Around The Commonwealth
LEFT: Brennan will attend Wake Forest
University and receive the prestigious
Arnold Palmer Scholarship.
BELOW: Brennan won the VSGA Junior
Match Play title in 2017 and reached the
semifinals in 2018.
VG: When did you begin playing
golf? What drew you to the game,
and who are some of the teachers
who have helped you grow in it?
MB: I started “golfing ” in my family
room with a little plastic Capitals hockey
stick when I was just 2. I started going to
the golf course and golfing when I was
about 6 years old. My dad would go to the
driving range and just bring me along,
I would hang out and hit some balls. I
started out swinging a club left hand low
and no one ever corrected me. I eventu-
ally figured out how to hold the club the
proper way. My dad was my coach until I
was 12, he taught me the fundamentals
until I started working with my current
coach, Adam Harrell. We have been work-
ing together since then, he has really
shaped my game and allowed me to grow
as a player.
VG: Aside from playing golf, you play bas-
ketball at Tuscarora High School. How
do you keep your game sharp during bas-
ketball season, and do you feel like it’s
important for young players to experience
difference sports in high school?
MB: During the basketball season I am
not too worried about keeping my golf
game sharp, I’m pretty focused on basket-
ball because we are practicing, working
out and playing games six days a week.
I don’t play in any tournaments from
November until the Dustin Johnson
World Junior in the beginning of March
(Brennan finished tied for third in 2019).
I’ll start hitting balls in my basement
around the first of the year but this is
my only practice until basketball season
ends mid-February. I’ll get two weeks of
on-course practice in before the DJ. I rec-
ommend kids to play other sports other
than golf, it gives you a period of time to
reflect on the season and reenergizes you
for the next season. Playing basketball
helps with athleticism too, it works both
sides of the body, versus just one side in
golf. Plus, I really enjoy being on a team
too. I cannot wait to get out on the course
towards the end of basketball season.
vsga.org
VG: What’s a hobby that you have away from
the course that people may not know about?
MB: I love to play basketball in the winter
but when I’m not golfing or playing basket-
ball, I’ll be working out or hanging with my
brother or friends.
VG: How have you managed the height-
ened expectations that go along with
having a great amount of success early in
your career?
MB: I am extremely competitive and I expect
a lot out of myself. Expectations others put
on me don’t impact me. Sometimes I need to
remind myself that the results aren’t always
directly correlated to the work that I put in.
VG: What are some of your goals for the
next two summers as you begin to wind
down the junior portion of your career?
MB: First and foremost, I need to work on
getting better. I’m looking forward to trying
my hand at larger national amateur tour-
naments and even international events. It
would be really nice over the next two years
to get a state title. I hope to compete in the
U.S. Amateur two more times and make it to
the round of 16, if not deeper.
“I am extremely
competitive and I
expect a lot out of
myself. Expectations
others put on me
don’t impact me.
Sometimes I need to
remind myself that
the results aren’t
always directly
correlated to the
work that I put in. ”
—Michael Brennan
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