This is the continuation of a series of Body, Mind & Soul stories that highlights member student-athletes, coaches and administrators of Conference Carolinas.

DUE WEST, S.C. - Was there a more perfect place for Anna Parramore to be born than Augusta, Georgia?

Home of golf’s premier event, The Masters, and one of the top 10 golf courses in the country, it’s a wonder she wasn’t delivered with a golf club in her hand.

Parramore, who will enter her senior year at Erskine College this fall, is the defending National Christian College Athletic Association individual golf champion and last year’s Conference Carolinas Tournament runner-up.

Her parents, both physicians, completed their hospital residency in Augusta when she was born. Anna’s father, Brant, is a general surgeon, while her mother, Kathleen is a renowned cancer specialist and breast surgeon. The family moved to Greenwood, S.C. when she was three.

While she left Augusta, Anna’s path in golf continued unabated—thanks to a golfing father, a supportive community and a fellow Greenwood resident who would eventually recruit her as Erskine’s women’s golf coach.

“We lived at a country club when I was young and my dad played golf,” recalled Parramore. “He always tried to coax me to come play with him, but I just wanted to ride the cart and drink sodas!”   

However, once she picked up her first club, she was hooked. Before long, Anna started to make a name for herself.

“With our families living in the same town, I used to see Anna play all the time,” said Jason Allen, the head coach of the Flying Fleet. “I could tell then that she was special. She was so competitive.”

Parramore shakes her head when recalling her good fortune to grow up in a small town that included a college golf coach.

“I think somebody introduced me to Coach Allen when I was 10 years old,” she said. “They told him, ‘Hey coach, you need to recruit her for your golf team!’ It didn’t even cross my mind until many years later, when I played with his daughter on the same high school team.”

Living up to Conference Carolinas’ legacy of producing true scholar-athletes, Parramore is an honor roll student with a 3.65 career grade-point average as a chemistry major. She plans to follow in her parents’ footsteps into medicine, with particular interest in becoming a pediatric surgeon.

Beyond citing her parents as great role models, she credits her hometown of Greenwood for her accomplishments both on and off the golf course.

“Greenwood is such a small town,” she said. “Everybody knows everybody. It’s awesome. I’ve gotten such good support from friends back home. They constantly have followed up to see how I’m doing at school and with golf. Greenwood will always have a special place in my heart.”

Ironically, it was Anna’s own heart that played an early role in her golf career. As a youngster, she played soccer, gymnastics and other sports, but it was discovered that she had a heart disorder when she was 11 years old.

“My parents took me to a doctor in Cincinnati who suggested I limit any high-energy activities until they learned more about my condition. That’s when I went all in with golf.”

A few years later, she learned that her condition was less serious—a gene mutation of some sort—but by then, Anna was flourishing on the golf course. She won her first tournament at 13, a junior event at Furman University for amateurs 13 to 15 years old. After that, golf became her obsession. 

Not that she hasn’t experienced growing pains along the way. Sometimes, her determination and perfectionism has gotten the best of her. Like the time she did a comical impression of Kevin Costner in that "Tin Cup" movie scene….

“I’ve always been so stubborn,” she admits. “My dad still kids me about the time when I was young, playing a Par 3 at the University of Georgia. I was so determined, I hit 10 balls into the water and got a 20 on the hole!”

As for that competitive charge cited by her coach, Anna willingly pleads guilty.

“I definitely have a perfectionist mentality,” she says. “I grew up in a very competitive house. Golf is such a mental sport. It’s why people play until they’re 80 because you’re never going to be perfect. But it teaches you some great lessons. Golf is an individual sport. You can’t be subbed out if you’re not playing well. You’re going to take the first tee shot and the last putt.  

“You have to put your emotions on the back burner. But it can be so frustrating. I can remember breaking clubs at the state championships! You have high expectations and then fall short. But when you overcome it, you have really overcome yourself. I think golf is life’s best metaphor.”  

Her coach marvels at Parramore’s driven personality, and feels the positives far outweigh the negatives.

“Anna practices more than any player I have ever coached,” he flatly states. “She’s a perfectionist—in the classroom, in life and definitely on the golf course. It’s hard to do, but she’s been known to legitimately practice for five to six hours each day. I don’t think she sleeps much.”

Allen says Anna also has contributed to a winning environment for Erskine’s women’s golf team by setting an example for her teammates.

“She really hates to lose (in golf), just like she hates to make a "B" on a test. It’s just her mentality in life, really. It’s certainly rubbed off on her teammates. You have to learn how to win and seeing her succeed makes the younger players strive to succeed. Even our freshmen expect to win now.”

Under Allen’s tutelage, the Flying Fleet have annually emerged as prime contenders for the Conference Carolinas title.  

Coach Allen praises Anna for her leadership as much as her low golf scores. Despite her academic achievements and lofty professional goals, Parramore is far from being the proverbial bookworm.

“She’s very outgoing and mature beyond her years,” said the coach. “She’s always a leader and always in a good mood. She’s just a good person to be around. You especially see it with our underclassmen. I’ve even seen Anna help teammates with their academic schedules and by organizing study sessions.”

He also mentions how Anna regularly schedules “girls’ night out” events to build team chemistry.    

“While we are a golf team, the sport is essentially an individual one. Yet, she makes a point to create camaraderie by organizing outings where they just eat together, talk about life and enjoy each other’s company. Really, she shows the most leadership off the golf course.”

Parramore plans to apply for medical school in December, with her sights on attending the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, S.C.

“A lot of people ask me whether I want to play golf professionally,” she admits. “I’ve been the ‘Golf Girl’ since I was 10. I think I’m ready for something different now. I want to begin my adult life.”

To that end, Anna has settled on pediatric medicine—even though that wasn’t her first inclination.

“A lot of people just assume that I’m pursuing a career in medicine because of my parents,” she said. “Sure, I knew weird medical terms when I was five years old. But for the longest time, I wanted to be a teacher. My parents never pushed me towards medicine. They left the decision for me to make, which I’m very grateful."  

Babysitting since she was 13 years old, Parramore just fell in love with young children. She also says she looks forward to interacting with patients.  

“I think I can really have a great impact on children. However, my mom warned me that pediatric medicine can be more challenging in terms of patient relationships because you aren’t just dealing with a child. You’re also dealing with their parents, who are obviously scared and concerned. You need to let them know you care and assure them their child will get good treatment, but also be strong enough to always tell them the truth.”

In preparation for her career, Anna served as a student intern at various medical facilities during college. She shadowed both her father and mother during surgeries. In one such instance, doubts surfaced for the first time.

“I was shadowing my mom and she told me to come closer during one of her breast surgeries,” she shared. “The patient was really sliced up and it was so bloody. I passed out!”

She became anxious about another surgery she was to witness with an obstetrician in Greenwood the next week. But then, her determination kicked in.

“I was really nervous and determined not to pass out again,” Anna said. “I read everything I could about ways to avoid passing out before the next visit. This was not going to keep me from going to medical school!”

Typical Anna Parramore. Something tells you she’ll treat medical school like it’s a routine eight-foot putt.

Bob Rose is a longtime sports public relations executive who has worked for the San Francisco Giants, Oakland Athletics, the NFL Cardinals, Cal, Stanford and other organizations.