When the Center Grove boys golf team was finishing off a state championship victory at Prairie View Golf Club in June, the Trojan girls were definitely taking notes.
With any luck, they hope, this fall will bring a repeat.
“It was really cool seeing the boys team win, and that’s definitely given us motivation to give it a run of our own,” Center Grove sophomore Camille Short said.
The Trojan girls have every reason to think they can finish this season in such a fashion. With four of five starters back from a team that played its way out of the ridiculously overloaded Roncalli Regional and got to the state final with two freshmen and a sophomore in the lineup, optimism is justifiably boundless.
And yet complacency is non-existent.
For starters, Center Grove’s returning players are by no means happy with how last season’s trip to state went; the Trojans put themselves 48 strokes off the lead during the first round and finished in a tie for eighth, so there is plenty of motivation to get back to Prairie View and earn some redemption.
“Right after state last year, we were like, ‘We’re going to come back,’ and we want to at least place third or higher,” senior Lanie DeHaven said.
Additionally, none of the veterans from that state team can get too comfortable because of the depth on the current Trojan roster. Coach Cale Hoover estimates that anywhere from 10 to 12 girls have a legitimate chance to crack the top five, so nobody’s lineup spot is safe.
The competition in practice should only serve as motivation for every player to step her game up.
“It really keeps me on my toes,” Short said. “It’s good having really talented girls behind me and in front of me pushing me every day.”
Whether the Center Grove lineup changes much or not, one key difference between the 2020 season and this one will be the off-the-course dynamic. Because of the pandemic, teams were very limited in terms of bonding activities, and that can make a difference when it comes to team chemistry.
Even though golf is largely viewed as an individual sport, that cohesion does matter during a high school season.
“My freshman year, we did a bunch of team dinners, and I loved that because I really got to be friends with all of the girls,” junior Sage Parsetich said. “For the past year we didn’t have any, and I just felt real disconnected from all the other girls on the team. We couldn’t do anything because of COVID, but I’m glad we’re doing them this year.”
Perhaps that added together time will make the difference for these Trojans two months from now, when they try to replicate the finish that the boys team had on the same course.
DeHaven, the most experienced player on the roster, has already imagined herself being in the shoes of Sam Slaughter — sinking a putt on the 18th green to clinch a Center Grove state championship.
There isn’t a better way for a high school golfer to go out, and she’d love to be in a similar situation on Oct. 2.
“Having that moment as a senior, and it being your last shot, your last high school sport,” DeHaven said, “I think it would be awesome to just experience that.”
