Crawfordsville’s girls’ golf team is all smiles.
No matter how hot it is, and no matter what the final tally is — the Athenians are having fun on the golf course this season.
And they’re improving drastically too.
In a 190-230 loss to McCutcheon at the Municipal Golf Course on Wednesday evening, three Athenains had personal bests.
Christen Saunders fired a 57, McKenzie Wilson a 62 and Nancy Blanchard a 71.
Saunders and Blanchard are both first time golfers, while Wilson is picking the sport up for the first time in two seasons.
“The funnest thing is to see a kid succeed at something they’ve never done before,” Crawfordsville coach Tony Thomas said. “It’s a lot of satisfaction to see that. And to see scores come down.”
Sadie Walker and Carli Payne are the two returning golfers for a Crawfordsville team that qualified for the regional last season. And they’ve both improved according to Thomas. Walker fired a 58, while Payne led the Athenians with a 53 and has been their most consistent golfer so far in the early part of the season.
“Her (Wilson) and Sadie both are stronger and more mature,” Thomas said. “She was always good even in middle school about not getting too down on herself. I like how she’s very methodical about setting up her shots. She will stand behind, then get straightened up and address the ball and is always careful and does that on every single shot.”
Thomas is enjoying a new challenge after such a successful 2020 season.
“It’s a different challenge,” he said. “I like the kids. They’re a lot of fun to be around and they have great attitudes. They have a unique ability to work hard in practice, while having a good time at the same time and not everybody can do that.
“It’s always a work in progress, but a month from now they’re going to be a whole lot better.”
