When Troy Mullins '09 headed out to study abroad in Beijing her senior year, she packed a set of used golf clubs – toting them halfway around the world on the off chance she'd have time to use them.
Having found a bike in Beijing, she'd take solo 25-minute rides from campus to a driving range she'd found. "I'd have 'me time' and go hit a bunch of balls," recalls Mullins. "I had no idea what I was doing, but nobody cared."
Eventually, Mullins not only improved her technique – she went on to a pro career in long drive golf, in which athletes compete to hit the ball the farthest.
The first Black woman to win a world long drive tour competition, Mullins holds the record for the longest drive by an American female golfer, at 402 yards. (Only five women in the world have ever hit a drive more than 400 yards in competition.)
On the Hill, she majored in China and Asia-Pacific studies in Arts & Sciences and was a heptathlete on the Big Red women's track and field team, developing the athleticism and strength that would later allow her to generate power in her swing.
