Conor McKenna returns to America this week to resume his golf scholarship at St Thomas Aquinas College having spent the festive period back in the island and after just one semester as part of the ‘Spartans’ golf squad, he is feeling right at home, with his game benefitting ahead of some big events in the coming months.
‘I’m absolutely loving it. I’m really happy where I’ve gone, playing good golf as well, so that always helps,’ he said.
‘I’m playing in so many different states, so many different courses, so many opportunities – it’s better than I thought it would be.
‘You’ve got classes Monday through Thursday, but I’m lucky as whenever we have a competition, it’s Sunday practice round, 36 [holes] on Monday, 18 on Tuesday, so I miss two days of school, which isn’t bad.
‘Apart from that, you’ve got team lifts, team chats, team practice, so trying to fit it all in and do the study can be a bit difficult, but you’ve just got to find a way to fit it all in.’
McKenna is one of eight squad members who compete for five spots to represent the Spartans in competition and he is yet to miss out.
‘We’ve just recruited eight very solid players, so the line-up could change any week – you’re staying in competition mode the whole time because you want to make the competition obviously, and to do that you’ve got to play well in qualifying.
‘Everyone in team is plus two or below, so it’s nice and competitive. I’ve made every line-up so far, so hopefully I can keep that going into the spring, which is the biggest season for us.
‘Obviously as a freshman, I was not expecting to go over there and just dominate sort of thing.
'I was just happy to be in the line-up, really happy with how I was playing and putting in under-par scores.’
As for the courses he gets to play stateside, he revealed that he enjoys staying on the tee over there more than he does when back at home on the L’Ancresse links because of the wider fairways and lack of gorse bushes.
When it comes to the greens, he adds with a wry smile that in America they are ‘unbelievably quick’, so much so that for a player who is renowned locally for his rapid pace of play, they have had an effect.
‘I’ve slowed down on the greens definitely because they’re so complicated – you’re reading grain, you’re reading slopes – it’s not like here where you look at the putt and you go, it’s a foot out to the right.
'It’s like your putts are a foot out to the right, and then it’s three feet out to the left and it’s swapping and changing the whole time.
‘So I’ve slowed down a bit on the greens, but apart from that it’s not too bad. The weather’s better over there, so I don’t mind just standing there talking to someone.’
Despite being based in New York, about 15 miles north of the city, so far the competitions have been out of state, with Florida and Nevada among the destinations so far.
‘When I get back, I’ve got eight or nine days in Myrtle Beach at the start of March, fully covered by the school. So we do get to go around a lot,’ McKenna said.
‘We’ve got three or four tournaments back-to-back-to-back down in Florida that we’ll fly down for.
'Then once it gets warmer, we obviously then start playing more regional events, then when it comes to regionals and trying to get into nationals again, we’re ready.’
While the chance to play college golf in America will arguably be McKenna’s best memory of 2025, he will also have the GGU accolade to remind him of major achievements last year which included becoming Hampshire junior champion.
‘2025 was a bit up and down because obviously I started the year off really strong, tying the course record within the first couple of competitions, then when it came towards my A-levels, my form dipped and then suddenly I’d had a spike again.
‘I changed equipment, stuff like that, and then played the best golf I ever had for the last four or five months of the season.’
