BOZEMAN — Lauren Nau is only a sophomore on the Montana State women's golf team, but her dedication to her craft has helped her find success early on the college golf scene.
Nau's path to the Bobcats began with a slight misunderstanding from head coach Brittany Basye.
"When Lauren had emailed me, her last name's N-A-U, right?" Basye said. "So she had emailed me a couple of times and I was thinking, 'Well, this girl's probably going to (Northern Arizona) because it was N-A-U.
"So I was like, I don't have a chance, right? So I finally reached back out to her, I said, 'Are you going to NAU?'"
"I was like, oh no, that's just my legal name," Nau recalled with a laugh. "So that was funny."
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Once that was cleared up, Nau committed to MSU and her first year provided a huge growth opportunity.
Basye referred to Nau's presence on the team as a gift.
"She's just a gift — great player, great person, always willing to go the extra mile for her teammates," Basye said. "Last year she didn't play in every tournament as a top-five person. We took her to every tournament in the spring as an individual, and she just was a gift of just being there.
"A good teammate, played good golf, gave her that experience to get into some tournaments, so she knew how the college scene worked."
Nau expressed her gratitude for her coach bringing her to those tournaments.
"I was able to see how everything works in the college aspect because it's a lot different from junior golf," Nau said. "(It's) way more team oriented, which is awesome. I love it so much, and the team we had last year was amazing and looking forward to this year."
Nau saw that learning pay off this summer, winning her first Montana State Amateur title.
"This summer I really just grinded it out," Nau said. "Early mornings, and Arizona gets really hot, so I was just up early working hard, going to the gym and then just trusting my game and confidence."
Two of Nau's Bobcat teammates competed at the Montana State Am, as well.
"Eva (Heinz) and Sailor (Graham) were there and they're like, 'Wow, look at Lauren,'" Basye said. "And not that we didn't expect that from her, because we do, but when one player just turns it on like that, it's like, 'Whoa, what has she been doing?
"Well, she's been working at her game. She wants to make a difference."
Nau and the Bobcats will next travel to Pleasant Valley, Iowa, for the Diane Thomason Invitational on Monday.
