University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Emily Cox Embracing Every Element of Golf, Southern Miss
4/8/2021 9:13:00 AM | Women's Golf
HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- One simple sentence defines Southern Miss redshirt-junior women's golfer Emily Cox.
"Being a student-athlete has been so much fun."
Cox has been full of energy and optimism for the program since she arrived on campus, and her appreciation for the game and college life as a whole will do wonders for her in her post-playing horizon.
It all started when she was around five years old.
"I played a lot of sports growing up, and my dad always played golf," she said. "When he would go to the course, I'd ask to go with him. Eventually, I got a set of clubs, and any time he'd go, I'd go. It was something we'd do together. I took it and wanted to play competitively. I had plastic clubs when I was little and probably 5 or 6 when I got a driver and iron. Then I got a few more later."
Cox, a native of Lancaster, S.C., admits she was not looking at schools as west as Mississippi, instead focusing on the east coast. It was a tournament in North Carolina where then-Southern Miss head coach Erika Brennan was recruiting another athlete before spotting Cox.
"The more I talked to Coach Brennan, the more I saw this connection between us and the way she talked about Southern Miss," Cox said. "It was more personal than just golf. Eventually, I narrowed it down to a few schools and this was the best fit, so I decided on it."
Cox competed in nine of 10 tournaments as a freshman in the 2017-18 campaign, including carding a season-best 11-over 227 in her debut at the Lady Paladin Invitational, her home state. She would then play three fall events as a sophomore before suffering a season-ending wrist injury.
"It was the longest I'd gone without playing golf," Cox said. "I was in a cast in January and had it for just over six weeks. We tried cortisone shots but finally decided rest was the only solution since nothing else was curing it. From January through summer I didn't play, then August I was able to hit the driver again. It was the longest without playing the round of golf. The next tournament, I was so nervous on that first tee since it had been so long without playing a round."
It was no match for her optimism in a less-than-optimal situation.
"I took some positives out of it getting to watch rather than play, and I feel like with golf you learn so much by watching, especially when it's your team and you can watch your coach with the girls," she said. "I feel like that helped me so much in the long run."
Burke has also served as one of the leading factors behind Cox striving to become a coach one day.
"She is such a good golf coach," Cox said. "To watch a girl on the range struggling and Coach walk over and the girl expresses she needs help, she will fix it instantly and they'll be so thankful. To help someone so passionate about golf to become better at it has to be such a good feeling. To watch Coach, I aspire to be that way because she's so good at what she does."
Burke shared similar sentiments about Cox, including her coaching genes (her father, Larry, coached high-school football for 32 years) and passion for the school's athletics programs as a whole.
"Emily has truly taken what being a student-athlete at Southern Miss is to heart," she said. "It's not just about golf; she is a fan of all sports across campus, and if there's a game or match in town, she's there in full support. Growing up being a daughter of a football coach, it's in her blood and you can see a lot of it when she interacts with her teammates and how she takes care of what she needs to do."
Cox originally started as a sport coaching major but moved into sport management to learn the marketing, media and compliance elements, among others.
"My long-term goal is the collegiate level, but starting out is so much fun helping out a beginner," Cox said. "It's so much fun for them, then to help out with someone advanced it's small changes and advice. It's all fun in different ways because they're all at different levels."
From the injury to its recovery and everything else through four years on and off the course, there is one thing Cox cites as her biggest takeaway from Southern Miss: staying positive.
"You're gonna go through struggles, but at the end of the day are the struggles that big?" Cox said. "We often make them bigger than they are. If you stay positive from golf, school to life, keep trying your best. A lot of times we turn struggles into major ordeals, but if you had stayed positive, you could fix it and move on, including being a student-athlete and having a rigorous schedule. Being a student-athlete has been so much fun. Taking the positives of everything really helps make the experience."
And with that experience comes the excitement of travel and learning new customs, especially with a roster that has featured Australia, Chile, Norway, Thailand, Spain, Mexico, the United Kingdom and other areas within the United States.
"From our perspective, look at all the courses in the country we get to play," she said. "So many people would love to get there. The friendships I've made for life are so much fun. A lot of times at dinner, someone will say 'this is different because back home, we would do it this way.' It's so interesting to learn everyone's background and culture from all the countries and states. It's so interesting to hear the simple things that are drastic changes to those who come over here. You become so close to people from different backgrounds and learn so much about them. That's probably my favorite part about this team."
Cox is aiming to go out with a bang, carding a 10-over 226 at this week's Cardinal Challenge in Beaumont, Texas. Both that and her 12th-place finish were the best of her career, just in time for the C-USA Championships in Dade City, Fla. (April 18-21). She is set to graduate in May as well.
"Being a student-athlete has been so much fun."
Cox has been full of energy and optimism for the program since she arrived on campus, and her appreciation for the game and college life as a whole will do wonders for her in her post-playing horizon.
It all started when she was around five years old.
"I played a lot of sports growing up, and my dad always played golf," she said. "When he would go to the course, I'd ask to go with him. Eventually, I got a set of clubs, and any time he'd go, I'd go. It was something we'd do together. I took it and wanted to play competitively. I had plastic clubs when I was little and probably 5 or 6 when I got a driver and iron. Then I got a few more later."
Cox, a native of Lancaster, S.C., admits she was not looking at schools as west as Mississippi, instead focusing on the east coast. It was a tournament in North Carolina where then-Southern Miss head coach Erika Brennan was recruiting another athlete before spotting Cox.
"The more I talked to Coach Brennan, the more I saw this connection between us and the way she talked about Southern Miss," Cox said. "It was more personal than just golf. Eventually, I narrowed it down to a few schools and this was the best fit, so I decided on it."
Cox competed in nine of 10 tournaments as a freshman in the 2017-18 campaign, including carding a season-best 11-over 227 in her debut at the Lady Paladin Invitational, her home state. She would then play three fall events as a sophomore before suffering a season-ending wrist injury.
"It was the longest I'd gone without playing golf," Cox said. "I was in a cast in January and had it for just over six weeks. We tried cortisone shots but finally decided rest was the only solution since nothing else was curing it. From January through summer I didn't play, then August I was able to hit the driver again. It was the longest without playing the round of golf. The next tournament, I was so nervous on that first tee since it had been so long without playing a round."
It was no match for her optimism in a less-than-optimal situation.
"I took some positives out of it getting to watch rather than play, and I feel like with golf you learn so much by watching, especially when it's your team and you can watch your coach with the girls," she said. "I feel like that helped me so much in the long run."
Burke has also served as one of the leading factors behind Cox striving to become a coach one day.
"She is such a good golf coach," Cox said. "To watch a girl on the range struggling and Coach walk over and the girl expresses she needs help, she will fix it instantly and they'll be so thankful. To help someone so passionate about golf to become better at it has to be such a good feeling. To watch Coach, I aspire to be that way because she's so good at what she does."
Burke shared similar sentiments about Cox, including her coaching genes (her father, Larry, coached high-school football for 32 years) and passion for the school's athletics programs as a whole.
"Emily has truly taken what being a student-athlete at Southern Miss is to heart," she said. "It's not just about golf; she is a fan of all sports across campus, and if there's a game or match in town, she's there in full support. Growing up being a daughter of a football coach, it's in her blood and you can see a lot of it when she interacts with her teammates and how she takes care of what she needs to do."
Cox originally started as a sport coaching major but moved into sport management to learn the marketing, media and compliance elements, among others.
"My long-term goal is the collegiate level, but starting out is so much fun helping out a beginner," Cox said. "It's so much fun for them, then to help out with someone advanced it's small changes and advice. It's all fun in different ways because they're all at different levels."
From the injury to its recovery and everything else through four years on and off the course, there is one thing Cox cites as her biggest takeaway from Southern Miss: staying positive.
"You're gonna go through struggles, but at the end of the day are the struggles that big?" Cox said. "We often make them bigger than they are. If you stay positive from golf, school to life, keep trying your best. A lot of times we turn struggles into major ordeals, but if you had stayed positive, you could fix it and move on, including being a student-athlete and having a rigorous schedule. Being a student-athlete has been so much fun. Taking the positives of everything really helps make the experience."
And with that experience comes the excitement of travel and learning new customs, especially with a roster that has featured Australia, Chile, Norway, Thailand, Spain, Mexico, the United Kingdom and other areas within the United States.
"From our perspective, look at all the courses in the country we get to play," she said. "So many people would love to get there. The friendships I've made for life are so much fun. A lot of times at dinner, someone will say 'this is different because back home, we would do it this way.' It's so interesting to learn everyone's background and culture from all the countries and states. It's so interesting to hear the simple things that are drastic changes to those who come over here. You become so close to people from different backgrounds and learn so much about them. That's probably my favorite part about this team."
Cox is aiming to go out with a bang, carding a 10-over 226 at this week's Cardinal Challenge in Beaumont, Texas. Both that and her 12th-place finish were the best of her career, just in time for the C-USA Championships in Dade City, Fla. (April 18-21). She is set to graduate in May as well.
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Golf
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