Her devotion is above par

Tyngsborough's Martin puts golf at top of her list

Tracy Martin has verbally agreed to enroll at the University of Richmond in fall 2009.

Tracy Martin has the same desires and interests as any 18-year-old woman, but the golf course keeps calling.

"I try to live a normal lifestyle, but it's hard because I'm golfing so much," said Martin. "I want to be an 18-year-old, but there are a lot of times when I miss out on things my friends are doing because I choose to golf. It does take away from time with friends and family, but I'm still committed to golf."

The Tyngsborough resident spent last week at the Bay Club in Mattapoisett competing in the Fidelity Investments Junior Classic. Martin placed 13th in the girls' division featuring a field of competitors from the United States and Canada.

Competing in the American Junior Golf Association this summer, Martin will enter her senior year at Bishop Guertin next month as the defending Class L individual girls' champion. She is the only female on a Cardinals' squad that is the defending Class L champion.

Teammate Peter Riley won the boys' title, marking the first time a school had won the team and individual titles in the same season.

"I've been very fortunate with my golfers," said Guertin head coach Walt Gavriluk. "Tracy's been on the team since she was a freshman. She has a great personality. She gets down on herself once in a while, but she goes on. Some golfers let their frustrations get the best of them, but Tracy's a smart golfer. She knows when to separate the two."

Martin finished with a total of 159 in the rain-shortened, two-round tournament at the Bay Club. Lexington's Alexandra Dunn joined Martin on the course, shooting a 181 for a 23d-place finish.

Last month, Martin verbally committed to play at Division 1 Richmond in the spring of 2010. She plans to major in business, and hopes to work for a golf company.

"I'd love to work for the PGA or Callaway," said Martin. "I'm excited about going to Richmond and seeing what college golf is like. We had an awesome season in high school last year, so senior year is going to be about topping that again. It's going to be hard, though."

Not hard if the rest of Martin's teammates train the way she does year-round. When the winter months hit, she trains at an indoor facility in Lowell where she works with instructor Beth Dichard. Martin hits into a net and uses video to perfect her swing.

At the end of April, her routine returns to the outdoors, where she trains on local courses to prepare for the summer season.

"I don't necessarily have doubts about whether this is worth it," said Martin. "But it is a big commitment and sometimes it gets crazy.

"It's just such a big part of my life, I have to love it. I have to love everything about it for me to put it above anything else."