Paige Crawford Hopes to Encourage Others to Pursue Dreams No Matter What

“Paige Crawford fell in love with watching golf on TV.

Her dad Keith had taken up the game later in his life, and as a self-proclaimed “Daddy’s girl,” Crawford often found her sports-loving, seven-year-old self watching ESPN alongside her father. But instead of basketball or football, Crawford was particularly enamored with golf and was inspired watching Tiger Woods in the midst of his heyday, a superstar whose talent seemed to transcend all convention of an uber-traditional game.

Crawford ultimately begged her father to get her a set of clubs, and when he finally gave in, she spent hours hitting them, whacking wiffle ball after wiffle ball toward a tree in her backyard, trying to emulate the success of those she saw on television as dreams danced in her head of what she could do when she finally got to step on a golf course.

Eventually, Keith brought his daughter to the driving range and got her a better set of clubs, and Crawford started working hard on her game, setting a goal to get good enough so she could tee it up with her dad and his friends. When that finally happened, Crawford wound up beating the group of middle-aged guys quite often, showing early signs of a talent that would shape her life as she got older.

After playing high school golf, Crawford continued her career at Montana State University, winning the Big Sky Conference Championship as a junior in 2013 with a 54-hole total of 8-under (208), a tournament record that stood until Sophie Hausmann broke it with a 10-under total in 2018. The Colorado native was the first player from Montana State to win conference as an individual since 1995, a huge accomplishment for the mid-major Division I university.

Crawford decided to turn professional after graduating from MSU, a move that seemed natural considering the success she’d had in college and her love of golf. But Crawford quickly realized that chasing her dreams was going to come at a cost, one that she would have to work hard to pay if she wanted to have an opportunity to compete at the highest level.”

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