Enjoying the Little Things with Big Plans Ahead
Apr 21, 2023 | Women's Golf, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
The metronome, the old familiar friend that allows Kansas State senior women's golfer Manon Donche-Gay to swing in rhythm, beats through her head as she wears headphones prior to a tournament. The tick-tock, tick-tock, lulls her into a zone, almost a trance, and she hits her wedge up-and-down and up-and-down, or taps a putt on cue. It's a skill learnt through hours of practice on the fringe and the cushy greens at Colbert Hills Golf Course.
The metronome beat will fill her head again as she embarks upon her final Big 12 Women's Golf Championship, which runs Friday through Sunday at the par-72, 6,264-yard Dallas Athletic Club in Dallas, Texas. The 54-hole event will feature one round per day with tee times beginning at 8 a.m., 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. The Wildcats will begin the event on Friday being paired with Kansas and Oklahoma with a 10 a.m. tee time.
"It's so important to have good tempo," she says, "especially during tournaments when you can become a bit nervous and your tempo tends to speed up a little bit. It really helps having that metronome in practice before tournaments to keep your tempo under pressure."
Pressure? Let's take a step into pressure. Donche-Gay, a native of Avignon, France, starred at Viera High School in Melbourne, Florida, and then attended Daytona State Community College to polish her craft. K-State head coach Kristi Knight learned of Donche-Gay through Daytona State head coach Laura Brown, who spoke highly of Donche-Gay's practice habits, demeanor and being an outstanding teammate. Donche-Gay never took an official visit to K-State due to COVID pandemic protocols, but through a series of Zoom conversations and a virtual tour, she knew K-State was where she wanted to further her golf career.
Reckoning day came this past February 7 at the Florida Atlantic Paradise Invitational — two hours south of her American hometown. All eyes were on Donche-Gay, and she answered famously on the par-72, 6,204-yard Ospery Point Golf Course. She fired a 2-under par 70 final round to tie for eighth place at 4-under par 212, the lowest 54-hole score by a K-State golfer since Reid Isaac shot 5-undder par 205 at the Sam Golden Invitational in September 2020.
"Everything was clicking," she says. "Every shot I executed perfectly. I didn't overthink it. It just happened naturally. I was definitely free and having fun. It showed with the results. I definitely enjoyed playing on that course. I felt comfortable."
Donche-Gay is one of two star seniors for the Wildcats this year. Haley Vargas leads the team with a 72.88 stroke average and finished as high as third at the Dale McNamara Invitational; Donche-Gay ranks third on the team at 74.21 with one top-10 and one top-20 finish.
"We brought her in from Daytona State and she brought a lot of competitive experience with her, but she also brought… she always has a smile on her face," Knight says. "She wants to do well and beat everyone."
The smiling assassin harbors a strong wedge game, an improved putting game, and she has increased her longer shots as well. Last summer, she changed her putter to one whose head resembles a turtle. She nicknamed her putter "turtle" and ratcheted down her tempo on the green, taking things nice and slow.
"I've been making a lot more putts under pressure and a lot more birdies, and I've gained more strokes with my putting," she says.
Her overall improvement becomes evident on the leaderboard. She's finished either first or second on the team in six of eight tournaments this season.
"What we've seen this year is she's gained a little bit of distance off the tee, and she's played a lot of solid golf out there," Knight says. "Her wedge play is still solid, but she's been driving the ball well, and she always hits a lot of good putts. She's had some really good putting days so that's the key."
Although Donche-Gay tries to maintain a day-at-a-time approach, human nature takes form and she catches herself at times thinking, "This is the last time for this" and "This is the last time for that." She thinks about her career at K-State. She thinks about life — and her life ahead.
"Definitely it's put more love into everything that I do because I'm never going to have college golf again," she says. "It's helped me in enjoying things more than I always used to. I'm just enjoying the little things."
Donche-Gay has big plans. That entails returning home to France this summer to begin a professional golf career.
"I'll play in a few summer tournaments, and I have a professional tournament that I qualified for," she says, "and then in December there's a European school for professionals that I'll attend. My goal is to try professional golf and see where it takes me."
But this weekend is about finishing strong in the Big 12 Championships. She plans to do so.
Her metronome won't be far away.
The metronome, the old familiar friend that allows Kansas State senior women's golfer Manon Donche-Gay to swing in rhythm, beats through her head as she wears headphones prior to a tournament. The tick-tock, tick-tock, lulls her into a zone, almost a trance, and she hits her wedge up-and-down and up-and-down, or taps a putt on cue. It's a skill learnt through hours of practice on the fringe and the cushy greens at Colbert Hills Golf Course.
The metronome beat will fill her head again as she embarks upon her final Big 12 Women's Golf Championship, which runs Friday through Sunday at the par-72, 6,264-yard Dallas Athletic Club in Dallas, Texas. The 54-hole event will feature one round per day with tee times beginning at 8 a.m., 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. The Wildcats will begin the event on Friday being paired with Kansas and Oklahoma with a 10 a.m. tee time.
"It's so important to have good tempo," she says, "especially during tournaments when you can become a bit nervous and your tempo tends to speed up a little bit. It really helps having that metronome in practice before tournaments to keep your tempo under pressure."
Pressure? Let's take a step into pressure. Donche-Gay, a native of Avignon, France, starred at Viera High School in Melbourne, Florida, and then attended Daytona State Community College to polish her craft. K-State head coach Kristi Knight learned of Donche-Gay through Daytona State head coach Laura Brown, who spoke highly of Donche-Gay's practice habits, demeanor and being an outstanding teammate. Donche-Gay never took an official visit to K-State due to COVID pandemic protocols, but through a series of Zoom conversations and a virtual tour, she knew K-State was where she wanted to further her golf career.
Reckoning day came this past February 7 at the Florida Atlantic Paradise Invitational — two hours south of her American hometown. All eyes were on Donche-Gay, and she answered famously on the par-72, 6,204-yard Ospery Point Golf Course. She fired a 2-under par 70 final round to tie for eighth place at 4-under par 212, the lowest 54-hole score by a K-State golfer since Reid Isaac shot 5-undder par 205 at the Sam Golden Invitational in September 2020.
"Everything was clicking," she says. "Every shot I executed perfectly. I didn't overthink it. It just happened naturally. I was definitely free and having fun. It showed with the results. I definitely enjoyed playing on that course. I felt comfortable."
Donche-Gay is one of two star seniors for the Wildcats this year. Haley Vargas leads the team with a 72.88 stroke average and finished as high as third at the Dale McNamara Invitational; Donche-Gay ranks third on the team at 74.21 with one top-10 and one top-20 finish.
"We brought her in from Daytona State and she brought a lot of competitive experience with her, but she also brought… she always has a smile on her face," Knight says. "She wants to do well and beat everyone."
The smiling assassin harbors a strong wedge game, an improved putting game, and she has increased her longer shots as well. Last summer, she changed her putter to one whose head resembles a turtle. She nicknamed her putter "turtle" and ratcheted down her tempo on the green, taking things nice and slow.
"I've been making a lot more putts under pressure and a lot more birdies, and I've gained more strokes with my putting," she says.
Her overall improvement becomes evident on the leaderboard. She's finished either first or second on the team in six of eight tournaments this season.
"What we've seen this year is she's gained a little bit of distance off the tee, and she's played a lot of solid golf out there," Knight says. "Her wedge play is still solid, but she's been driving the ball well, and she always hits a lot of good putts. She's had some really good putting days so that's the key."
Although Donche-Gay tries to maintain a day-at-a-time approach, human nature takes form and she catches herself at times thinking, "This is the last time for this" and "This is the last time for that." She thinks about her career at K-State. She thinks about life — and her life ahead.
"Definitely it's put more love into everything that I do because I'm never going to have college golf again," she says. "It's helped me in enjoying things more than I always used to. I'm just enjoying the little things."
Donche-Gay has big plans. That entails returning home to France this summer to begin a professional golf career.
"I'll play in a few summer tournaments, and I have a professional tournament that I qualified for," she says, "and then in December there's a European school for professionals that I'll attend. My goal is to try professional golf and see where it takes me."
But this weekend is about finishing strong in the Big 12 Championships. She plans to do so.
Her metronome won't be far away.
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
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