Girls golf finishes a successful year of celebrating seniors and bringing in freshmen recruits.
This season was a tough one for North’s girls golf team. Many issues arose regarding population and weather. The team was able to perform the best since 2014 in the NLCC Conference. More success followed at Regionals, and while the team as a whole did not advance further, two senior players made it forward to represent North at Sectionals.
“Lola has grown crazy amounts in the last four years, and one of the things that always shocks me is how she’s able to be successful in every aspect of her life, whether it’s hockey, golf, or her academics,” said coach Tom New.
The team was headed by senior co-captains Lola Brama and Emma Carter. Both are veteran players on the team who put great effort into encouraging the girls all season long. This was especially true regarding the new freshmen members.
“The toughest part of golf is probably the mental aspect because sometimes you’ll have a really bad game and you just have to keep going because not all shots are going to go your way,” Brama said.
Brama tackled the task of captain while also juggling hockey on the side. The coaches praised her highly for her talent in balancing both sports as well as staying on top of her school work. Golf requires a contrasting mindset to hockey. Brama preached about the importance of a positive outlook throughout golfing to boost performance.
Seniors make up a large portion of the team, and the celebration of all their hard work was critical to coaches New and Ewen. Of the ten girls on the team, five of them are seniors. The coaches emphasized a shining light on all the seniors whose presence would be heavily missed.
“The seniors in general. Like we just had really good seniors, and they were all very similar in scores so that like when they were all playing good, then we could compete with anybody. So just the senior class in general,” said coach Scott Ewen.
On top of the captains, the departing seniors include Grace Merki, Ashley O’Brien, and Ava Mattson, all of whom are returning members to the team.
“Ashley has done so good this year. She’s just improved like crazy, and she placed at all Conference. She’s just really good, and she’s always able to keep it positive and just like crack a joke like even when things aren’t going her way,” Brama said.
A standout player this season has been O’Brien who showcased her skill at Conference. Through valiant effort all season, O’Brien made it into the top 18 at Conference. This is the best a North girl golfer has done in the last decade. However, what stands out the most about O’Brien is her lighthearted attitude that helps push her through tough matches.
Normally the girls will reschedule under harsh weather conditions; however, for important matches like Conference and Regionals, this isn’t plausible. Weather conditions were much less than ideal for their biggest events of the season. Weather aside, the girls still performed highly in both competitions.
“So here’s the thing throughout the season, if it’s a regular match, we’ll call on rain. But if it rains during Conference or Regionals, you have to play Conference or Regionals, so it gets in your head. You haven’t done this; you haven’t tried these conditions,” New said. “The way regionals turned out was awesome. We did not advance as a team, but we were able to get two golfers, Emma Carter and Eva Matson, out of Regional scope and to Sectionals so we are very proud of them.”
Even through rain, Carter and Mattson made it through Regionals and are on their way to Sectionals to represent North individually.
“It’s always a special night to see, you know, for your families to come to see your posters. And to also just have a you know, have a good match at senior night,” New said.
Senior Knight was a bittersweet day to celebrate the girls’ commitment to the time throughout their time at North. It also showed the impact their departure would have on the team. With half of the team graduating, the coaches would have to prioritize growing the members left and up their efforts in recruitment.
“If we get more girls out, then I mean it’s just it’s a rebuilding year. The seniors were a big part of the team, but you never know how the golf will go, just how much work people do,” Ewen said.
