Ava Ray walked off the 18th green at Prairie View Golf Club in August, visibly angered that she had let the course get the better of her.
Brent Nicoson happened to notice. The conversation that followed helped shift the direction of Ray’s senior season — and perhaps her golfing future.
“I walked off the last green at the State Preview, and I had just shot 87,” Ray recalled. “I was so upset, because I knew that’s not me. That’s not anywhere close to what I should be shooting at Prairie View. He saw me when I was really upset, and he was like, ‘Do you want to talk about what’s going on?’ So I went and talked to him one day, just about what my game plan was for golf, and it was really score-based. I just talked about a lot of numbers — ‘Oh, I want to shoot this, I want to shoot this, I want to swing like this’ — rather than ‘I just want to hit greens; I just want to make putts,” and really getting down to the basics and making it really simple.”
Eight weeks later, Ray returned to Prairie View for the state finals — and the results couldn’t have been more different. The Franklin senior was 3 under par through her first nine holes and finished the two-day event with a 74-72—146 on her scorecard, good for third place in the individual standings.
That closing performance also solidified Ray’s status as the Daily Journal’s Player of the Year.
Nicoson, who is the men’s and women’s golf coach at the University of Indianapolis and has also worked with such local players as Erica Shepherd, remembers seeing Ray in the Prairie View parking lot after her disappointing August round there.
“She was feeling a lot of pressure and chasing scores rather than chasing the process,” Nicoson said. “She asked if I would work with her, and … we decided it was beneficial for her to have a different look and different mindset.”
The changes paid off. Even after shooting 86 and 87 in her first 18-hole tournaments of the fall, Ray ended her senior year with a 75.56 scoring average — the second best figure in Grizzly Cubs history. She tied a school record by carding a 67 in the Mid-State Conference tournament and earned medalist honors at the Roncalli Invitational, the Johnson County tournament and the sectional.
Franklin co-coach Crystal Morse said that working with Nicoson was “really the turning point” of Ray’s season.
“What really changed was her mindset and her approach to the game,” Morse said. “She has matured as a player, so she made that transition pretty quickly, going from being score-focused to stat-focused.”
Ray bought in to the new approach completely, and it was apparent through the postseason — after each round, she was quick to point out how many greens she hit in regulation.
The changes in her mindset — worrying about the process, not the score — were a key part of Ray’s growth as a player. And while Nicoson did make some minor swing adjustments, most of the difference has come between the ears.
In a sense, Ray just needed to get out of her own way.
“I’m definitely a perfectionist,” she said. “I want to do everything perfect. But golf is not a game of perfection — you’re always going to do something wrong. Even in the best rounds that I’ve played, there’s been many things that I would like to go back and change and fix, but you can’t. You just have to accept it and move on.”
Now, Ray moves on to the next stage of her playing career. She has not made a decision about where she’s going to play in college, but her performance at the state tournament has certainly given her some more options.
Wherever she ends up, Ray believes she’s still just scratching the surface of
“I’m definitely not finished yet,” she said. “I just feel like this season was kind of an eye-opener for me and other people, just to see the beginning of the potential that I have. I’ve finally started to really figure out the game of golf.”
The 2021 All-County team for girls golf:
Lanie DeHaven, Center Grove senior: The Trojans’ most experienced player overcame offseason injury to post an 18-hole average of 79.1 … led the team with rounds of 75 at the Franklin Sectional and 77 at the Roncalli Regional … Tied for 40th individually at state.
Maura Guilfoy, Greenwood senior: The No. 1 player for the Woodmen led the team in scoring with an average right around 80 per 18 holes … Advanced to the regional as an individual for the second straight season by shooting an 80 at the New Palestine Sectional, good for third overall … Earned all-conference honors with an 81 at the Mid-State tournament.
Sage Parsetich, Center Grove junior: Played in the No. 1 spot for the Trojans all season, finishing with a scoring average of 79.5 for a team that finished eighth in the state … Shot a season-best 70 in the MIC tournament to help Center Grove win league title … Carded a 77 at Franklin Sectional.
Rowen Pfeifle, Center Grove sophomore: Posted an 18-hole average of 80.6 while filling the fifth spot in the lineup for the Trojans most of the season … Finished with a 3-over-par 72 to help her team claim the MIC championship … Shot 82 at regional to help Center Grove clinch a state finals berth.
Ava Ray, Franklin senior: Finished third at the state finals with a two-day total of 146 (+2) … Helped Grizzly Cubs to a fifth-place regional finish … Individual medalist at the conference, county and sectional tournaments, shooting a school-record 67 at Mid-State … Scoring average of 75.56 was second best in school history.
Camille Short, Center Grove sophomore: Led the Trojans in scoring with an average of 77.3 … Had an even-par 69 at the MIC championships … Shot rounds of 78 at county and 77 at sectional, helping Center Grove win both … Tied for 21st individually at state finals.
Lexi Stuart, Center Grove sophomore: Filled the fourth spot in the lineup and finished second on the Trojans with a 78.8 average … Helped lead the team to a MIC title by shooting a 1-under-par 68, a career best … Also second individually at county (76) … Shot 78 at Franklin Sectional.
Honorable mention
Emma Baker, Greenwood; Macie Blandford, Edinburgh; Chloe Cooper, Whiteland; Hannah Emenhiser, Indian Creek; Addie Livorno, Franklin; Kylie McGovern, Whiteland; Reese Phillips, Franklin; Izzy Richardson, Edinburgh; Morgan Sandrock, Franklin; Tara Watson, Whiteland
