The Final Tee Off: Erin Donovan's Senior Season at Piedmont
March 30, 2026 - Angelica Lux
Erin Donovan, a senior at Piedmont University, is capping off her final season as a Lion as she plans for what is next for her in golf.
Originally from Mississippi, Donovan was introduced to golf by her father, who would hand her a club when she was around seven years old. As a kid, she hated playing. Under the pressure of perfection, playing was not enjoyable. However, that changed when she discovered a sense of community within the sport in 8th grade, playing for the high school team and participating in the PGA Junior League through a local country club during the summer.
“Finally finding community in golf is what pushed me into it, where it was not just my parents who I was playing with,” said Donovan. “I finally had some friends to play with.”
In her eyes, she was not the star player. The level of skill was not the reason she wanted to play in her high school years. “Talent was not my reason to pick up golf. It was simply because I knew that I would have people to play with.”
As a sophomore, when the pandemic hit, she took the time off to focus on her game. She spent most of her time at the golf course, focusing on improvement. To her, this changed her mindset about the game. While COVID-19 canceled her season, she used the time to discover that her skill level was better than she thought.
“It gave me an opportunity to just have a year of, okay, there is no score here that really matters. It was four months of me not playing in a tournament. I am just working on my game,” says Donovan about using the pandemic to ease the pressure and enjoy the game.
In her junior year, Donovan was still unsure whether she planned to play golf in college. As a high achiever, she believed it was either Division I or not playing. With the decision time frame shrinking, Donovan landed on playing Division III at Piedmont University, over 500 miles from her hometown.
“College golf has changed everything about my game. It was a fresh start. No one knew who I was. In high school, I had high expectations of myself… I wanted to prove to everyone else that I could be good. Here, I had nothing to prove.”
Piedmont gave her something new: confidence that hadn’t existed before. College offered a clean slate. She reinvented herself both as a person and as a golfer, gradually understanding who she wanted to become.
“It was how I played the game mentally and how I thought about myself on a golf course,” says Donovan about her mentality going into college golf.
As a senior, Donovan plans to continue in the sport post-graduation. Her plans are to attend graduate school in sports administration at Georgia State University and coach golf for the team.
"Georgia State is going to allow me to coach at a higher level, and see if that is something I like, but also pursue a degree in something that I think will really benefit me,” said Donovan on becoming a coach for college-level golf. “I love leadership. I know that I have good leadership skills and a lot to provide for others.”
As a natural leader, Donovan sees coaching or serving as an athletic director as a short-term goal. In terms of long-term goals, she wants to go into communications for the PGA or LPGA Tour, or try the long shot and go pro in golf.