Golfers in a familiar spot
By Jim den Hollander
Talk about a quick initiation.
While it is the same for all fall sports to a certain extent, the Wisconsin Dells High School varsity girls golf team freshmen members are getting an early taste of competition.
Emily Upson and Dana Marshall will attend their first class at Wisconsin Dells High School on Sept. 1.
By then, they will also be near the halfway mark of a flash known as the competitive golf season.
The pair were among the golfers at Trappers Turn Monday morning for the team’s first practice.
The young team will play host to its first event on Thursday playing host to its own Dells Invite, at Christmas Mountain Thursday, then at Trappers Friday. Pretty interesting first week.
By the time the group officially starts the school year, it will have four Invitational rounds under its belt, weather permitting of course, and be within a few days of its first Badger North Conference duel.
There is no real pressure on the young golfers though, partly because they are young and partly because that’s the way they learned the game.
The small and young team has three returnees – Tama Estebo, Sam Mueller and Marlie Schultz – all sophomores and that is the best it could have hoped for as the team enters its second generation.
Last year, the team was led by seniors Devan Dollar, Mary Moore and Kirsten Schueler. They were the last trio of ‘original’ team members having joined as freshmen when the team was first formed.
Far from avid golfers when the program started, they represented the school well and put zero pressure on the current returnees.
"You know, we’ve never had a golf meet or golf practice without those girls," said head coach Troy Ryan, "So, it will be strange. We’re definitely going to miss that group, but they did give a lot. This group of sophomores learned a lot from them and had a good camaraderie with them. I think it prepared them a lot for what golf was going to be about."
Three returnees is not a lot, but looking at the positives, Ryan said it represents a 100 percent result.
"They’re young and the fact that we only had three eligible to return and they came back, that’s a good sign," said the coach. "I know we’ve got some kids playing in the eighth grade now and with two freshmen now. I know Dana’s a member here at Trappers with her dad, they play and she’s been excited about playing. Emily’s new to the game, but it was just four or five years ago that everyone was new."
So, this team is not a threat to end Madison Edgewood’s string of state championships – at least not this season.
But when considering a player like Dollar who went from being a freshman with no experience to a conference champion in her junior year or Mary Moore, who broke 100 last season which had more than cut her original scores in half, it is exciting for a coach like Ryan looking at the unique prospect of beginning a season with five players that will be together for as many as three full years.
"It’s a low pressure sport," said Ryan. "Our goal is to give them the best chance to do the best that they can and really develop you know. We saw some success with that first group – We always tell the kids. We don’t really care if your a good golfer. We just want a good person and we’ll work with the golf."
The three returnees are a little overwhelmed with the leadership position they find themselves in, but they learned from a good group and seem excited to carry the torch.
Mueller fired a best 18-hole round of 138 last season and her best nine hole round was 72. She enters this season, having played some golf over the summer and looking to carve at least 10 strokes off of those scores this season. Improving her putting is key to attaining the goal said the sophomore.
Mueller said she learned a lot from last season’s seniors.
"They helped us with whatever part of the game we needed help with and if we were doing something wrong, they would try to teach us. Like a second coach basically."
Mueller said she looks forward to doing the same for the current group of freshmen and feels no pressure about being a leader as a sophomore.
"I’m looking forward to it. I want to help people like they helped me," said Mueller.
Going up against some of the powerhouses in the area could be tough, but Mueller said the group will just look at their own games.
"It’s intimidating yeah, but, it doesn’t bother me." said Mueller. "It’s just another part of the game. You just deal with it and try to do your best and if you try, and give 100 percent, then it’s not intimidating."
Estebo clearly puts no pressure on herself in terms of score as she said she doesn’t remember what her best score is.
As far as goals for the season, Estebo said, "Just to try harder this year than last year. Just get better at everything, like putting, chipping...everything."
Like Mueller, Estebo hopes to provide the same kind of leadership over the next three years that last season’s graduates provided for her.
"I think it’s something I look forward to, just being a leader," said Estebo adding her message to the incoming freshmen is "Try your hardest and just have fun."
Schultz also said she wasn’t sure what her best rounds were score-wise and her goal is to mostly keep her ball on the fairway more.
"I want to get better at my swing and everything. I want to stay more on the green than I am outside the green."
Schultz played a few times over the summer having picked up a club for the first time last year.
"I feel a lot more comfortable now than when I first started," said Schultz who played a big part in getting Upson to come out this season.
Having learned the ropes last season, Schultz also looks forward to being a leader this time around, in particular with Upson.
Schultz said she prefers "just working on my game" in practices to the competitions.
While the program is young and inexperienced for the most part, they are often times in a similar position to other Badger North programs, including Reedsburg, a team entering just its second season. The Chiefs will host Reedsburg and Portage in conference duels this season while traveling to events at Waunakee, and Mount Horeb. The Conference championship meet will be held on Sept. 23 at Evansville.
Waunakee will likely be the conference team to beat this season, having won the conference title by 30 plus strokes last season.