Dedication, grit, patience and hard work: these are the ingredients for success that the girls golf team have been cooking with this year.
“Through their outreach and through different avenues of jobs or careers, the opportunities the PGA have provided, just shows that somebody outside of the school cares about high school golf, and it kind of gives some maybe external motivation to keep succeeding and working on our game,” Head Coach Aaron Ford said.
The girls golf team received the Professional Golf Association (PGA) of America High School Team of the Month award for December. The recipient of this award is chosen based on their play schedule difficulty, and scores posted at each tournament.
“We’re getting recognized by the Professional Golf Association, which just recently in the last few years has really been taking more emphasis in recognizing high school [golf programs], which is really cool,” Ford said.
The PGA’s new initiative can help the future of the students, not just to continue their golfing careers, but also with other opportunities in the job sectors.
Danica Lundgren, a senior on the team and a University of Nebraska commit, believes there are specific elements that the team has been succeeding in and ultimately led them to success.
“This award is basically just an acclamation of all the hard work that we’ve done this year,” Lundgren said. “It means a lot that not only ourselves but other people are seeing all the work that we’ve put in this year and the years before.”
Freshman Addison Bandelier states that this award is in the team’s reach once again in the upcoming months, but the work must continue.
“We just need to keep on working hard, making sure that we’re keeping each other in check and being patient,” Bandelier said.
The varsity black team had a strong performance this fall, with three team wins, and one third place finish out of the four events they played. The team feels that this is mainly because of one crucial ingredient.
“I think on our team, we have a really good bond. We’re all there to help each other, and we all push each other even when someone doesn’t perform that well,” Lundgren said. “We’re always there to uplift each other and encourage each other to keep working hard towards our goals.”
The future of the program looks bright, and the girls golf team is ready to continue their work ethic and their success to another strong spring and championship season.
“It doesn’t take one person, it takes all of us,” University of Colorado Boulder commit Sydney Givens said. “So, I feel like if we’re all a team, we can definitely accomplish this goal again.”
