Spencerport's Julia Zigrossi is grateful to be back out on the golf course. The rising sophomore spent the last few months practicing at home because of the COVID-19 health crisis.

"I have a simulator in my garage, so I used that every day," said Zigrossi.

Zigrossi is enjoying great success on the junior golf circuit. She'll tee it up at the Rochester District Junior tournament this week. She says golfers are already used to the social distancing guidelines put in place.

"We're kind of all separated anyways," said Zigrossi. "You don't need to get that close when you're playing, but the no shaking hands after is kind of like, that's a staple in golf you know."  

The pandemic forced the cancellation of this year's Danielle Downey Classic at Brook-Lea Country Club. The highlight of Zigrossi's summer; her family would routinely host players for the week and she often caddied for the pros that stayed with them.

"I had never done anything at a professional level and it was a cool experience to wear the caddie bib, walk up, see the pin sheets and learning a lot about what they do, like how they prepare for tournaments. It was a great learning experience," said Zigrossi.

Zigrossi is well aware of Downey's legacy. Danielle was a Spencerport grad, a three-time All American at Auburn, and played on the LPGA Tour before dying in a car accident in 2014.  

"She's someone that I look up to because she did a lot for the game of golf for women, especially around here," Zigrossi said.

Zigrossi's goal is to play the game professionally someday.