Just another day at the beach

Lies! All lies, Cammy Landry.

It can’t be this woman that Landry’s talking about. Maybe she was mistaken. Understandable – Landry’s seen a great deal of players go through the ranks in her tenure as Boston University women’s golf coach.

But, saying that freshman golfer Allison Hamilton’s greatest asset is her calmness? Her placid, frozen veins? It just can’t be. Not even 18 years old until next Tuesday, Hamilton erupts with enthusiasm, with the sheer wonder of freshman year. After finishing in fourth place in only her second college tournament – she shot a 76 in the second round – it’s a virtual miracle that her 5-foot, 8-inch frame doesn’t explode with the excitement.

“She’s humble in a humble sport,” Landry said. “In golf, you think you’re riding high and then you just get disappointed. She’s got a great head … She just puts the last hole behind her and goes on.”

Hold on a minute. Give Landry a chance. Look past the first impression of Hamilton, the blonde with the permanent smile.

The freshman from Falmouth has steadily chipped away at her scores this year, settling in more and more with each round. She went from 90 to 84 in the Dartmouth College Invitational on Sept. 17-18. After an 85 in the first round of last weekend’s Mt. Holyoke Invitational – played at the site of the 2004 U.S. Women’s Open – she burned through the second day to finish 7-over for the weekend.

Dig deeper. Hamilton started off the second round with three straight bogeys. And simply washed them away.

Hamilton rattled off three consecutive birdies to start the round. The girl who bubbles over with energy reflexively shut it off. Like she’s done since she first started playing, and like she’s done as she’s toured the country in the past few years, playing in the American Junior Golf Association and accumulating award after award.

“I’m actually am pretty quiet on the golf course,” she said. “Golf is mostly mental. You have to be able to let go, and as my dad says, ‘You can’t get too high and you can’t get too low.’ If you get too high, you get messed up. If you get too low, you carry bad things with you. You have to find your place and go shot-to-shot.”

There it is. Maybe it was only a partial lie, that Hamilton’s greatest asset comes in her calmness.

It’s carried her through her early years playing with her father, Rick, and her brother, Doug; through her six years of highly competitive golf, running from regionals in eighth grade to nationals in high school; through today, where she’s become one of the Terriers’ top players.

But she’d never be here if the level-headedness were the only factor. She’s more – so much more. She blends intensity and appreciation, traits she learned from her father long ago.

“If you have 17 bad holes, the last hole, if you play it well, that’s the one you’ll remember,” Rick Hamilton said. “Get out there and enjoy yourself in the sun. Don’t take it too seriously. Smell the roses when you’re out playing.”

She dives into everything, really just lets her life envelope her – a luxury that BU provides. It’s that passion, that enthusiasm that brought her to BU, really. The city called her, the ability to play Division I golf roped her in and the academics and opportunities sealed the deal.

And in a time when the team has received unprecedented support from the athletic department – “they’re finally taking us seriously now,” Hamilton said – landing the Cape Codder only helped to further the team’s ascent, Landry said.

“It was a real feather in our cap when she came here,” she said. “We recruited her really hard. She could’ve gotten more money elsewhere, but she liked the school, the team. And I have to give myself some credit.”

“I was walking around BU for the last time and I said, ‘I see myself here, even away from golf,'” Hamilton said. “Cammy is awesome, the best coach I’ve met, and I’ve met many. It was a combination of the program and the people … And although golf will be a really big part of it, you also gotta see your life outside it here.”

Maybe there’s more and more truth in that calmness thing. Hamilton seems to find comfort everywhere, whether it’s the links or library. And fitting in while she stands out hasn’t been terribly hard for her. Ever.

“That’s her personality,” Rick Hamilton said. “She came that way.” “I try to be outward,” she said. “But being a freshman, I like to step back a little bit. I like to contribute to the team and play every weekend.”

Not that she hasn’t had much help in getting comfortable. The Hamiltons – Rick, her mother Pat and Doug – have created one of the biggest galleries the team has seen. Last weekend, Doug, a junior in high school who also plays golf, donning all BU stuff, showed up at Holyoke and took some attention away from his sister.

“He was all decked out in BU stuff,” Hamilton said of her brother. “He brought binoculars. It was funny. You know, a junior in high school with college girls.”

Ultimately, it seems like the only time Hamilton gets the chance to be quiet is on the course.

“At team dinners, we’re always the loudest table at the whole restaurant,” she said. “We’re such a close-knit team.”

“We were just talking this weekend,” Landry said. “And she’s obtained the respect of the veterans so quickly. We feel as though we’ve known her for so long.”

But, if things continue the way they seem to be headed, her game will do all the talking.