With an amazing team of talented women on the golf team, there is a lot to expect and a lot to look forward to. Brandon Bird, head golf coach, says that he’s looking forward to hitting the green with a special group of girls this season. “This isn’t a new team,” he explains “a couple years ago when we won the state championship most of the girls were pretty new to the program. In this case we have a top four returning where they were all together last year to win the second in a row state title, and they’re all back this year.”
Bird explained his desired objective this year is to see personal growth throughout his team this year. “I think we have kind of achieved our team goals the last couple of years so I think what you want to see is just a commitment to that process.” He says that it’s important to be continuously working to progress as an individual to which that dedication as a team is special.
Logan Hale, a defending championship individual says that her goals for this year are to prepare to win another championship and prepare for college golf at DU. “My main focus right now is to really work on my mental game and sharpen that aspect of my game to really prepare to win another state championship as a team and hopefully individually.” said Hale.
Hadley Ashton, another defending champion, says her goal for this golf season is to practice her technique to help her during college. “Main goal is to prepare for college, practice my short game because I think that’ll help me a lot.” Ashton explained. With two of Bird’s most dominant players on the course preparing physically and mentally for college level golf, hard work and determination is evident in their team.
There are numerous things to be proud of when your team has won multiple state titles. Regardless of their work on the field, diligence is obvious outside the sphere of golf as well. Bird mentions his favorite thing about his team was their commitment to excellence and drive to be better. “Being around them, seeing how much time and hard work it takes, whether it’s their school work, getting better at golf, or being a better kid, that’s inspiring to me.” Bird vocalized.
Despite being their coach, he claims to have learned a lot from them as well. Hale expressed that her team has become like family to her. “It’s amazing when you can have such a successful team and also be so close as friends and constantly support one another. This team has given me some of my closest best friends, and I’m so grateful for that.” Hale conveyed. She expresses how Bird is a huge motivation to them as well as anyone else. Logan enjoys teaching some of her younger, newer teammates about the scopes of golf and how to improve.
Unfortunately with so many prevailing players on varsity soon leaving, securing varsity spots for championships will be hard work. But fortunately with embracing team members like Hadley and Logan, the younger ones are in good hands to learn and soon take over the golf team.
“Golf is an imperfect game,” says Bird. Attitude and perspective are one of the most important things in golf. “I think we need to get better at attitude, when things don’t go our way,” admitted Bird. “We have a lot of girls on this team that demand perfection and golf is an imperfect game so learning to handle those moments of imperfection is a lifelong battle in golf and I hope the girls continue to take steps at it this year.” he explained.
Growing to handle flaws and having that commitment to playing is equally as important as driving to improve not just as a golfer, but also as a person. With the mass support of each other throughout the team, the Girls’ Golf is sure to succeed in their championship or they will continue their journey of accepting imperfection. Both events would be learning experiences that the golfers and coach will carry with them for a lifetime.
