Golf: Radnor's Walker headed for North Carolina

North Carolina was the first college that Radnor sophomore golf standout Brynn Walker paid an official recruiting visit to last fall.

Walker, a PIAA medalist last fall after tying for fifth in Class AAA, visited other colleges. But none of them, in her mind, could match what she found in Chapel Hill. That’s why when she returned to North Carolina in late January, she was there to give Tar Heels head coach Jan Mann a verbal commitment to join the Carolina program beginning in the fall of 2016.

“I didn’t have any special connection to North Carolina or grew up being a big fan of the basketball program or anything,” Walker said last week. “When I first visited there, the coach showed me all around and it just seemed like a special place. I visited other schools, but it just kept coming back to North Carolina for me.”

Mann got a chance to see Walker negotiate a couple of the courses at PGA National, including the Champion Course that the PGA Tour pros were playing last weekend in the Honda Classic, at the AJGA’s Polo Golf Junior Classic at the end of November.

Walker still has two years of high school left, but her performance on the golf course the last couple of years have made it clear she is a Division I prospect.

She finished in a tie for seventh in the PIAA Tournament at the Heritage Hills Golf Resort as a freshman — and then came back the next day to help the Radnor girls claim the PIAA Class AAA team title.

After a strong summer that included a victory in the Pennsylvania Junior Girls championship, Walker had another solid high school campaign. She was the runner-up at the District One Tournament and earned a medal in Class AAA at Heritage Hills by finishing in a tie for fifth.

Just before the high school season started, Walker represented Pennsylvania and got her first taste of USGA competition at the United States Golf Association’s Women’s State Team Championship at NCR Country Club in Kettering, Ohio.

There was a lot to like about North Carolina for Walker, but, as is often the case, Mann sold herself as well as her program. Mann is in her fifth season as the head coach at North Carolina. She was the ACC coach of the Year in 2011 when her Tar Heels won the ACC title, finished second in the East Regional and eighth in the NCAA Tournament.

“She’s a real down-to-earth person,” Walker said of Mann. “I know she’ll help me grow as a golfer and as a person.”

Walker found the recruiting process interesting in a lot of ways, but she also wanted to see it finished.

“I wanted the process to be over because otherwise it’s always on your mind,” Walker said. “It seems like players are committing earlier and earlier. It is a lot of pressure when you know people are watching you play and trying to evaluate you.”

When Walker was at North Carolina to give Mann her commitment a month ago, she got a chance to see the Tar Heels play at the Dean Dome and, well, that did nothing to make her reconsider her decision. She’s not bleeding Carolina blue yet, but she did seem to bring Roy Williams’ squad some good luck.

“I hung out with the girls on the team and we went to a basketball game,” Walker said. “They haven’t lost since I was there.”

Radnor sophomore Brynn Walker, pictured on her way to a runner-up finish in Class AAA at the District One Tournament at Turtle Creek Golf Club last fall, recently made a verbal commitment to continue her golf and academic careers at North Carolina. (Eric Hartline)