20 years later, the Women’s Varsity Golf team are regional champions once again. The River Rats persevered through many challenges throughout the season and ended on a good note at the state tournament. Five golfers were able to live this unforgettable experience that they’ll take with them for the rest of their lives.
As one of the top five golfers, junior Ellise Baidel got the opportunity to play at the state tournament for the second time in a row. The tournament took place at The Meadows in Grand Valley State University. With this tournament being the most challenging of the season, preparation was key for Baidel and her teammates.
“As a team, we had practices every day, specifically focusing on, chipping and putting a lot,” Baidel said. “We struggled a little bit with that in regionals, especially myself. I knew what I needed to work on from how I performed at regionals to get ready for states.”
The team had set an objective to win the regional tournament before the season started. They did just that without an issue. However, their grandiose victory got in the way of their preparation for the big tournament.
“I do think we lost a little bit of focus,” Baidel said. “We didn’t prepare as much for states as we did for regionals. For regionals, we got out and played the course that we would play on multiple times. We didn’t really do that for states, because we kind of knew where we were going to place.”
Being consistent was key for Baidel throughout the whole season. It was also an issue for her at times. It was about bouncing back from those inconsistencies to find the right mindset for states.
“I just try to block it out, the bad holes and the bad days,” Baidel said. “Especially during a round when I have either a bad hole or maybe it’s an 18 hole round, and I have a bad front nine. I try to turn around, shift to a more positive mindset instead of the negative. Instead of thinking about what I was doing wrong, I focused on what I can do better in the future.”
This isn’t her only way to focus during big matchups, however. At states, Baidel used a tactical strategy to make sure she stayed focused and calm all throughout the long day.
“I personally never look at the scoreboard,” Baidel said. “We have it all on our phones and I choose not to look at the leaderboard, because that stresses me out. If I see that we’re up by one maybe, I just get in my own head. And I start thinking about what happens if this happens. I think it’s just kind of a personal decision.”
Although golf is an individual sport, the final score of the team is a combination of each individual golfer’s score. This plays a big role when it comes to teammates cheering for each other and creating a good team environment. Baidel believes that this has been one of the team’s biggest strengths throughout her three years on the team.
“I think we’ve all definitely gotten closer as a group. We’ve all really bonded a lot because there’s a lot of time that we’re spending with each other. We’re going on these long drives, long trips to faraway tournaments and far away places,” Baidel said.
Not only does she think they have become close, but she also believes they have gotten better as golfers.
“I would also say we’ve all improved our games. Last year we lost Emmi Conrad, who was a senior. This was kind of rough for us, because she was one of our most consistent players. We kind of had to bounce back from that and have people fill in, have people rise up,” Baidel said.
Now that the season is over, Baidel is looking ahead in the future. She will be one of the captains next year alongside juniors Tia Tarnal and Charlotte Wright.
“I think we’re losing the majority of our varsity team, and so I think the main goal is to keep the momentum going,” Baidel said. “Even though we’re losing a lot of those people, we have to try to stay in the rhythm and just keep performing well.”
