During the current state of athletics across the country, the Kennesaw State athletic department looks to fill the void by highlighting the amazing stories of select student-athletes both past and present as well as the faculty and staff that help to make KSU the unique and special university that it is.
Belgium. A European country that has given us chocolate, waffles and
Clara Aveling.
Originally from Linkebeek, a province just south of Brussels, Aveling has helped usher in a dominant era for the Kennesaw State women's golf team, leading the Owls to back-to-back conference championships while going down as one of the top golfers in KSU history.
Coming from a long line of athletes with her father playing field hockey for the Welsh national team and her mother playing tennis, Aveling followed in her family's footsteps playing both sports when she was younger. But the three of them wanted something they could all do together as a family.
So they turned to golf.
At nine years old, Clara and her family ventured onto the greens every Sunday and before long Aveling's prowess began to gain attention. When she was 12 years old, she started playing in national tournaments and began to be courted by the Belgian National Team. Two years later she was chosen to represent her country on the international stage.
Aveling excelled for the Royal Belgian Golf Federation, winning the U16 and U18 Belgium National Championships as well as receiving invitations to the Duke of York Young Champions Tournament and Annika Invitational, some of the top tournaments in the world for young golfers.
"It's always fun just because it's a team event so I don't play just for myself I play for my teammates and I play for the Federation that selected me," said Aveling. "It's a moment of being proud of yourself and proud to represent your country."
After making waves on the amateur circuit, Aveling made the decision to continue to grow her game across the ocean in the U.S. But it was not a decision she came to easily.
"I had a hard time thinking about going to the U.S. at first because I didn't know if I was prepared for it, just being away from my family for so long and being an only child," said Aveling. "It was my mom who reminded me that if I didn't take the chance I might regret it and that's something that stuck with me. I didn't want to have any regrets."
Aveling narrowed down her choices on where she would attend, even doing an on-campus visit at Old Dominion University, but after a Skype call with Head Coach
Rhyll Brinsmead she knew she was ready to go to KSU.
But as any international transplant knows, the adjustment to relocating is never easy and for Aveling it took some time to get used to being away from her parents.
"My first few months were really hard just because I was not used to being so far away from my family," said Aveling. "Not being able to call my parents every day because of the time changes was really tough on me, but I was very fortunate to be on a team where all of us were international and all of us knew how hard it could be for others to be away from your families."
At that time, KSU's women's golf team was entirely international with Aveling coming in alongside freshmen
Charlotte Charrayre from France, and
Medy Thavong of Thailand. They joined Denmark native
Henriette Nielsen and juniors
Laura Estefenn and
Dulcie Sverdloff from Colombia and England, respectively.
But the adjustment didn't end there as Aveling had to adapt to the collegiate game.
It was a less than ideal start to her career at the Ptarmigan Ram Classic that fall semester. She opened her first round six over par with two double-bogeys on the back nine. Aveling eventually closed out the tournament tied for 64th, finishing 18 over par.
"My first tournament my freshman year was very nerve-wracking," said Aveling. "I was really stressed on the first tee, but I had Ket [Preamchuen] with me, the assistant coach at that time, and I think she helped me through it too. I remember that coach Ket sat me down after that first tournament and told me that she wanted me to play the next tournament as an individual so that I could realize how much stress I put myself through during the first tournament."
That change paid off immediately.
Aveling improved by 10 strokes in the next tournament, jumping up 30 spots in the individual rankings. She continued to improve throughout the fall, finishing in the top-10 the next two tournaments.
Aveling finished outside the top-50 only two more times that year following that first tournament. She carded a team-high six rounds at par and four in red figures that first year, finishing with the lowest stroke average on the team at 73.47.
And then it all came to a head at the ASUN Championships.
In her first appearance at the conference tournament, Aveling carded three birdies on the back nine to lead by two strokes after the first day.
"After that first round I knew that I was playing well," said Aveling. "I just felt so confident that the course was made for me and my type of golf. I knew after the practice round that I could play really well on that course."
She extended that lead to four strokes after day two, taking home individual honors after finishing the tournament two over par, three strokes ahead of second place.
But despite Aveling's individual win, the Owls finished third overall as a team, something that put a damper on the experience for Aveling.
"Obviously I was so happy about my first place," said Aveling. "But at the same time, I felt like something was not being accomplished because we finished in third. If I look back at that conference championship, I don't think we had that fighting spirit that I had hoped we would have had. I knew coach wanted it and I believe the girls really wanted it, but I don't think it was as much as North Florida wanted it. At that level of golf, it's just how bad you want it."
The following week Aveling closed out her freshman season with a clean sweep of the ASUN's postseason awards, being named a unanimous first team all-conference selection while taking home conference player and freshman of the year honors.
With such a dominant start to her career, all eyes were on Aveling as she prepared for her sophomore season. Until tragedy struck.
That fall Aveling and the Owls were playing a qualifying match at Pinetree Country Club to determine which five would travel to Texas to open the year at the Red Raider Invitational. It came down to Aveling and Nielsen in a match play showdown to see who would earn the last spot.
Aveling won, but she didn't come out unscathed, straining the intercostal muscle around her ribs. A mild strain, Aveling was still set to play in that first tournament, but a hard swing trying to get out of some rough knocked her out of commission, sidelining her for the rest of the tournament and the season.
"Mentally it was very hard for me to take and I was in a really bad place," said Aveling. "I just couldn't see myself coming back to golf or at least at the same level as I used to play, and I was really scared of not being able to play again for the team. I thought about quitting and just going home, but I got lucky that Eric [Croux] was our assistant coach."
Aveling sat down with both coach Brinsmead and assistant coach
Eric Croux to discuss her rehabilitation and eventual return. From that moment, Aveling worked one-on-one with coach Croux to continue to improve her game and return from injury.
"If I didn't have that talk with Coach and Eric, I think I would have gone home," said Aveling. "I was at the worst place I could have been at that time and having that discussion with them was the best thing that ever happened to me. I started working with Coach Croux and started seeing improvement straight away and a lot of confidence coming back."
After nearly a year and a half, Aveling finally returned to the course, playing as an individual at the Ladies Fall Intercollegiate Invitational in the fall of 2017. She finished tied for 51st in the tournament, but it didn't matter, she was just happy to be back and it didn't take long for her to find her form.
Finishing tied for fifth just two tournaments later, Aveling recorded top-20 finishes in all but one of the final five spring tournaments.
Finally participating in the ASUN Conference Tournament once again, she would help KSU get over the hump and capture its third team trophy in one of the wildest tournaments to date.
The Owls shot a season-high 313 on a rain-soaked course and, despite sitting in second place after the first day, were six shots behind leaders North Florida.
"It was the worst round we'd had all semester and having to do it at conference at a golf course we knew so well was just mind-blowing to us," said Aveling. "We knew we had to win that tournament, we didn't know how, but we knew we had to win that tournament."
But the question was whether or not they'd get that chance. With the rain continuing to come down in buckets, the teams waited in the clubhouse to hear whether or not they would get a chance to play. The day came and went, but the opportunity was not lost. It was decided to play a final 18 holes on the following day for a shortened tournament.
"We just needed a chance and we took that chance," said Aveling.
The Owls ran away with it in the final round, shooting four over par, one of only two teams to shoot under 10 over for the day, to come back from six shots down to beat UNF by nine shots.
Aveling, who finished tied for fifth at seven over par, was one of three Owls to finish in the top five.
"It was crazy to see how we could get things done," said Aveling. "But I was really proud of that team and how we behaved on that golf course and how even knowing how many shots behind we were we knew we could make it. We knew we deserved it, but we had to show it. And we showed it with great golf so I'm very proud of that."
The team went on to play in the NCAA Tallahassee Regional and despite improving over 10 strokes from their previous regional appearance in 2015, the Owls finished 14th out of 18 teams.
"Playing regionals was mind blowing," said Aveling. "We were just very excited to be able to finally represent Kennesaw at such a high standard of golf. It was a good experience, but we needed to learn from it."
Those lessons combined with then-senior
Madison Caldwell's decision to turn pro following the fall semester catapulted Aveling and the Owls to an entirely new level in 2018-19.
As a team, KSU finished the year with a program best 294.17 scoring average, over two strokes better than the previous record. The Owls recorded 10 top-10 finishes that season to mark just the third time in program history KSU finished with 10 or more top-10 finishes.
Individually, Aveling finished with a career-best 73.66 stroke average to rank fifth in the KSU single-season record book. She led the team with seven top-20 finishes and five top-10 finishes, the latter falling just one shy of the single-season record.
"Once Madison decided to turn pro we knew that the five of us needed to play well all the time," said Aveling. "We knew that we had to count on each other and trust each other. So that spring semester was just crazy how the atmosphere changed and how much of a team we were. I had never been a part of a team that just felt so good to be a part of."
With a regional berth already secured thanks to a stellar season and a No. 37 ranking, KSU headed into the ASUN Championships relaxed and free looking to defend its title.
"We went in with no pressure," said Aveling. "We knew we were going to go to regionals anyway, so we didn't have the pressure to win conference. But we wanted it. We worked our butts off to get to that place so we wanted that conference championship."
The Owls dominated the field, leading by five shots after the first day, extending that lead to 19 after a phenomenal second day in which they shot two under.
The real competition on that course was between Aveling and teammates Thavong and
Roanne Tomlinson for the individual championship. Sitting second through fourth in the standings after day one, the trio took sole possession of the top three spots after day two.
KSU cruised to its second straight team championship on the third day, capping off a record season. Individually, Thavong took home the conference crown followed by Tomlinson and Aveling in second and third, respectively.
"It felt so special, it was like the cherry on top," said Aveling. "It was very special for us because we deserved it and the fact that we worked so hard and pushed ourselves so much during the whole season. Seeing Medy step up and doing so good for the team and for herself and seeing everyone get after it. I was so happy and so proud for her because I know how much she worked for it. At that time I didn't realize how much work we put in until we won conference and we were all crying on that green realizing what we had done."
Aveling added another trophy to her collection following her top-three finish, being named the ASUN Player of the Year for the second time, the only player in program history to accomplish such a feat.
"My junior year I wanted to prove something to myself and I wanted to prove it to my team, that being injured does not define what you can achieve after you have recovered," said Aveling. "That's why I came to Kennesaw, to show that if you put your mind to it you can achieve anything you want. I came to Kennesaw to play for a team but also to be the best that I could."
Having proved that she could achieve anything and everything, Aveling came into her final season at KSU this past year taking on a new role as the lone senior, the lone returner and the captain.
Leading a whole new generation of golfers at KSU, Aveling looked to show the young group where it all started and where they could take the program. To show the standard that was set and seize the opportunities earned from the past two seasons.
Opportunities like invitations to tournaments at Mississippi State, UCF, Auburn, Hawaii and Ole Miss where the team would face some of the top competition in the country. That is until COVID-19 reared its ugly head and forced the rest of the spring season to be cancelled.
"I was very upset," said Aveling. "When they told us in Hawaii, I had my parents on the phone and I couldn't stop crying. I was just so upset that we were not given a chance to prove how good we could be. It took me a good week to get around the fact that my season was cut short, but in the end there are so many more things happening in the world right now that are more saddening than what's happening to me."
With her KSU career coming to an abrupt end, Aveling returned to Belgium where she currently waits for a return to normalcy.
The future might be uncertain, but she knows at least one thing, that golf will be a major part of it. Whether that's a professional career or training to become a coach herself, her time at KSU has taught her one thing for certain.
"Enjoy the process, appreciate the chance that has been given to you and take full advantage of it."
