Girls Golf Meeting Expectations Early
Junior Alayna Wells takes a swing down the course. Over the long offseason, she worked on her game and improved, but as a team, they could not make the advances they had hoped for due to COVID-19. Coach Larry Steinmetz said, “I just haven’t been able to work with them as much as I normally would so we haven’t gotten that progress that I was hoping that we would. I was hoping that we would take a pretty big jump this year and we just haven’t had the opportunity to do that.”
Perseverance always shows.
Just like every fall sports team, girls golf has had an altered season due to COVID-19 but the future is bright for the team.
Going into the season, the team had goals they set for themselves that they hoped to reach. They worked hard all offseason to make sure they could reach their goals. Sophomore Macie Brown is hoping to live up to the expectations she set for herself last year.
For the past few years, the girls golf team has failed to post a full team score due to lack of players. This year, with the addition of three new golfers, the team is a lot closer to meeting their goal. Coach Larry Steinmetz hopes to post a full score by regionals but if not, he is sure they will by next year. “We’ve got three new golfers, which is awesome. Some of them are not quite ready for primetime yet but I think definitely by the beginning of next year I can get them to the point where they’re ready,” said Steinmetz. If they meet this goal, it will be the first time they post a full score in years.
As far as individual golfers goes, Steinmetz had separate goals in mind for a few of them. “By the end of the season, I’d like to see (Junior Alayna Wells) break 100 in her last round. I think that would set the table for her coming back next year to really make a push to qualify for state.” Steinmetz also hopes to get junior Shelby Hatter to post a score in regionals after she recovers from a shoulder injury. For the other three new golfers, he hopes to see them make a push to play in regionals.
During the extended offseason due to COVID-19, each golfer worked to improve their game for the season. In between seasons, Hatter got a private coach to help her better understand the game and to improve in nearly every aspect. “It makes sure you feel good about your own improvements and not that it just looks good on the paper,” said Hatter. Junior Alayna Wells also trained hard during the time off and had specific things she wanted to get better with. “The main thing I’ve been focusing on would be distance. I’m trying to get the ball to go around 10 to 20 more yards than usual,” said Wells. Along with her teammates, Brown also worked hard during the offseason. “I have been working on staying consistent and keeping my scores consistent so that no matter what tournament I am going to, I score about the same,” said Brown. All of the golfers have been able to get hours of work and improve on their game.
So far this season, the time and effort Brown put in during break has reflected in her performances. She has finished in first place in three of the four tournaments she has participated in, including the All State Championship, and had one second place finish at the Bowling Green Country Club. Coming into the beginning of the season, she set the goals for herself to win state and the tournaments she has played in. As of now, she is meeting her expectations for herself and is on track to make state in back to back years. Brown said, “A lot of times, I just try to play for myself and not meet everyone else’s expectations. It helps me not focus on what everyone else thinks.” Brown is the only golfer on the team that is on pace to make the state tournament.
The next girls golf tournament is Sept. 24 at Elizabethtown Country Club at 4 p.m.
