DANVILLE, Ky. - During her high school career, Rylee Suttor was a two-time Player of the Year on the Kentucky PGA Junior Tour, but she never got a look at the tournaments like she did last summer.

The Centre College sophomore did an internship with Kentucky Golf House and focused on the Kentucky PGA Junior Tour, where she got a look at behind the scenes work involved in tournaments she knew little about.

She applied for the internship because her father saw the opening and encouraged her to apply. She got an interview and got the job.

"It was really a fun experience seeing the other side of golf," said Sutton, the female athlete of the year and scholar-athlete of the year her senior season at Martha Layne Collins High School in Shelby County. "Always before I was just playing and not seeing what went into organizing and running tournaments. I got to know a lot of people and what it was like to run a tournament."

She had to figure out tee times, determine pin positions, set up tee markers and more at most tournaments. Suttor would help monitor younger players and even spent time just handing out water to players on the course.

Of course, she did all this having to practice COVID-19 safety-related protocols.

"In a weird way it was pretty cool that I got to work during COVID times. The only people that wore masks all the time on the course were staff members," she said. "On the golf course everybody stayed six feet apart. It went well."

COVID-19 had forced many tournaments in the spring to be reschedule and she traveled across the state but admitted she "could not complain" about spending so much time working with golf. Suttor and other interns even got to play golf some days if tournaments ended early enough.

She made a mark during a shortened freshman season by tying the school's 18-hole scoring record with a 3-under 69 at the MCC Intercollegiate in Alabama. Senior Bailey Plourde, an All-American the last two seasons, had a 69 in the same tourney.

"I just got some new irons when we started spring play and I didn't play that great," Suttor admitted. "I was happy overall last year happy since your freshman year is about adjusting to things like taking classes and being on my own."

She believes she got her new irons "figured out" during the summer when she tied for fourth at the Kentucky Women's Open.

"It was my first time to play in that tournament," she said. "It was kind of intimidating with the Division I athletes and some pros there but I hope I showed them NCAA Division III athletes can play, too."

Centre coach Jane Hopkinson-Wood calls her a "really good player" who should continue to get even better if there is a spring season for the Colonels. Suttor believes from her experience this summer and what pro golf tours are now doing that they could have a spring season. She's adjusted to online classes and "confinement protocols" on campus but has still been able to play golf and work on things normally she might not have time to do.

She's glad Hopkinson-Wood will be able to help her more if there is a spring season.

"She was a good golfer (at Wittenberg) and got a lot of awards. She teaches us she got there and when we go out on the course what she tells us pays off," Suttor said. "She uses her past skills and experiences to train us. She is also really nice on the course. You have got to have a good mental attitude in golf. If you are failing, she will give you fruit snacks or something to get a positive edge back. She just has a knack for knowing how to help."

Suttor may eventually need help deciding on a major but her Golf House bio noted that she wanted to make a "living" in the golf industry.

"I love golf. I would love to travel and play golf," the Centre sophomore said. "I am up for anything but if it would turn out to be in golf, that would be great but I am not really sure what I will do."

What could be a possibility for a golf-related career?

"Maybe signing contracts with professional players, working with a club manufacturer, getting sponsors," she said. "Just something where I could use my personality and my love for golf."