The final tournament of our season–the one we’ve all been working towards this whole year–finally came. While guaranteed to be the most exciting one, it’s also the one we feel the most nervous for. This tournament is so special to our seniors, and a memorable first time experience for freshmen.
On May 6-7, the 6A division Girls Golf State happened at White Wing Golf Club in Georgetown. The top schools in this division all over Texas meet at this tournament to make up one of the most competitive fields in high school golf in the country.
Our team has had an amazing dominant season with five wins clinched by the Varsity Black Team up until state, so we were confident that we would finish strong in the end. The seniors were eager to make it back-to-back state championship titles, and the rest of us had no different goals.
There was a lot of rainfall the week before state, which made the course play a lot differently from the State preview tournament. However, we knew the conditions were still ideal for us to clinch the win once again this year. The practice round was filled with laughter, excitement, motivation, and determination to achieve our goal. We went home that night with a feeling of thrill and readiness to attack right away on the first day.
The next morning was an early one, with all of us having morning starting times. I felt my nervousness build up as I walked to the first tee. This being my first year at Vandegrift and on the team, I was excited for the new experience, and I just had to remind myself that as a team we would be fine and I had to stay confident and patient to play my best. I tried to do just that. Although it was a frustrating round, it was stable enough to keep our team in contention for the state title. Freshman Addison Bandelier played one of her best rounds in her high school golf career, and senior Sydney Givens had an amazing round as well. These rounds put us in second place at the end of the first day, but only three shots behind first place, San Antonio Reagan High School. We knew it was going to be a bit of a chase the next day against one of the top teams in Texas, but we also knew we had it in us to finish the job dominantly.
An amusing dinner after the first round, a good night’s sleep and an energetic breakfast did the job for us to be at our best by the morning of the second round. The morning of the second round started with our team hype-up songs playing in the car in high volume, and with everyone singing along, I knew we were ready for the chase. When we got out of the car, we all did our own things, as always, and we were locked in. We had our team huddle and said good luck to each teammate one-by-one. It was finally my turn to tee off, and I felt the nervousness completely filled in my stomach. “Just stay in it, be present, and one shot at a time” is all I was repeatedly saying to myself throughout the day. My first half of the final round was not what I really wanted, and I was tied for the lead with my teammate, Sydney Givens. But, our team was playing really well, and we were leading by multiple shots early in the round. It was the perfect start to the final round of the State championship.
I was not worried about our team at all during this point. I was confident we were going to finish well and get the job done. I tried to get more aggressive in my play; “risk-reward, right?” is what I thought to myself.
I walked to the 18 tee, and at this point I had to know where my team and I were on the leaderboard. Coach Ford told us that we were leading by five shots, and we had technically won the State Championship. I was so excited, but I knew I needed to stay in the game for now, and finish the last hole strong. The last nine was one of the best nines I have ever played in my life, with five birdies and one bogey. I finished the 18 hole with a birdie and won the individual title by four shots.
The seniors got to win the state championship in back-to-back years in their last two years on this team, and the freshman and I got to win a state championship in our first year being on the team. It was the season’s perfect finish!
