Thursday at the American amateur championship, it was destined to be a long day for Emilia Doran, no matter how she played.
Her tee-time of 7.15 am at Bandon Dunes in Oregon needed a wake-up before the dawn and a Sunrise Range session. A wolf inflammation later, they were balls in the air.
If she survived her morning match against Adrianna Lau van Hong Kong in the round of 32, Doran would go again in the afternoon. Anyway, however, she would have more work to do.
The oldest player in the field to make the game, Doran, 26, was also only among her colleagues in juggling a daily job during the week. When she did not notice shots, she had been busy calling them as a reporter on the course for NBC/Golf Channel.
“I am really the kind of person I like to maximize my days and my experiences,” said Doran. “So there was never doubt if I would just play or just work. I just like to do it all in one.”
Doran enjoys that balance act since 2021 when she graduated from Wake Forest as a two-time All-American. In those days she went to Emilia Migliaccio and perhaps pursued a professional golf career. Instead, she accepted an internship of the Golf Canal. A TV personality was born.
In the week before the American Women’s AM, Doran had kept the hectic clip of a golfer in the media on the media, to the west of her house in Charlotte to play a practice round in Bandon before they are to Salt Lake City to Salt Lake City to cover a Korn Ferry Tour event. By Sunday evening she was back on the coast of Oregon, ready for the start of Monday’s game, with her husband, Charlie, on her bag.
Her expectations were realistic. But adenaline-driven instincts die hard.
“Deep inside I am still as competitive as always,” she said.
In the round of 64, the opening match play session on Wednesday, Doran flashes from her collegial self, birding the 18th to draw, even with the emerging senior Reagan Zibilski of the University of Arkansas, and then the second extra hole to win. She celebrated briefly and then hit her head.
“It can be a challenge,” said Doran about drawing double duty. “But this is the third or fourth tournament that I did, so I learn how to compartmentalize.”
If Doran had covered her own game on Thursday morning, she might have hard to find glowing things. While Lau kept stable with a series of pars, Doran stumbled with three front-nine bogeys, 4-down was at the bend and 5-down by 11. She then went back two holes, but against 16 it was over: 4 and 2.
“I would have described it as an attempt,” said Doran about her own performance. “But I had to play better in the round earlier.”
It was almost the afternoon, the breeze stiffen the water. Doran stood by the bluff next to the 17th tee, took the view and reflected on the gat locations she just played. The 10th was heavy, she said, settled on a plateau. The 12th was protected by a steep slope at the front. She made mental notes, a competitor who turned into a commentator. A cart was waiting to bring her back to the broadcast.
“I’m probably going to walk 17 and 18 and see those breaks and how those holes play,” she said.
She had a few hours to kill before the broadcast. Lunch. A short rest. Then back.
“I am a bit bummed that the result did not work the way I wanted today,” she said. “But you know, I’m here at the NBC team. My goal this afternoon to go outside and set up a really good show.”
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