Typically, a rookie season in golf is all about learning. Learning how to manage time, learning how to get to each tournament and learning more about the game.

For some rookies, the first-year adjustment is easier than for others. There have been two rookie winners on the Epson Tour this season, with Yana Wilson picking up the trophy in Las Vegas and Melanie Green doing the same in Harris, Mich. Plus, the stacked rookie class occupies six spots in the top 20 in the Race for the Card, with the newest addition being Camille Boyd.

Boyd earned her best finish of the season in her last start at the Hartford HealthCare Women’s Championship presented by Munich Re, carding a 1-under 71 in the final round to finish in a tie for second. The result earned her 275 Race for the Card points and moved her up 27 spots to No. 18 in the rankings, right behind fellow rookie Laney Frye.

“I'm pretty happy with how things have been going. I wasn't really sure what to expect,” said Boyd on her rookie season so far. “This being my rookie year and the types of tournaments being kind of different from college, I'm pleasantly surprised. But I'm using last week as momentum to keep going for sure.”

Her finish last week was the culmination of a lot of hard work coming together and confidence growing. Boyd has only missed two cuts in her first 12 starts on the Official Qualifying Tour of the LPGA, with her best two finishes coming in the last few events in which she has teed it up.

“It’s very interesting how quickly things can change just with one good finish. I bumped up the rankings a lot,” explained Boyd. “I find myself looking ahead like, what do I have to do to get this certain number of points, and I think that can kind of set me back a little bit. I want to tap into the mentality that I had at the beginning of the season, taking it tournament by tournament and letting things come to me.”

It wasn’t a sure thing that Boyd was going to end up in the professional ranks. Not because of any lack of talent, but more along the lines of where she saw her overall career. Plunging yourself into a life of travel and uncertainty about where your next paycheck is coming from is no easy feat, particularly in a sport as hard as golf.

“Going into college, I didn't know if I wanted to play professionally. I explored a lot of different avenues in college in terms of my career and what I wanted to do,” said Boyd. “I kind of just wanted to try it, you know? I don't want to go the rest of my life thinking, what if I had turned professional back when I just graduated college, and I'm pretty happy I made that choice.”

Heading into the 13th event of the season, expectations have changed for Boyd, going from the low end of her goals, which were to finish inside the top 80, to now shooting for the top 35 to secure her spot in the Final Stage of LPGA Q-Series. And if her game continues to trend upward, she could find herself on the cusp of earning her LPGA Tour card for the first time instead.

The 22-year-old gets her tournament underway on Friday at 1:52 p.m. local time. Follow along with her round with live scoring here.

Rookie Spotlight: Camille Boyd

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