MOON TWP — It didn't take long for the doubts to randomly stream into the mind of Jenna Rinker as if shot out of a fairway sprinkler.

Rinker, a Slippery Rock High graduate and the only golfer in school history to qualify for the PIAA Tournament, excelled at Clarion University as a freshman last fall.

She won the first tournament she played at the Baldwin-Wallace (Ohio) Invitational with a two-round score of 152.

Rinker also won the Gannon Fall Invitational and was one of the Golden Eagles' most successful golfers.

Yet, something wasn't quite right.

Rinker felt isolated. She felt unchallenged. She felt she was in the wrong place.

The more she thought about her situation, the more she knew she must act.

Those thoughts prompted her to transfer from Division II Clarion to Division I Robert Morris University — even though she knew that was going to be more difficult than a 50-foot winding putt.

"It was hard," said Rinker, whose decision was complicated by the fact her father, Marty, was the men's golf coach at Clarion. "Sometimes you have to do stuff for yourself. I was very, very afraid to tell my dad."

But her father listened and understood her desire for a bigger challenge.

Rinker transferred to Robert Morris during the winter break and has made an immediate impact for the Colonials, much as she did at Clarion.

Rinker edged teammate Elizabeth Wenger in a playoff hole to win the Mount St. Mary's Spring Invitational and RMU won the team title, it's first in the program's short history.

She was named Northeast Conference Women's Golfer of the Week — the first for the school since 2006.

"Like when I was at Clarion, I didn't expect it to happen so quickly," Rinker said. "But at the same time, I had confidence that I could compete at that level."

Her fast start has justified the trials she endured during the winter.

"I had a lot of hard talks with a lot of people, some who weren't very happy," Rinker said. "There was so much paper work and so many things to go through. But it was what I wanted. It was the best thing for me."

Rinker has relished her short time at Robert Morris so far.

She has squared off against some of the best female collegiate golfers in the country — and has held her own.

Rinker, who picked up the game relatively late in her life, said she feels like she is playing the best golf of her career.

"I can't pick out one thing I'm doing better," Rinker said. "It's everything. I'm learning how to score better. I'm learning to turn those double bogeys into a par. I'm so close to shooting even."

Rinker is averaging in the high 70s while playing much more difficult courses than she did at Clarion.

Rinker spends nearly four hours a day at the golf course, working on her game.

"This is probably the hardest I have ever worked," Rinker said. "I guess it is finally paying off."

Rinker didn't start golfing competitively until she was 14. The game quickly grew on her as her success — and victories — mounted.

"I love it even more each day," she said. "The more you win, the more you succeed, the more you want. It drives you. It's like an addiction."