MOBILE, AL | Being good at golf takes a lot of brainpower, especially at the professional level. There are yardages to be calculated, shots to be visualized, and statistics to break down. Players must plot their way around every new course, deciding where and how to land it, trying to foresee the wayward shots they’re bound to hit a few times per round. Not to mention the grind of practice, analyzing each motion of a golf swing, looking for the right feel to produce the correct ball flight or spin rate, and the hours spent hitting shot after shot in search of unattainable perfection.
With all of the thinking it takes to efficiently get the ball in the hole, you’d think a player would want to give their brain a break off the golf course, watching mind-numbing reality TV or scrolling through social media. But that’s not the case for Selena Costabile. The 23-year-old Canadian spends her time delving into the intricacies of foreign languages.
“I speak English, French, and Russian fluently, Spanish as well, and then Japanese, I'm intermediate,” said Costabile of her hobby. “I still take classes and try to keep up during the year. I’m fluent in four and then learning, still learning one, so (I can speak) five. Learning languages actually is very therapeutic and calming I would say.”
Any other person would be satisfied with knowing a few phrases in another tongue, let alone being pentalingual. But Costabile isn’t a one-trick pony. In addition to being an avid reader, she’s a classically trained pianist and has been playing for nearly two decades, specializing in the classical genre. While many musicians say they hear tunes in their head as they go about their daily activities, Costabile doesn’t have Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata” or Mozart’s “Requiem” playing on repeat when she’s on the course, instead focusing on the task at hand.
“I am still playing piano as much as I can,” She said. “This year actually I didn't get to go back home for about four or five months so I didn't get to go and play piano. But I just moved to Florida, so hopefully I'm going to buy myself a piano and keep my practice up. I love playing classical music. I grew up playing classical music and I never really changed the genre of music I play. It’s just really calming and therapeutic. So, when I have an off season, I'll try to learn some new pieces.
“I do meditate, so with my meditation music it is kind of like a calming classical music, so I still try to keep that kind of tune in my head. But when I'm playing I'm pretty focused on hitting my shots out here.”
Surprisingly, Costabile forewent the traditional collegiate golf route, turning professional a year after she completed high school, and began pursuing her goal of playing on the LPGA Tour. While she’s now taking classes at Queen’s University with a fitting major in Global Studies, golf is still her top priority and she’s as committed as ever to turning her dreams into reality, even if that means her education goes on the back burner for a while.
“I'm actually in school now. I'm taking classes at Queen's University online. It's a university in Canada. I’m close to 40% done with my degree. I'm chipping away slowly at it. No real priority. I took the semester off in the summer just so I could focus on golf, and then maybe I'll take some winter classes in the new year.”
2021 saw Costabile’s first full season as a Epson Tour member and though it didn’t go as planned with 11 missed cuts in 15 starts, she hasn’t let it get in her head. Having to fight to retain your status isn’t an ideal situation for any professional, but Costabile has been through the grind of Q-School before and is armed with plenty of experience as she makes her way through a grueling two-week stretch in Southern Alabama.
“I learned a lot about myself this year and how to prepare for events, what works for me, what doesn't work for me,” she said. “To be honest, I think I'm pretty new at it. That's okay. I've never made it to Q-Series but played in Stage II twice and Stage I I think three times, so I'm used to the Q-School experience. I just have to stay calm and that's the main thing.”
Through two rounds, Costabile has carded a 67 and a 69 at the Falls and Crossings Courses at Magnolia Grove with just two bogeys in two days. She currently sits in a tie for fifth heading into the weekend and considering there are still 108 holes left to play, Costabile is doing everything she can to remain calm, cool, and collected, a strategy that seems to be working well thus far.
“I'm just treating it like a regular tournament. For me, I try to think that every round is just a round of golf and I try my best at every round. I'm honestly just thinking about what I want to do during the day and my game plan and then however I end up, I end up.”
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