A Game of Recovery

The nerve pain was constant, the numbness in her hands made holding a club nearly impossible at times, and the sore neck never seemed to get better. The most frustrating parts for Brynn Walker Collins were not the symptoms – though those had put her career as a professional golfer on hold – but the lack of answers. 

It took over two years, too many tests to list, and countless trips to doctors around the country, before someone finally diagnosed Walker Collins with Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. 

From age nine, Brynn Walker Collins dreamed of playing on the LPGA Tour. When she was just a Senior in high school, she Monday qualified into the 2016 Shop-Rite Classic and got her first taste of life inside the ropes.

After a solid four-year career at UNC, she turned pro and played the Epson Tour for two  seasons, earning one top-10. Golf was her life and her identity. And then injuries started. 

It started with a torn labrum in her shoulder; part bad luck, part because of her great desire to get to the LPGA. That desire sometimes led to range sessions that lasted too long and she’d play too many practice rounds. 

The injuries started with shoulder pain and micro tears in her labrum. Those would eventually heal but a new set of symptoms arose, numbness all down her left arm and almost constant neck pain. It took months to get the diagnosis of Thoracic Outlet Syndrome, and if  Walker Collins didn’t stumble upon a No Laying Up article about Rachel Heck she may still be searching for answers to her symptoms.

Rachel Heck was one of the best amateur golfers in the world for most of her junior and college career. Her list of accomplishments fills multiple paragraphs on her Wikipedia page, including the 2021 season, Heck's freshman year at Stanford. That year, Heck won six times, including the NCAA Championship, and won the National Player of the Year. She also qualified for the U.S. Open, made the cut, and finished T35. 

Then Heck gave up golf to join the Air Force, partly because of Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. Walker Collins played junior golf with Heck and sent her a message, and Heck was more than happy to jump on a call to help her old competitor from their junior golf days.

The pair spoke for about 40 minutes, and Heck informed Walker Collins that only a few doctors in the country treated TOS. Heck pointed Walker Collins toward a doctor named Dr. Dean Donahue in Boston. 

The next day, Walker Collins filled out an application to see Dr. Donahue. She included some details of her playing career and how the disease had affected it. The next day, Walker Collins' phone rang. It was Dr. Donahue's wife who was touched by her application. She was accepted into the clinic and soon began her treatment. 

The time away from the game was good in many ways but hard in others. "Since I was nine years old, my dream has always been to play on the LPGA Tour," Walker Collins told me as she prepared for the Mizuho Monday qualifier in New York. "My entire identity was wrapped up in that for almost my entire life, so when that was gone, it took some adjusting." 

It was also a blessing. She had married her college sweetheart, Trevor, in 2022, and and because she was sidelined, the pair spent most of the first few years of their marriage together. The travel schedule of the mini-tour grind isn't conducive to being home regularly. When Collins was healthy Trevor, who works in insurance, would come on the road when he could, but it wasn't often. So the injury offered the pair some important time together early in their marriage. 

The injury extended the pair's time together. Walker Collins was able to be there for both her older sisters when they each welcomed their first child into the world. Because of her presence Walker Collins is now known to them as “Aunt Boo” 

For most players, pro golf doesn't allow time off for the birth of a niece or nephew. There is a tournament to play and a money list to climb—those things are often missed. 

Walker Collins's injury allowed her to be there for birthdays and for Trevor.

She also worked to build her own golf marketing business, which led her to Dunning and this week’s Monday qualifier in New York. 

Her comeback has been filled with joy. "This is about enjoying the game," Walker Collins told me after the practice round at Liberty National, where the event and the Monday Q will be played. 

There were stages of burnout in her first go-around at the pro game, and she refuses to let that be a part of her story this time.

Her recovery has taken time, and there are no guarantees that she will ever get back to feeling as she did before. "I'm about 90%," Walker Collins said. 

The comeback began last week at the U.S. Open qualifier at Springfield Country Club in Virginia. Walker Collins struggled in the 36-hole qualifier but enjoyed being back. Her Dad, Rock, was on the bag for the first time in years, and the two shared memories of their over 20 years of golf together. 

On Monday, Trevor will be on the bag. 

Walker Collins' health isn't perfect, and her game shows the rust of not competing for nearly two years, but she has a tee time and a chance. That is what makes Monday Q's great. 

She isn't sure what the future holds. Her marketing business is doing well, but for now, she will enjoy every second of being back inside the ropes. 

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