Girls' Varsity Golf has Swung Their Way into Districts

The girls’ golf team has recently won sectionals and are on their way to districts! After being overlooked as a sport for the past few years, the girls are finally receiving their recognition. After interviewing the varsity coach, Collin McEndree, and a varsity player, Meena Kraus, it’s safe to say that golf is a lot more important than people think. 

Golf as a sport is more difficult than most may think. Although everyone might think differently, golfers should be cut some slack. According to Jamie Spence, an English professional golfer, golf is one of the most difficult lone sports: “...golf has so many different facets to it that you have to master and you’re never going to master this game.” Along with that, NBA star, Michael Jordan also agrees that golf is one of the hardest games to play: “...in golf, it’s like playing in a mirror. You’re battling yourself consistently to try to get perfection. Every swing. Every putt.” It just goes to show that golf is not nearly as easy as it seems to be. McEndree says, “You need to physically train your golf swing and also the most frustrating part is that the golf ball is not moving and just waiting for you to hit it. Yet, some people swing and miss all the time. That’s what makes it so hard.” 

The Next College Student Athlete (NCSA) College Recruitment organization explains that only a few high school girls end up playing golf in college: “Of the 78,000 high school athletes who play golf, only 2.8 percent go on to play at the NCAA Division 1 level, two percent at NCAA Division 2 and 2.1 percent at NCAA Division 3.” There’s really not a lot of women golfers out there, especially when it comes to college teams. The girls’ varsity coach, Collin McEndree says, “I think with the growth of golf, more and more colleges are creating women’s golf teams. Unfortunately, most decent high school girls golfers do not want to play in college for some reason. So, even though most colleges have a girls’ golf team, there are not a lot of girls that want to play golf in college.” McEndree also explains that that reasoning is why he feels that colleges are offering so many girls’ golf scholarships. According to the NCSA, 11.7% of women on a college golf team are international students, and 20.1% percent of those girls play at the Division 1 level. However, Meena Kraus, a junior on the varsity team explains her interest in playing college golf: “I am interested in playing golf incollege, though unfortunately, I don’t think I will be able to play because of the amount of females that play in my graduation year. But, I’m still trying.” This may be giving hope to the women’s golf world, as it shows that there are more girls interested in playing college golf. 

However, when it comes to girls' golf and high school there are some mixed feelings. Kraus says, “I think girls' golf is overlooked just like any other female sport because of the lack of advertising in women’s athletics. Like, I’m sure people don’t know that we are going to districts tomorrow, and we have a big chance of making it to states.” The way Kraus feels about the girls’ high school golf community is the same as how a lot of others feel. 

However, McEndree says something different: “I personally do not think girls' golf is overlooked as a sport in general. I think the golf community has increasingly grown over the past 3-4 years and with that, so has girls’ golf. Now as it pertains to a high school sport, I believe any sport that is not football is overlooked at all high schools. Why? I really don’t know the stigma behind that, but that is just how it is, unfortunately.” Both McEndree and Kraus have very valid points. 

While Meena talks about the lack of advertising in women’s sports, and Collin talks about every sport besides football being overlooked in high school, they both add up to high school girls’ golf being quiet. Kraus said before that the majority of people most likely didn’t know that the girls on the golf team were going to districts, and that’s most likely because there’s no advertising for that. Golf may not be the most exciting thing for people to watch, but that doesn’t make it any less of a sport.

One of the last things about golf is that people like to say that it isn’t a sport. Here’s what McEndree has to say: “I think most people say golf isn’t a sport, because it seemingly lacks the physical aspect that most sports have. In golf you’re not running, jumping, tackling, etc. You walk or ride in a golf cart, and then just hit a ball that doesn’t even move. Also, you can be 3 or 103 and still play golf. So that could be why.” 

Kraus agrees and explains that she’s constantly working to be better: “The reality is I’m playing golf on some days for 7-plus hours. Actually, freshman year, me and Gracyn went to conditioning every Monday and Wednesday at 6 a.m. before school started. I don’t think people understand how dedicated we are to our team, and to this sport. We continue to improve as a whole.” Golf takes a lot of time and a lot of energy. It’s extremely difficult to just pick it up when you’re older. You need to build up strength in order for your swing to be strong. You need to have enough muscles in your legs in order to walk the 9-18 hole course. Golf takes a lot of practice, and it deserves more recognition than it’s given. 

After asking McEndree and Kraus these questions, it’s easy to see how difficult playing golf is. Kraus’s feelings towards golf really highlighted how important the sport is, and how much recognition it should be getting. Maybe instead of talking about golf, you should take a swing at it and maybe you’ll land on the green. 

Written By: Maddie Mink