and you’re like all right now I feel pretty good about my 40 yard chat right right defin but yeah it’s it’s um I think it it tends to be a little bit over complicated I think if you’re uh if as long as you’re working on it and you’re putting the pre time in it’ll it’ll definitely come I I would also say that everyone has a different has a different uh philosophy how do they go about it and some people are a little bit more technical one thing that I definitely want to continue to improve on over the next couple of years is just my variety of shots I’m a very stock shot kind of player which is really good for Midwest courses and um I would say I even do fine in Florida courses but sometimes when the greens are raised um at least I saw in in actually in at the national championships in California sometimes when the greens are rays and around the greens um it can be a little harder with low shots and that tends to be more of my my tendency around the greens and so um being able to just work on a variety I think will be really helpful for me going forward yeah well I remember we were having that conversation a lot with with the bounce on your wedge too and yeah importance in the ability to get it up super super high when we were when we were messing around in our in our indor facility yeah you were schooling me with the with the 21 game I said I said we gotta go back to the other w we gotta go back biggest biggest upset in the history of the game but so and how about I mean how about with the driver seriously whenever I see you miss a fairway I like probably audibly guessed like what happened oh my God so do you you know I’ve seen you hit both draws and cuts you hit it pretty darn straight most of the time do you have a stock shot that you hit with the driver every single time or do you switch it up based on how the hole is shaped I would say have a stock shot in general and not just with driver it’s almost always a it’s almost always a draw I can hit a cut if I need to um sometimes I’ll wake up on the I’ll wake up and on the Range you know there’s a little bit more cuts and I’m like oh I guess we’re going with that today but most of the time I always just try to hit a hit a stock draw and that’s actually really nice sometimes on the golf course because one thing you want to feel in tournament golf is just comfortability and knowing that you can always go back to that draw is really key for me so when I pick out an Aiming point and I’m you know even if I’m not as confident in my game I don’t have to worry about that because I know that I’m always going to hit that draw right so that part’s really nice you know getting to that point it’s really just repetitive for me on my golf swing I spend a lot of time just working on the same things and you know when if you can get it to that point it’s it’s um it’s a lot more easier to rely on that and be consistent and be comfortable on the golf course with the shot you have but some you know other days you wake up and it’s not going the way you want you just have to you just have to learn to play with what you have I think it was it might be Jack Nicholas who said that um you know he the range session is used to warm up and to just see what with what you’re working with that day you know we’re not we’re not robots so waking up and sometimes it’s cut sometimes it’s dry sometimes it’s snap Hooks and you just got to figure out a way to get around right right no could could not agree more so true well b i really really really and this is something that I’ve always wanted to do to sit down and just pick your brain about this and this is the perfect time to do it Bella clearly you have something that the vast majority of people do not have not only are you capable of shooting rounds as low as 63 64 65 but you’ve done that in the highest pressure situations you’ve performed under pressure more times than I can count so many times that I’ve witnessed firsthand from State tournaments to us Juniors to the US Open qualifier coming down the stretch with mid to low 60s rounds with one stroke on the line for the win and you’ve performed when was the first time that you really proved to yourself that you could perform when the pressure was at an all-time high that’s a really good question I would say at a let me just think I would say at a small level when when I was 12 I won the 12 and under championship and just the feeling of winning you know I think is a really key feeling in in competitive golf um you we all play to win right but knowing what that feeling is like and knowing what it’s like under pressure to be close to winning and actually having to accomplish that is is another feeling and so I think doing that at a young age was super helpful for me another I would say really critical point um that kind of took another level than than that was qualifying for the US Open yeah in 2021 and I was actually quite a few Strokes behind going into the last nine holes and I came through the last nine I think I shot four under or something last night to to make it by one and so having some of those moments like I said just knowing what it’s like to be under pressure and being able to perform is it’s very it’s very nice to have that feeling of being like okay I I know what what it’s like and can go back to that because I’ve done it time and time again and so um even just as uncomfortable as it might be in the moment putting yourself in those kind of positions is really helpful for future golf to or any sport in general totally well and the reason why I ask is because as we know as we see as we witness even at the highest level it’s so hard to get that first win that first major qualify for that first tournament even make your first birdie all of it but it’s like once you do it then you keep doing it and you do it over and over and over and over again and like once you proved to yourself yeah I mean I’ve done this before I’ve been here before then it changes everything so it’s interesting to hear you say that like when you win the 12 and under Championship it’s like it makes me think that you know maybe for uh for any parents who are getting their kids in golf like if you can put your your kid in in tournaments and they can win small junior tournaments it’s it’s getting them that winning feel feeling that that those pressure situations even though you know nothing is really at stake it’s all it’s all just for fun it’s all just for learning but still it’s it’s I mean it’s the biggest learning moment no absolutely and you know when I came to college obviously it’s another level I mean every single tournament you’re playing against 80 plus girls that are all playing very well and so to be at the very top and actually Edge that out and win those events that’s that’s crazy so going off freshman year I I didn’t win any which you know I I wasn’t that was definitely my goal is to win an event but I wasn’t uh you know too disappointed because I knew how difficult it was it was but then coming into my sophomore year winning the first event that was just so um so encouraging for me because that’s just that’s why we play golf and that’s and that’s or at least competitive Golf and you know being able to do that um at the start of the freshman year definitely uh allowed the rest of the year kind of set a tone for it for sure so BS I I just have to know I have to know what goes on in your head and this is the perfect time to ask you I remember going into last year’s Regional when you qualified uh for last year’s Regional as an individual you were outwardly saying like oh you know it’s so hard to qualify I don’t think I’ll qualify and then you you shot 74 at the first round and followed up with a and after you shot 74 you’re like yeah I’m probably I mean I probably won’t qualify and Then followed up with 6768 then this year you started with a one not one your Regional but qu qualified for the national championship got that spot and then this year started with a 5 over 77 then one over 73 better and then final day shot a seven under 65 to take second place and go to the National Championship yet again as an individual backtack years I actually wanted to find the stat but I couldn’t figure it out I’ve been saying for the last couple weeks now ever since you did it I’m like I want to know how many people have qualified as an individual for the national championship back toback years because seriously that is an unbelievable anybody who knows anything about college golf is like knows that that is an unbelievable accomplishment so I mean just cannot give you enough praise and I mean admiration everything that you’ve done so impressive but I mean the the final rounds even if you got off to a slow start I just got to know what takes over for you in that final round what is it honestly I don’t know I don’t really know I think it’s just gut instinct um and just being in those positions enough and then being able to go from there I it’s weird because it’s not like I put more pressure on the last round or anything I just kind of go into it and try to do my best most of the time but I will say that mid round when there’s um I know what I need to be at sometimes that that definitely Spurs me on even more okay yeah see that’s that’s super interesting like so you don’t necessarily approach the final round any differently but once you know you’re within Striking Distance you sort of approach that differently yeah so for example this year at regionals in the final round I was playing good you know at first when you’re starting you kind of just have to feel where the game’s at that day you know and I was like okay feels pretty good I’m a couple under on on the front and um and then heading into the back after 15 I asked coach and I said hey where am I at I know I’m close where am I at here and she said you’re one back with three to go and the leader is actually in the clubhouse already so it’s just you out here and I was like okay all right I know what I need to do so I’m bir 16 par 17 and then I told I walked up to coach Matt and I said coach Matt I hate playoffs like I don’t want to do playoffs I hate playoffs I hate it he goes do something about it then I go okay so then uh hit to didn’t hit it that close I hit it to like 25 feet made the pot didn’t have to do a playoff that is actually it was one of the most electric videos I’ve seen in my entire life like I was going crazy watching this live on on golf set and then seeing that video afterwards that was I was going to bring up that story because coach retold she told me this whole story about how you’re coming down the stretch of the final round I mean mind you you shot the lowest round of the tournament by four by four four strokes and um she’s like yeah so get this bell is coming on last hole and she’s like oh I hate playoffs then I guess that then we’ll just make birdie seven under like I actually can’t even I can’t even fathom how like awesomely insanely impressively hilarious that is like that is so and I mean she coach also told me a funny story about the Big 10 championship and even coming off after your first round after the Big 10 Championship it was one over and you’re like yeah you know played played pretty well um you know you had a great attitude but like then two days later you shoot nine Strokes better you shoot eight under par 64 in the final round to win the Big 10 championship and I mean it was just it was so much fun to to be there and be with you during it all um tied the tournament course record just absolutely unbelievable but coach said that coming down the final hole and we obviously we’re all standing there watching you and Coach went and approached you and I was like what is coach doing like Bella ate under par why is she getting in her face right now like what is she thinking like you don’t get in her zone right now you don’t get in her bubble like she’s doing something like magical right now but coach said that you actually called her over and said like you know where am I at do I need to make birdie whatever and she said that you had like a specific shot of that you would have hit if you needed to make birdie as opposed if you needed to make bar can you tell me about that yeah so I just kind of talked with coach and I was like Hey like I know I know I’m close I don’t really know where I was at I had zero idea I knew the cameras were fing me so I had to have been pretty good but I really had no idea if I was leading by a lot if I was losing by a l I didn’t know so I said coach hey like I need to know where I’m at here she’s like okay like what like afterward she’s like why did you need to know and you know so I believe I hit an eight iron to that green because I knew I needed I needed um to make par to at least like continue on with a with a potential playoff or whatever was going to happen at least tie the co- Champions and um but I knew if I needed birdie I was actually going to be a little bit more aggressive to that pin and um so the way this pin was it was a front pin you know it’s a little bit there’s a there’s a little bit of false front um with some Fringe and then there’s a bunker to the right and so my plan was to hit eight iron kind of more to the middle of the grain to put par where as I knew if I needed birdie to tie or to win I was gonna actually Club down be a little bit more aggressive on the line and um and try to get really close to the pen and if hope like hopefully not come up short so that was kind of my game plan in there but then I knew since I was already Ted I was like Hey I’m going to just try to get out of here with a bar yeah yeah got it so well and with that being said you know making that decision that you wanted to make par on that hole and this trend of your final rounds just being insanely low whether it was for a win or for trying to qualify for uh the national championship are you taking that approach when you know that maybe you thought you were so far out of it that you’re like hey I might as well just fire at every pen is that kind of is that the mindset that you had in Auburn at your Regional or most of the round of the final day at Big 10s I would say it it like I said the mindset doesn’t normally change I would say almost always have a mindset of trying to um trying to just go at most pins that one was a little bit different though just because of the circumstances and I needed I just wanted to kind of have an idea of where I was at going into the last hole and knowing exactly what I needed to do but with 54 holes ahead of you I typically don’t have like too much of a mind so I’m like just try to aim up F here and see what happens but kind of going back to golf I I that I mentioned earlier there’s definitely pins that I know I can’t go at and ones that I know I can so going into a hole I’ll see it and depending on how I like the hole what club I have in and where the pin is located I’ll determine if I’m going to go out the pin or not yeah so it’s not necessarily a mindset for a day it’s more of just shot by shot yeah okay okay got it well it’s kind of interesting because you know with you taking it super deep on these final days normally day three pens are some of the hardest pens but you’re going actually honestly they were the hardest pins but I knew I was so far out of it I was like you know what might as well go for things see what happens um you know tried to normally I’m still pretty aggressive in all the days but I was like well might as well be especially aggressive sometimes it’s an unintentional too sometimes I’ll pull it a little bit and I’m like oh it’s actually going right at the pin yeah that that that’s what the the pros say too that they’re never is if it’s a really you know how what people call a sucker pin they’re not going to try to go right at it most if they do it’s because they tugged it or pushed it a little sometimes it was unintentional how how good it ended up that’s funny that’s funny well B before we wrap up here uh in our final five clubes five questions I gotta ask you one more thing I know that we’ve had this conversation a million times uh just you and I about you having aspirations outside of playing professional golf but after this Clinic that you’ve put on over the last month or so are you really not thinking about it anymore you know for me I think just in golf in general and in life in general I try to just take it one step at a time I’ve always just viewed it as one year at a time and so for me right now I’m really just trying to focus on the the next year of college golf and enjoying that and trying to play the best of my abilities a lot of things can happen in a couple years so um just trying to take it step by step and enjoy that and and then see what happens so maybe maybe now I don’t know we’ll see yeah well I mean gosh it’s funny I’m not gonna lie to you when Grace and I were sitting here watching the scores we’re like and she’s really not gonna play pro golf like she can do something that like she can do things that I’m lots of people who choose to play professional golf can’t do it’s it’s it’s remarkable and I mean who’s to say maybe if professional golf’s not your passion it’s not your passion hi Leed better and I talked a lot about this on on my podcast with her at the end of the day if it’s not what you want to do it’s not what you want to do if it’s not your lifestyle that’s totally fine but I was just curious because you you definitely have what people call that it Factor no thank you so much I I love golf and I know I’ll always keep it in my life I think it’ll be interesting to see how the next couple of years progress I would say definitely one of the the most difficult things uh about pro golf in general is just like you mentioned the lifestyle and so um you know when time time comes too and making that decision um it’ll be interesting to see but right now just trying to enjoy the moment love it absolutely absolutely and you got lots to look forward to so BS now uh here we got our five clubs five questions for you before I’ll send you on your way but number one who has been a golfer that you have looked up to uh since you started playing easy absolutely absolutely Amy Olen she is now a retired LPGA golfer from North Dakota she was homeschooled like me she played for her home state um she’s like from I’ve actually played with her from everything I’ve I’ve witnessed and from everything I’ve heard she is an incredible human being even more so than a golfer um she is just definitely someone I admire both on and off the golf course wow love it love it all right number two um besides I know rest is really big for you before events I I know you love getting your like 9 to 11 hours of sleep if you can besides that do you have any superstitions I don’t I don’t have superstitions um yeah I don’t I don’t have any at all I I’m very like routine oriented though so like having my routine is really key and um doing things that I know have like worked well for golf you know having protein before round so I’m not hungry during the round or um you know a certain amount of practice is just more routine but I wouldn’t say I have any superstitions got it interesting yeah I always say I always proved my superstitions wrong I would I would so then I was like okay it’s just work all right uh number three what’s been your favorite memory at the University of Minnesota so far it can be with me it doesn’t have to be with me I won’t take offense oh gosh that’s a really hard question I would just say you know some some of the best memories are not even on golf course and just with the team um Team van rides and team being with you guys the airport or just all of that like that’s definitely some of the best memories um laughing about you not bringing umbrella to Augusta when it’s pouring rain that’s a pretty good memory um but just honestly the best ones are off the golf course and spending time with you guys oh I couldn’t agree more I couldn’t agree more we got a pretty funny team too we got got a lot lot of goofies on the team so uh so it was we always had fun all the time we had fun oh yeah we had a great team I couldn’t agree more I don’t I can’t remember if I uh if I said I agree with you or not but I having your coach your coach and your teammates 100% makes or breaks your college experience you can go to what you thought would have been your dream school if you don’t gel with your coach with your teammates it’s you’re not going to be happy that that’s always what I say too is is one of if not the most important factor when choosing a school couldn’t agree more yeah all right so number four Bella I gotta ask a question about this you and I Bond over it all the time I know how much you love shopping we love to talk if you had to pick what’s your absolute favorite store that you could not live without aritzia for sure I knew it hands down hands down that are Starbucks I have a Starbucks here right now I I don’t think I could do without those lemonades I don’t know it gets me through bad days it really does those long grind sessions but aritzia for sure like I wouldn’t have a wardrobe without it that’s that’s actually exactly what I was going to guess I told my mom I was gonna ask you that question and she was like probably Lululemon I was like I think she’s gonna say Ria no definitely Ria definitely Starbucks the strawberry asai lemonade will never not make me think of you it always will be oh thank you I I really don’t think I ever I ever ordered didn’t order it this year which is maybe not good considering how much sugar it has but oh it’s okay it’s okay you we’re treating ourselves you’ve earned that to say the very least but so final question Bella you have achieved so much in your career prior to college and then now even just in the last two years since we’ve been teammates what’s been the highlight of your career so far specifically golf related highlight of my career was winning Big 10 hands down you know I that’s just one of the things in um in when you’re growing up you’re just like okay you’re you’re hypothetical making a putt in the dome you know and you’re like okay this is to win the Big 10 Championship right and especially once I committed and I was following the Big 10 leaderboards during your sophomore and junior year and stuff and I was looking forward to playing in it and it was just um that’s just a dream come true really and um being able to win it you know a lot of I’ve had been a blessed in a lot of experiences in golf but being able to win an event like that I think that’s just something you’ll carry with you always um whether you continue to play golf down the road or not you know that’s just always something you’ll have totally totally wow and I could not be happier for you it was it was the best ever to watch that happen and you’re 100% right you’re going to be a big 10 championship for Big 10 Champion for life like yeah that is so cool that is so cool well Bells thank you so much for joining me today on five clubs I love you it’s been an honor to be your teammate and your friend I’m gonna like cry but I can’t wait to see everything that you’re going to do and you are just you’re awesome so thanks so much for for the time today no I just appreciate being on it’s always been an honor just to watch you in your in your career and what you’re what you’re continuing to do so I’m just glad I can be a part of it [Music] thank you so much Isabella McColly for joining me today on five clubs it’s been an absolute honor to be teammates with such a great person and such a great player and such an amazing friend so keep an eye out for Bella five club’s listeners and keep an eye out for the Gopher women’s golf team the full moli sister Duo is entering college golf and they’re going to be a force to be reckoned with so thanks again Bella five clubs listeners if you don’t already know her name this is one you’re going to really want to look out for and you are going to keep seeing so thank you for tuning in and I’ll see you next time on five clubs [Music]