On Wednesday Oct. 15 and Thursday Oct. 16, the girls’ golf team traveled to Kansas City to compete in the state golf tournament. 2018 marked the sixth year the team made it to state, where the team placed third in class two. Though she is proud to be part of Girl’s Golf, junior Maddie Orr said the ranking as a team wasn’t what they hoped it would be but the girls are still happy with the outcome. Personally, Orr said she didn’t achieve her goals but she took the experience as a learning opportunity to see techniques she can improve on.
“I’m excited to get started and continue to improve throughout the next year,” Orr said. “I was definitely very nervous going into [the game] and I saw a lot of mistakes that I made that could be easily fixed. Coming out of it, I’m excited for the future of our team and coming back for my senior year.”
Orr placed 30th in State, fifth among the five RBHS girls who attended. Senior Olivia Sowers placed first out of the RBHS girls and third in state, with scores of 76 in round one, 77 in round two and 153 in total. Though she said she wishes she performed better at her second day at the state Competition, Sowers said she just had to take what the game was giving her that day. A couple months prior to the game, Sowers set a goal to be All State top five and she said she achieved that goal.
“I played well and I think I went out in a way I can take a lot of positives from. I am proud of the team. It is always nice to be within the top five teams in the state,” Sowers said. “The first day some of our scores were higher than I expected them to be. It was a unique tournament that tested everyone in the fields toughness because of the weather conditions and I think that they should be proud of the overall turn out.”
Photos courtesy of @RBHSbruinbear twitter
The high temperature for Wednesday Oct. 15, the beginning of the State Tournament was 48 degrees, while the high on Thursday was 58 degrees. On the first day especially, Orr said the conditions were miserable but despite the weather, the scores were high for a state championship. While head coach Melissa Coil is on maternity leave, Coach Austin Reed said before the scores can happen, the teammates first need to practice for state by keeping nervousness at bay.
“State golf is a mental game as much as a physical game, so the girls were feeling some anxiety,” Reed said. “State golf is about harnessing your nerves and being composed even when shots don’t go your way.”
The team practices by playing a par-three course and playing team games, Reed said. The girls choose to “keep it loose” at practice, but Reed makes sure to remind the athletes to be serious about their shots and keep their mental focus when they’re playing so they can improve as a team. The team enhanced their game from last year with a 29 stroke improvement, going from a 700 to a 671. Orr said this year was exceptionally better for girl’s golf as a team.
“Last year, our same varsity team barely made it through districts and sectionals and placed fifth overall at state,” Orr said. “This year, we blew the field away at districts and sectionals and were lucky enough to placed third alongside two really competitive teams. I’m so proud of how far we’ve come and how much more improved each of us are as individuals.”
What do you think of the girls’ placement?
