What Sparked Your Interest in Golf?
I’ve been playing golf since I was six years old, and I competed in my first tournament around 8. When I started to compete I began to really enjoy playing because it was really rewarding. That’s when I began to feel really passionate about playing. Also, now I really love my teammates and that makes every practice and competition fun.
What is your role in Golf?
I’ve been a member for three years, and I’ve been Captain my sophomore year and my junior year this year. Being Captain has been a really interesting experience for me because Okay, so my freshman year, I was our number two starter for the teams, and our number one after the seniors graduated.
What are your responsibilities as captain?
Golf is a relatively independent sport, so I don’t have as difficult a job as a team sports captain. Though I still feel like I’ve had to learn how to be in a leadership position, and my sophomore year that was pretty new to me, but now that we have more freshmen and sophomores that have been moved up I get to help them which has been my main focus as a captain. Although, kind of like what I said before, I’m close with all my teammates which makes my job easier. I also help the coach pick out our uniforms.
Are you thinking of golf in college?
Definitely, I’ve been talking to a couple schools about their golf program, and I’m deciding between d1 and d2 and I’m talking to a couple of schools, but that’s the plan.
How much of a time commitment is golf?
As a team, we practice 3-4 days a week for a few hours every day, and when there’s a tournament we have a “qualifying day” to kind of see where everyone’s performance is at. We play with other schools in a non-competitive environment for practice which can be really fun because it’s like a competition without the high pressure environment. I also try to spend a few hours on the weekends practicing on my own just so I can keep improving.
Since Golf is such a huge time commitment for you, how do you balance school, sports, and your personal life?
That’s definitely been the biggest struggle, I’m always missing class because of my commitment to golf. For example, like last year, I couldn’t exempt any of my finals because of golf. I think I missed like two weeks straight for a tournament my second semester, and that meant I couldn’t do dual credit this year. But either way, I think it’s worth it because golf has always been a really rewarding activity for me, and it doesn’t take up so much time that it’s hard for me to focus on everything else.
Finally, what are some memorable experiences that golf has given you?
During my freshman year, I got the opportunity to go to state with my team which was a great experience because a senior at the time won districts, regionals, and state that year. She plays D1 at the University of Houston now. Then last year I placed second at districts, I shot 69-77 which was a big improvement from freshman year when I got fourth. Sophomore year I Was in the lead and then I lost by two points, which was disappointing, but still a great experience.
Based on what you said about your performance last year, what are your goals for this year?
This year my goal is to go to state either individually or as a team. I also really want my team to win districts because we won districts for seven years in a row and then we lost it last year, which was not what we wanted coming into the competition, so I really want our team to take back that winning streak and win big at districts this year.
