Wolcott Perseveres To Find Success on Rocky Top

By Wyeth Wilson, UTsports.com

Hunter Wolcott has been surrounded by golf from the very beginning.

The son of a former PGA professional and currently a redshirt junior on the Tennessee men's golf team, the sport that brought Wolcott to Knoxville played a major part in his upbringing just west of Nashville, in Burns, Tennessee.

"Growing up, golf was everything," Wolcott said. "My dad says that I've been playing golf since I was two. I started competitive golf when I was seven, and every weekend we were playing tournaments growing up.

"My life kind of revolved around golf."

In addition to his father's background with the sport, Wolcott's older brother, Ben, went on to play golf collegiately at Ole Miss.

It was Ben's dedication to the game and early interest from schools that led Hunter to elect to more intensively pursue an opportunity to play college golf.

"(Ben) got offered when he was in eighth grade, and at that time I was in fifth grade, so I was kind of like 'Okay, he's taking it more seriously, I should start taking it more seriously,' at that point," Wolcott said. "Once I got to the eighth grade and freshman year range, I started getting looks and realized that it was a realistic thing where I could go to college and have a career in it."

Like his father and brother, Wolcott went on to play golf at Dickson County High School, racking up significant honors during his time with the Cougars. During both his junior and senior seasons at Dickson County, he placed third overall in the Class AAA State Tournament.

Despite growing up in the state of Tennessee, Wolcott had no existing ties to UT, with his brother going to Ole Miss and his father playing college golf at Georgia. But a visit to Tennessee's campus led to him electing to stay in-state and play for the Vols.

"What influenced my decision to come here was really just playing for the state of Tennessee," Wolcott said. "I love Tennessee. I've lived here my entire life and I love it. I never really thought I'd come to school here, but then when it became an option I wanted to pursue it, and I didn't want to have any bias or judgement against any school.

"I love Knoxville as a city, love the facilities we have here and I just knew this was a place where I could thrive."

Wolcott got off to a solid start to his collegiate career during his freshman year (2016-17) at Tennessee. Over the course of that season, he competed in six tournaments and finished as high as 13^th overall during the Vols' team win at the East Bay Deli Classic. His 73.55 stroke average was the best among freshmen on the team that season.

But after becoming more immersed in the sport he loved more than ever before, some aspects of the game started to lose their luster.

"I played basketball all through high school, so I had that four-month period every year where I did not play golf," Wolcott said. "Then you get to college, where it's like you're playing all the way up until December, then as soon as you can play again in January and February, you're playing.

"For me, in years past, there was no option to play because I was playing basketball. So, when I got to college I would say there were parts of it that made me get a little bit burned out."

Wolcott eventually made the decision to take a step back from golf and redshirt the 2017-18 season. Though the idea of transferring came into play, Wolcott wanted to remain committed to playing golf at Tennessee.

During the summer following Wolcott's redshirt season, Brennan Webb was named Tennessee's new head coach, which helped reignite Wolcott's drive and passion for the sport. Webb had previously served as an assistant coach at South Florida under Ben's college head coach, Chris Malloy, which Hunter said added a layer of familiarity and trust.

"I knew this was a second opportunity to play golf at the University of Tennessee, and I was going to be very thankful for it and give it my all," Wolcott said. "So, from the moment that coach Webb came in, I tried to work as hard as I could. He pointed me in the right direction, and things started to work out in my favor."

During the season following his redshirt year, Wolcott had a breakout year on the golf course. As a redshirt sophomore, Wolcott competed in 11 tournaments for the Vols, finishing in the top 25 eight times and in the top 10 on four occasions. In April, he captured the individual title at The Hayt Invitational, and later that month finished fourth overall at the SEC Championships. At the conclusion of the season, he was named second-team All-SEC.

Though Wolcott's redshirt sophomore season saw him become a better golfer in a technical sense, it was the prior year that he took off that played a large role in his resurgence on the links.

"If I had to remember that redshirt year, it was just a constant desire to play golf, because I couldn't play golf (competitively) at that time," Wolcott said. "So now, if I get burnt out in the summer or we play bad and have to get back and really grind in practice and work hard, I can just remember that in the back of my mind. That hunger that I did have to play, and I can tap back into that at any moment."

This season, Wolcott has continued his impressive play for the Vols, highlighted by a second-place finish at the Intercollegiate at the Grove and a top-10 finish at the Bank of Tennessee Intercollegiate. At the Puerto Rico Classic – Tennessee's lone tournament of the spring thus far – he was the team's top finisher.

"Hunter just sets an example of what you need to do to be an elite performer and what is required to be successful at the University of Tennessee," Webb said. "He's certainly had the most success individually of anybody on the team since I've been here, and I think his work ethic is the reason why.

"Obviously he's very physically talented, but without that work ethic, the results weren't there. He can speak to that from his junior golf and his first couple of years here."

Along with a newfound respect for the game he was raised on, came the opportunity to carry on a family legacy. In December, Wolcott was named the 2019 Tennessee Amateur Golfer of the Year – an award that his father won three times in 1980, 1982 and 1983.

"My dad was a great golfer," Wolcott said. "I've heard a lot of stories from a lot of different people, and it's always fun to follow up his legacy.

"There's been a few times where I've won a tournament and then afterwards people would tell me that my dad also won it. Same thing with winning that award… I never knew he won it, and then I won it and people told me he won it.

"It's kind of nice to not have to be in his shadow, but then once I accomplish it, I am kind of following in similar footsteps."

University of Tennessee Athletics

Players Mentioned

Hunter Wolcott

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