ROGERS -- Brooke Matthews talked to a few other schools, but it was no secret where she wanted to play her college golf.
Matthews made that official Wednesday afternoon, signing a national letter of intent to play for Arkansas at a ceremony in the commons area at Rogers High.
Matthews verbally committed to Arkansas more than a year ago and never wavered. It wasn't a surprise since she had good experience attending camps run by Arkansas women's golf coach Shauna Estes-Taylor and plays at The Blessings, which is the Razorbacks' home course.
"I've always wanted to come Arkansas, so it was a pretty easy choice for me," said Matthews, the Class 7A state champion as a junior and Overall state champion as a sophomore. "It always just felt right. I was talking to some other schools, but Arkansas was really the only one I was focusing on. I always wanted to stay close to home."
She didn't start playing golf until age 12, but has made up for that lost time with her work ethic, Rogers girls golf coach Brenda Alexander said.
"She goes in the summer and plays good competition and she's always practicing," Alexander said. "In this game, that's what you have to do. She's had good instructors. Really, it's the drive she has within. She's very competitive, perfectionist to a fault.
"Brooke is very good at focusing when she needs to focus and understanding what parts of her game she needs to work on."
Matthews had trouble controlling her driver at times this season, but she should be able to fine-tune her game at Arkansas, Alexander said.
"That's just a part of the game, sometimes it's there, sometimes it's not," Alexander said. "She's a great driver of the golf ball. I think understanding using different clubs around the green."
Matthews' list of high school accomplishments is a long one at Rogers. The four-time all-conference and all-state selection holds the lowest stroke average for a female in school history at 35.2 or one-under par. That mark was set as a junior.
Sports on 11/10/2016