Chico State women’s golfer Taylor Stewart has less than one year of college competition under her belt, but the way the sophomore has attacked the links and dug into her studies since joining the program in the fall of 2019, it would be easy to mistake her for a seasoned veteran. And while COVID-19 has prevented Taylor from competing as a ’Cat for the last 10 months, the Oakdale native has been far from idle, dedicating even more time to her classwork, making productive use of her free time, and doing her part to keep her team a close-knit unit. Her exemplary efforts make Stewart the latest Wildcat of the Week.
“School comes first for me,” Stewart said. “It goes along with golf. I hold myself to a high standard, whether it’s golf or classwork. I really like school, anyway.
“I’m a planner, so the busier I am the more productive I am,” she continued. “For me, (juggling athletics and studies) was an adjustment at first, but once I got used to it, I was able to develop a routine. My time management skills have improved a lot.”
Stewart’s excellence in the classroom resulted in 2019–20 California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) All-Academic honors, and last June she was one of three Wildcats named as a Women’s Golf Coaches Association All-American Scholar.
On the golf course, Stewart made an immediate impact on the Wildcats’ program during the opening months of the 2019–20 season. She carded sub-80 scores in seven of her first eight rounds and notched four straight top 25 tournament finishes.
“I had a really great fall season,” Stewart remembers. “I was ecstatic I was putting up those good numbers and proving to myself that I could compete at the college level. It was a way of showing myself that I knew that I had it in me.”
“Taylor came out guns blazing as a true freshman and set the bar high for our program,” Chico State women’s golf head coach Heather Fegley said. “It’s not often you see a freshman leading the way, but she is a true inspiration to our entire team. We can always count on her to be doing what she’s supposed to be doing and then some!”
Stewart’s favorite memory of her maiden season was her very first collegiate tournament, when the Wildcats traveled to Arizona to compete in the Ruidoso Junior Golf Association Shootout at Estrella. Another highlight came just five weeks later, when she and her Wildcat teammates were in Hawaii for the Dennis Rose Intercollegiate Invitational.
“Playing in Hawaii was an awesome experience,” Stewart said. “Playing golf at seven in the morning, and then hanging out at the beach the rest of the day. You can’t ask for a better experience than that, right?”
Like her fellow Chico State student-athletes, Stewart—who was averaging a team-best 78.9 strokes per round—saw the 2019–20 campaign come to an abrupt halt in mid-March due to the coronavirus pandemic, wiping out the Wildcats’ final two regular season tournaments as well as the CCAA and NCAA championship tournaments. The abbreviated season didn’t stop Stewart from earning All-CCAA honors.
“I was very honored to receive that award,” Stewart said. “Even though the season was short, I felt that I had achieved a lot of personal goals, and I was very thankful to succeed in the short time we were competing.”
“It was sad to see her first season as a Wildcat get cut short due to the COVID pandemic,” Fegley said. “But I’m excited to see how her play and leadership role develops in the coming years.”
Stewart had hoped she would be able to tee it up for the Wildcats again in 2020–21. But it was not to be, following the December announcement that the season would be cancelled.
“I was holding out hope when Coach Heather said she had news,” Stewart admitted. “I was hoping we’d get to at least work out or practice and be able to meet up as a team. Obviously it was disappointing, but I wasn’t necessarily surprised.”
Stewart had spent the fall concentrating on her studies, but not being able to compete in September and October was something she hadn’t experienced for awhile.
“It was definitely an adjustment,” Stewart said. “But over the summer I was able to compete in some non-collegiate tournaments. It was quite a switch, though. I’ve been playing tournaments during the fall for as long as I can remember. On the positive side, it allowed me to focus on my swing and other aspects of my game when I wasn’t competing.”
Stewart also used the fall months to stay as close to her Wildcat teammates as she could.
“We’ve had weekly Zoom meetings with each other,” Stewart said. “Sometimes, it’s just a check-in with updates. Other times we play games or do some sort of ice-breaker. I’m close to (teammate) Natalie Kinney, so I call and text her a lot.”
Stewart has utilized some of her time serving as a member of Chico State’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). As part of the group’s social media team, she’s able to reach out to other Wildcat athletes as well.
“This is my first year with SAAC, so I’m still kind of learning the ropes,” Stewart said. “(The social media team) has focused a lot on diversity and inclusion. We meet about once a week to go over our agenda and what type of content we want to put out. We’re planning to release some more stuff this spring.”
“Taylor is not only dedicated to making her teammates’ experience a great one, but she is also invested in doing so for her fellow Wildcats across the board,” Fegley said.
Stewart’s relationship with Fegley is one she truly values.
“I love Coach Heather,” Stewart said. “She’s always been super-welcoming and warm, and I can go and talk to her about anything whether it’s golf related or not. We have a good relationship…I feel like she understands how important it is to be involved, and she promotes buying into the student-athlete experience. So I try to encourage it as well.”
In between her studies, her SAAC responsibilities, and connecting with her teammates, Stewart has made sure to find some time for herself.
“I’m still golfing. It’s nice to be able to do something outside,” Stewart said. “I’ve recently gotten back into drawing and painting. Just doing things to be creative. I bake a lot, too…chocolate chip cookies or brownies. You know, things that aren’t good for you!”
Even though Stewart spent the fall in Chico, and is back in town for the spring semester, there are still things she experienced during the first half of her freshman year she misses.
“I think mostly having those little interactions with people that I know walking to a class,” Stewart said. “You never know what you might see walking across campus. I still go on walks on campus; just to pretend and get the feel of a normal college life.”
Just talking with Stewart, you can tell she’s staying upbeat and will be more than ready to return to action when the pandemic finally ends. She implores the rest of her Wildcat Family to do the same.
“We need to look at this time as a period for self-growth, because I think we get caught up in how fast life is and don’t take the time to appreciate the little things,” Stewart said. “With COVID, we just have to stay hopeful that we’ll return to normal eventually. And for those who are graduating, remember the Wildcat Family isn’t going anywhere. They will always be people you can rely on.”
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