Camasí Emma Cox poses for a press photo in The Columbian studio on Tuesday, June 4, 2019. (Nathan Howard/The Columbian)
Camas senior Emma Cox didn’t mention her 14th-place state finish, district title or two eagle hole-outs when asked about her season.
The Columbian All-Region girls golfer of the year instead spoke of her team.
The Papermakers finished fourth at state this year, the first season in which entire teams qualified for the event.
“My freshman through junior year felt very individualistic,” Cox said. “You were trying to claim your spot and hopefully your whole team was able to make it. This season was just amazing in the way that everybody’s score mattered. It didn’t just matter about me or the way I placed.”
The format was a perfect fit for Cox, who tries to put others before herself more often than not. Before the district, bi-district and state tournaments, Cox, a Papermaker captain, went up to her teammates and gave them a pep talk.
“They’re so much fun, and super kind and smart but some of them get in their own heads even though they have this amazing ability,” Cox said.
So she told them “you got this,” and sent them on their way.
Internally, she was feeling the pressure of the state championships’ second day. She finished with a five-over 76 in the opening round, and her team was seven strokes back of eventual state champion Redmond at Spokane’s Hangman Valley Golf course.
“I was the only one on my team that had one of their better scores of the season that day,” Cox said. “I felt like it was a bit on my shoulders, even though it completely wasn’t. I took that pressure and faltered a bit with it.”
She shot an 84 to end her fourth consecutive state appearance (32nd, third, 15th and 14th-place finishes).
But she quickly moved on from discussing her own play, instead highlighting teammate Elizabeth Gillespie, who rebounded from an opening 95 to card an 85 and place 46th overall.
That’s just who Cox is. Even her career plans center around helping others. She will play NCAA Division I golf at Towson University in Baltimore. There she will study political science and hopes to eventually go to law school.
She’s passionate about environmental issues and women’s right, attends Camas City Council meetings and volunteered for Carolyn Long’s congressional campaign.
A future politician?
“It’s really hard to run and have all these people judging you,” Cox said. “It’s not my thing. I’d like to be in the backstage area, but maybe one day (I’ll run for political office). I’m not going to rule it out.”
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