BY TIM IRVING
When the Symetra Tour season was delayed last year due to the pandemic, most players tried to keep their games in shape for the restart and stay away from COVID.
Sarah Hoffman, like all heroes, turned and ran back towards the frontline.
“I was sitting on my couch like a lot of other players because we didn’t know how long it was going to last,” Hoffman said. “So, I went back to my job at the University of Michigan.”
After five years at Grand Valley State, Hoffman spent two years at Michigan Medicine working in the Orthopedic Unit. When the pandemic hit, her specialty is considered elective surgery, so she started working other life-threatening procedures.
“It was a learning experience, I dealt with a lot of patients I’d never seen before and unfortunately, a lot of terminally sick patients, where they weren’t going to live much longer and their families couldn’t be with them, ” Hoffman remembers. “You just became your patients’ family, it was a lot, it was really tough.”
She was a three-time All-Great Lakes Conference selection and the league champion her senior year at Grand Valley State but needed another year to complete her nursing degree and didn’t turn pro until 2016.
“I didn’t want my family to pay for my dreams so, I lived and worked at home to save up until I could afford to pay for Q-School, ” Hoffman said, she moved away from her parents’ house during the pandemic to avoid infecting them.
“It’s nice to get the balance, perspective because golf can be a very self-focused sport and nursing is anything but that, so it’s nice to have the balance, so, your work in the hospital for a couple of months and you really want to get back on the course and after a couple of months on tour, you can’t wait to get back to the hospital.”
Hoffman opened the Danielle Downey Credit Union Classic with a strong three-under par 67 and likes the Donald Ross design but also the way the tournament is run.
“Mike Vidala does an awesome job here and you can tell he cares about us, it’s one of best, well-run tournaments and it’s really cool that all the first responders, nurses and teachers can come out for free.”
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