“ We all have established close relationships . We can talk about school or anything outside of golf while we ’ re practicing or having our lesson , so you can let that all out and you have that sense of closeness — it ’ s not just golf .”
— Alexis Goboy the Richmond Women ’ s City Amateur five times , last in 2018 , the VSGA Women ’ s Amateur in 2003 and the VSGA Senior Women ’ s Amateur three times ( most recently in 2015 ).
“ A mentor is someone that helped guide you towards being the best you can be and , at the same time , being the fairest you can be ,” McGurn said , who added that Wiltshire helped her realize that ideology as a child while watching him as a sportsman and as the chairman of the Home Beneficial Life Insurance Company . “ That ’ s a big part of who ( Dick ) was — in sports and in life .”
“( Holmes ) has taught me not to change for anyone . Having to change all the time , it gets stressful , but , when you can let your guard down around people , it ’ s nice because it ’ s a lot more relaxing than putting on a face .”
Holmes ’ s coaching and mentorship philosophy in her career has been simple : give the kids of Hampton Roads the fundamentals of golf and give experiences to make them fall in love with the game . After introducing them to the game , Holmes says it is incredibly rewarding to see the journey unfold for each family .
“ Once the flame is lit , it is my job to keep it burning ,” Holmes said . “ Competitive golf is a roller coaster of a journey , and I love helping the kids and parents navigate through that .”
More Than a Mantra
Boodie McGurn , in her impressive athletics résumé , learned the value of sportsmanship from her father , Dick Wiltshire , a former University of Virginia basketball and baseball star .
“ My dad lives by the mantra ‘ it ’ s not whether you win or lose , it ’ s how you play the game ,’” McGurn said . “ And that has rung true for me my whole life . Of course , I like to win , but at the end of the day , people aren ’ t going to remember how many contests you win or how many you lose but they ’ re going to remember how you make them feel .”
For her , it ’ s more than a mantra . “ That ’ s been a big part of my competitive career ,” she said .
She continued to honor the “ how you play the game ” catchphrase as a threesport athlete involved in tennis , basketball and field hockey at The Collegiate School in Richmond and at Salem College in Winston-Salem , N . C . McGurn , who only started playing golf in her 30s at the Country Club of Virginia , went on to win
Alexis Goboy
Ben Walls was a P . J . Boatwright communications intern for the VSGA this past summer . He ’ s currently a senior at Virginia Tech studying multimedia journalism .
BEN WALLS
vsga . org
S EPTEMBER / O CTOBER 2022 | V IRGINIA G OLFER 21