You’ll see some golfers let their emotions get the best of them when their shots are not falling the way they’d like. They’ll break their clubs or sometimes even withdraw from the match altogether. Payne McLeod is not one of those golfers. Then again, he has not really had much to be angry about in his short, yet successful collegiate career.

After winning the CAA Rookie of the Year award and earning a spot on First-Team All-CAA, one cannot help but wonder how a freshman could be so dominant at a sport that early in his college days. This is something McLeod attributes to one of golf’s most important qualities: confidence.

“I won the North Carolina match play a couple weeks before school started my freshman year. So, I was very confident and believed in my game,” said McLeod. “Not only that, but we had qualifying one of the first weeks we were back and I was leading. I was playing the best I ever have. I was playing the same way I always have: not being scared.”

Then again, some of McLeod’s achievements in the sport may be because he was able to play on a course literally in his backyard. This allowed ample time during his younger years to work on his game and become more competitive within the sport. That, and the fact that he had three older brothers.

“My brothers all played on our home course in Reidsville, and they’d take me out when I was 5 years old and I just walked around with them until I was good enough to play,” said McLeod. “Once that happened, I’ve never come off the golf course. I started to beat them, they got mad and I just kept getting better and better. Having three older brothers, it’s hard not to be competitive. Once you start beating them, it really helps your confidence.”

Although he may have started playing the sport at a younger age, McLeod did not start getting truly competitive until he was 13 or 14 years old. He was not even aware he was being watched at a tournament in Pinehurst when UNC Wilmington head golf coach Matt Clark followed him.

“Coach Clark was following me, and I didn’t even know he was a coach,” said McLeod. “I was just out there playing golf and I happened to be playing pretty well. I noticed him on the first day and then he came back on the second day. Then, my mom told me he was going to be following me.”

It’s the same calm, collected attitude that has made McLeod so successful already at UNCW. After playing in all 12 team events and posting five top-10 finishes as a freshman, McLeod has since picked up right where he left off, arguably becoming this year’s most successful Seahawk. McLeod went a perfect 4-0 at the Callaway Collegiate Match Play Championships in March, followed by his team-high ninth-place finish at the LSU National Collegiate in Baton Rouge this past weekend.

Although his record speaks for itself, McLeod has also had to overcome some changes to his golf schedule at UNCW. “I always played golf in the morning at home,” said McLeod. “Here, we have to go to class and we can’t even get out to the course until 1 or 1:30 no matter if it’s a day off. I played golf for eight hours a day at home, and here I can’t get out there as much.”

That’s something he will surely be able to adjust to as his collegiate career continues, however. When asked about his favorite part of the sport, McLeod was able to bring the focus to a bigger picture.

“The unknown,” said McLeod. “You don’t know what your next shot is going to be, where you’ll be. You just have a plan and if you get there, great, and if you don’t, you have to figure out how to get back on track. That’s the way life is really.”

McLeod and the Seahawks next play at the River Landing Intercollegiate, April 6-7. After that, they have a break until April 25 when they’ll take on conference rival Drexel. Following that is the CAA Championship Tournament, where the team will see if it can peak at the right time.

What the Seahawks must realize is that you cannot do it alone, however, which is something McLeod believes and knows well. “I’m gritty in that I don’t want to get beat,” said McLeod. “Belief is big in playing well and I know I can play well. I always believe in myself, and I have a lot of people behind me that are pulling for me too, and that’s a big thing. I don’t think I’ve reached near my potential yet.”