Feb. 3, 2014

by Michelle Hantak, Mizzou Media Relations Student-Assistant

For Mizzou Golf senior Dakyn Dollens, there's much more to being a student athlete than just working out and competing.

Dollens hails from Centralia, Mo., a small town about 30 minutes northeast of Columbia and is the middle child of five children. His older sister, Denaye, was a member of the Mizzou Women's Golf team from 2005-2009. Dollens got into golf when he was only two years old, thanks to his father. "My dad was a golf superintendent and he really loved the game," Dollens said. "He used to take full-length golf clubs and cut them in half and out a grip on them and give them to me when I was two-years old."

In high school, Dollens was a four-sport athlete, competing in football, basketball, baseball and golf. Competing for Centralia High School in golf, Dollens took third in the Missouri state championship as a senior, as well as being a two-time district champion. Before graduating, Dollens set numerous Centralia High School golf records including the lowest 18-hole score (68), lowest 9-hole score (33), lowest nine-hole season average (37.19), best finish at the State Tournament (third) and most birdies in a season (25). In his addition to his success on the course, Dollens was a standout in the classroom, finishing in the top-10 of his graduating class and earning the Academic Metal Award.

As he was starting to look at colleges, Dollens realized that being involved in athletics was something he wanted to continue at the collegiate level. "I knew I wanted to play a sport in college," Dollens said. "I saw multiple people back home who played college football and their bodies just couldn't take it. My dad blew his knee out in college football. I thought golf would be a little easier on my body and I talked Coach Leroux into letting me come here."

Dollens has competed in each home tournament the Tigers have hosted during his four years spent in Columbia. However, the most important thing he's learned from being a student athlete is that what he can do off the course is oftentimes more meaningful than his performance on the course. "There's three different parts to being a student athlete," Dollens said. "There's the academic, the athletic and the impact which is what you can do around the community. I feel like if you're only doing two of the three or one of the three, you're not doing your full job."

At the conclusion of the 2012-13 season, Dollens was the representative for Mizzou Men's Golf on the SEC Community Service Squad. During his time at Mizzou, Dollens has volunteered with numerous organizations in Columbia including The Walking School Bus, Star Light Reading, the Children's Hospital and the Food Bank.

The Star Light Reading program is Dollens' favorite organization to volunteer with. "It's a reading program through satellite to different schools around Missouri," Dollens said. "You sit there and read a book to them and they ask you questions. Sometimes the questions they ask are pretty funny." Dollens says that the students he interacts with through Star Light and other organizations really look up to Mizzou student athletes and he believes taking time to talk to students around the state is a great way to give back to the community.

According to Assistant Coach Judd Easterling, Dollens is an excellent senior leader who he can always depend on. "I think Dakyn's commitment to the team as a whole with working out, going to class, making sure guys are volunteering, making sure guys are getting to practice on time is a huge contribution," Easterling said. "He's an overall leader for the team, as he never misses class or practice, that the younger guys can look up to."

For Dollens, the best part of the game is hitting wedge shots. "Back home, my dad created a range in my yard and I used to practice those all the time," Dollens said. "I got pretty good and really enjoyed it. They say that's where you make your money."

Dollens will graduate with a degree in business administration and an emphasis in finance this coming May. Upon graduation, Dollens hopes to find a job and eventually become a financial advisor somewhere in the Midwest. "I've been applying for jobs all break and I have a couple of insurance job offers, but nothing accepted yet," Dollens said.

Being a member of a golf team has also helped Dollens develop as a person over the past few years. "I think there are certain aspects of golf that can't be taught anywhere else," Dollens said. Things like confidence. When you get ready to hit a shot, you have to have confidence that you can hit the shot. You can do that in basketball or football, but you have 45 seconds to hit a golf shot so that's a lot of time to build up your confidence. It helps a lot with building yourself up mentally." Dollens said that golf has also given him a lot of networking opportunities that will hopefully help him after graduation.

As graduation nears, Dollens says that what he will miss most when he graduates is his teammates. "You have friends from back home, but you never get this close or spend this much time with a group of people," Dollens said. "Our practice hours are 20 hours a week, but that's just when coaches are here. We're really probably together 30-plus hours. I'll probably never have that closeness again in my life."

As a new semester and spring season begins Dollens is looking forward to making the biggest impact he can on the course, in the classroom and in the community during his final semester as a student athlete.