The key difference between an athlete and a sports star lies far beyond the stat sheets and the playing field. The difference is found within the individual.
It is the hard work, the athletic beauty, but most of all the magnetic personality which draws the fanfare that separates the two. As Dartmouth sports begin to build for the future, the women's golf team has been blessed with a trio of players each desiring to display their awesome athletic abilities that coincide with the star-like personalities.
Katherine Birchall '04, Amanda Burrows '04 and Shannon Rogers '04 constitute the future of Dartmouth women's golf.
"Watching us, you see that our age is very encouraging because it shows our immense potential," Rogers said. "The team can only improve.
"We are adjusting now. We have a few tournaments under our belts and from here on out the results will only get better."
While all three of these golfers excel at their sport, each one brings a special quality to the game.
There is no doubt that Birchall is the best golfer out of the three. She has been playing since the age of three, and has the most consistent rounds out of the trio. Growing up in Alabama, she learned the game from her father and her brother Lee, the captain of the Dartmouth men's golf team.
While golf has always been a part of her life, Birchall didn't take it seriously until she was in seventh grade and made the conscientious decision to excel at one sport rather then be pretty good at many of them.
After that, the sky was the limit. She captained her high school team and received offers from multiple schools, including Stanford and Duke, ultimately choosing to follow her brother to Dartmouth.
"I didn't come here for the golf. I could have gone other places if it were just about the golf," Birchall said. "I came here because I was excited for the sport and the academics."
Birchall has said the best part of her game is her distance, but one can tell that there is something more than that. On the course, Birchall is a very cool customer, never letting one shot ruin the rest of her round.
But her even temperament should not fool you. She is a fierce competitor and is almost uncontrollably emotional. She radiates energy and enthusiasm, which has a ripple effect throughout the team.
"The reason I have such a strong appreciation for the game is because I realize that it is something which I could do for the rest of my life and still be happy," Birchall explained.
While Birchall has the purest golf game of the three, Rogers plays the part of the workhorse. After practice one can often find her pounding balls for hours.
She is always looking to perfect her game, and her work is paying off. While she started playing golf at the age of three near her home in New Hampshire, Rogers did not play high school golf until her senior year, when she started and captained the team.
Coming into a Division I college with an advanced athletic department, one would figure that Rogers would be overwhelmed and feel pressured. But it has been anything but that.
She has coolly shot low rounds and continues to impress her teammates with her uncanny work ethic.
"With Shannon it is encouraging because she shows so much potential and is out there hitting balls all day," Birchall said of her teammate. "She is only going to get better as the season wears on."
Meanwhile, Burrows is the "pure athlete." She did not even pick up a golf club until she was in ninth grade.
Growing up outside of Boston, she was bred into an all-state point guard by her coach and father. Before ninth grade she never even considered playing golf. She said she looked down at golfers as "old people with funny pants."
When she finally took a few lessons, she knew she had come across something special. At first the game came hard to her because it was unnatural doing anything athletic without running around.
But Burrows had fallen in love with the game. She began to practice religiously, going out to driving ranges daily, trying to catch up with the other girls who had been playing their entire lives.
She caught up and then surpassed them.
"When I began to play I knew I had to make a decision between sports," Burrows said. "Dropping basketball was one of the toughest decisions I have had to make, but it has been worth it."
Now, as the best pure athlete on the team, she is making the opposition take notice of her unbelievable potential.
"With golf there was no one there to ever tell me to practice," Burrows explained. "If I was going to get good I was going to have to do it on my own. I, therefore, practiced because of the passion I felt for the game.
As the golf season progress, the future has never looked brighter.
A young team to begin with, these three women have already formed a cohesive unit capable of contending with anyone in the Ivy League. The Big Green have already finished second in two tournaments in the first three events of the year.
As the successes pile up the school will take notice of this commonly overlooked sport. But fans won't notice the team because of its athletes; they will notice it because of its stars.