Ronald Nause
Spectators watched as a pair of 12-year-old girls attempted to play their amateur golf tournament. Each player tried to navigate her way through the South Carolina course, but instead sliced, hooked and whacked their shots all over.
As they walked the links and the sun shone down, smiles remained on their young faces — stemming more from their pleasurable talks about boys rather than their chipping or driving.
The girls partnered together on this day are now N.C. State seniors — Lorraine Ballerano and Molly Birmingham. Unbeknownst to the two, this tournament would be their first glimpse of what would become a common sight in future years — each other.
“We were 12-years-old and we were both awful,” Birmingham said. “She was my best friend on the golf course… she was really nice and she was a lot like me.”
Ten years have passed since the playing of that amateur tournament in Georgetown, S.C. “I think she beat me by one,” Ballerano said, flexing her memory. “Neither of our scores were very good but at that point we were just out there getting started, both of us hadn’t been playing that long.”
Neither said they could foresee the forging of a friendship and careers that have become what they are today.
“It never occurred to me I would be playing golf past that day,” Birmingham said.
Today the two are teammates, roommates and best friends.
“She was always a lot of fun every time we played together. When we were younger, we weren’t nearly as serious and we always had a lot of fun,” Ballerano said.
Birmingham lived in Cornelius, N.C., while Ballerano was some 167 miles away, playing at her home course in Myrtle Beach. A few times a month, one would try to communicate via “snail mail” to keep up with how the other was doing.
“When I didn’t see her at tournaments we would write each other letters, and that’s how we stayed in contact before e-mail and instant messenger and all that stuff,” Birmingham said. “I don’t really remember how it officially started. Actually it was probably her, she’s more social than I am.”
According to Ballerano, the pen pals saw each other regularly as they competed against each other in about 40 tournaments before joining the Wolfpack in 2002.
“I actually was going through the stuff in my house and I found a big box of different letters that we had written. They’re fun to read and look back on now,” Ballerano said.
Both started to receive recognition from universities about playing collegiate golf in their junior years of high school.
By this point the future State golfers had lost touch due to differing circumstances, so there was little discussion about which college route the other was taking. But their paths would cross again as they started visiting the interested schools.
“We actually took our visit to State the same weekend,” Ballerano said. “Then I committed first and she committed the week after. We didn’t have to go to the same school but it was nice that we ended up together.”
Birmingham said whatever riffs they had earlier were ironed out once they stepped on campus.
“We weren’t very close for different things and then once we were in the same place on a consistent basis it was a lot better,” Birmingham said. “It was nice knowing somebody here.”
By her sophomore year at State, Birmingham wasn’t reaching her full potential — despite finishing second on the team with a 77.5 stroke average and firing a two-under 69 in the second round of the ACC/SEC Challenge at the Raven Course in Destin, Fla.
That’s when coach Page Marsh issued an ultimatum to Birmingham that changed the way she approached the game.
“Page had asked me to either quit the team or get it together and play, and that even if I decided to stay she would reevaluate me the next semester and tell me if I was allowed on the team,” Birmingham said.
Even in her second year with the Pack, Birmingham said she was struggling to find the passion for golf.
“Honestly, till I was 19 — even in college I was still kind of going through the motions,” Birmingham said. “I’ve become a lot better player thanks to Page.”
Now reinvigorated in her sport, Birmingham has started playing better and smarter than in the past. Just this year she finished tied for fifth in the Papa John’s Collegiate held in February as State would finish first out of 12 teams.
“She’s really worked hard this semester,” Ballerano said. “She’s really shown that she wants it. Molly’s always a lot of fun. We can always laugh and she has a really easy-going personality.”
In this her final year, Birmingham has carded three rounds at par or under.
“It’s sad to see it end, I’m not quite ready. There’s been a lot of great moments,” Birmingham said. “But the best times I’ve had have been here with these people.”
Ballerano was there for those good times and the not-so-good times for Birmingham.
Once her childhood competitor, Ballerano is now her comrade. But, as has been the case for 10 years, the two are close friends.
“We always cheered for each other but you’re that much more for the person because they’re there to help you,” Ballerano said.
The two still keep in touch by walking across the hall. The last three years they have been roommates.
“I’m surprised we’ve lasted as long as we have,” Birmingham said.
The two still talk frequently, even if the talks have changed since they were younger.
“Now it’s about more than just boys,” Ballerano said.
The two still play golf, but now they are part of something bigger — the school that reunited them.
Birmingham will close out her career alongside the same wide-smiled girl she met in South Carolina in 1996, and the more their surroundings have changed, or careers have progressed, the more their friendship has grown into what it is today.