|
Logan Elm senior Lizzie Waidelich has been the face of the Lady Braves
golf program. Literally.
After helping to get the program started three years ago by recruiting
friends to create a team, Waidelich is being tabbed with the first-ever
Pickaway County award for girls golfer of the year, presented by the
Cooks Creek Golf Course.
"Playing golf has been a lot of fun, both through the good times and the
bad," Waidelich said. "You get a chance to meet so many people and make
so many friends playing the game that you would not make otherwise."
When Waidelich first arrived on the LE golf scene, the only golf team
the school offered was on the boys side. Waidelich practiced with the
boys during her freshman year and eventually went on to see competition
as an individual entry in the girls sectional tournament.
"At first I was intimidated playing with the boys," Waidelich said. "But
after awhile I was able to get use to it and some of the guys like Kyle
Jones would come on over and tell me good job or ask how my round was
going to help me out.
"I
learned a lot from that first year."
After the girls team formed, Waidelich termed the first two years as a
learning experience for the girls to set up their 2005 campaign. The
learning curve produced a bit early as LE managed to take the 2004
Mid-State League Championship.
"Coming into this season we had high expectations," Waidelich said. "We
wanted to do well in the league, but also get out of the sectionals and
into the district tournament.
Logan Elm managed to take second in the MSL this year, but advanced onto
the Central District tournament, finishing second in the sectionals with
a 375.
The Braves eventually finished 10th in the only division the tournament
offered, beating out large schools such as Westerville Central.
Waidelich - who used a 46.62 stroke season average over nine holes to
land on the first teams of both the MSL and Southeast District - helped
to power the drive, finishing ninth overall in both the league and
sectional tournaments.
The
Logan Elm senior put together maybe her best run during the drive to the
district at the sectionals with a 87 on the 18-hole course at Upper
Lansdowne.
"A major key for me coming into the season was really working on my
short game," Waidelich said. "I wanted to work better on the greens and
putting.
"It
seemed like down the stretch that everything started to click and I was
able to put up some of my best scores of the season." Waidelich has had
some guidance in our golf career from Cathy Cook, who like Waidelich,
was a pioneer on the girls golf circuit at Upper Arlington High School,
then onto Ohio State.
"Its
been a lot of fun to work with Cathy," Waidelich said. "She knows the
game of golf well and has all of these funny rules and jokes she tells
you that make you a better golf player.
"The
first year we had a girls team, Cathy had all of the girls barefoot on
the golf course and the guys were wondering what we were doing. It
seemed kind of awkward, but working bare foot made us feel more balance
in our swings and helped out our game." |
