When Isabelle Hawes' name was called on the roll at Narrabundah College on Friday, all that followed was dead silence.
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The 17-year-old is busy mixing it with a field boasting golfing greats in the Canberra Classic - but Hawes insists she will spend her spare time catching up on schoolwork in the midst of a whirlwind week.
United States product Amelia Lewis claimed the honours in round one of the Canberra Classic, shooting 65 to finish six under par at the Royal Canberra Golf Club on Friday.
While amateur prospect Hawes finished 11 shots off the pace, would she rather have her head buried in textbooks?
"Absolutely not, more than happy to miss school for this," Hawes laughed.
"[My friends] all know I play golf so it wasn’t a big surprise. I think when I mentioned the professional part they were like ‘oh, well that’s pretty good’."
Hawes admits her opening round could have gone a lot better - she shot 76 on the first day - but her experience in the same tournament last year did go a little way towards settling the nerves.
While the rising amateur sensation has been here before, she still took a moment to stand back and let the enormity of the occasion sink in.
"It was a lot less nerve-racking teeing off for the first hole [compared to last year]. I did a lot better on the first hole than I did last year which is good," Hawes said.
"[Reigning champion and former world No. 1] Jiyai Shin was only a couple of holes behind me and my group played really well on top of that. The whole experience was just incredible again.
"It’s big obviously and very nerve-racking. It’s a good experience, compared to playing other amateur events and junior tournaments. It’s on such a bigger scale than that, it gives you more experience which I’m pretty thankful for."
Hawes turned to golf with the guidance of her grandparents when she was about eight years old, and her grandpa has always been her No. 1 supporter.
Her journey towards the green has played out a little differently to that of Thornton, the 17-year-old Mackillop College student that picked it up simply because she found she had a knack for it.
"None of my family played, which is unique I guess because a lot of people get into it through family," Thornton said.
"My sister is two years older than me, she plays and we just did it with five or six other sports and just liked it and kept at it. It just ended up being the one we wanted to stay with, now she’s in America at a college there playing golf and studying."
Thornton finished anchored to the bottom of the leaderboard after shooting 82 on the opening day but she is relishing the chance to mix it with professionals on the biggest stage of her career to date.
"We were the first group off which is always a bit interesting because you don’t know what to expect," Thornton said.
"My putter was quite cold, I just didn’t sink anything so that didn’t help me at all. Besides that, it was really cool to see the people you play with, professionals, and it was an awesome experience.
"I’m feeling a little bit better for Saturday now that I’ve played the course and got used to people watching."
