WOOSTER – On Wednesday morning at Good Park Golf Course, the Div. II district girls’ golf will tee off.
Joining Tuslaw, the only area team to make it out, will be a trio of local young ladies, who shined bright, placing inside the top five individually at sectionals. Making their return trips will be Dalton senior golfer Madison Wade, who fired a fifth-place 90 and Hillsdale senior Dally Meek was second with an 83.
Norwayne junior Kylie Hostettler finished fourth with an 89 to make her first trip. Wade and Meek will tee off in the same group at 10:40 a.m. and ten minutes later, Hostettler will tee off at 10:50 a.m. all from the No. 10 tee.
“It’s really incredible to have three of us make it this far,” said Wade. “A year ago, I was there with (Abby Ankenman) an Orrville girl who made it to state. I am hoping to have a better outcome and hope to make it to state this year.”
For the area, it will be a special moment as never before have three area girl golfers from the same league/conference all advanced this far. The Wayne County Athletic League has seen some talented golfers over the years in Ally St. Clair and Kylee Purdy, two Northwestern girls, but this year, the league lays claim to all three individual qualifiers.
“I am really excited to make it out of sectionals, to make it to districts, that’s exciting,” Hostettler said, smiling. “It’s really awesome to have three county girls make it out, I know it doesn’t happen often.”
“It’s really a great accomplishment to have three of us girls make it,” Meek said. “I’ve played with both of them all season, I’ve gotten to know them throughout the course of the season and to get to share this with them, to play at districts that’s pretty special.”
Wade, one of the returning qualifiers from last year, who fired a 91 a year ago at Good Park, has put on a show this fall. She has averaged a 96.6 on rounds of 18 from the white tee’s and a 46.2 on round of 9’s from the white tees.
“I am probably playing my best golf right now,” said Wade. “I’ve improved my accuracy; I am much smarter on the greens and my short game is pretty good right now.”
She admitted that there will be moments that she soaks in knowing that this could be her last round of prep golf but aims to extend it another week. A lot of that belief centers around how much she has improved her game and prepared for this moment.
“I’ve worked a lot on my short game and improving my accuracy,” said the Bulldog senior. “I’ve spent a lot of time on my in-game around the green and worked on my putting, getting my strokes right and not lifting my head when I putt, which was my problem last year. Then just mentally training myself that not everything will be exactly how I want it, because once you get out of that mentally, it can be hard to get it back.”
Meek a year ago finished with a 95 at Good Park and will be looking to extend her game after second-place finish at sectionals. She is averaging an 86 from the white tees on a round of 18 and 44.5 on a round of 9 from the same tees. Her best round of 18 came at the Hillsdale Invite with an 83 off the white tee’s and she added an 83 from the red tees at The Pines.
The Falcon senior is excited to bring her complete game to district play.
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“Just overall from my freshman year through this year, my game has really improved,” she said. “I’ve been fortunate to have good coaches and good supporters who have really helped me to get to where I am now. I am grateful for the game that I will be able to bring to districts with their help.”
She believes her play around the green is a big key as to how she has made it this far.
“My short game is something I’ve really worked on,” said Meek. “I’ve spent a lot of time working on that and that’s probably what helped me get to district this year.”
For Hostettler, the Bobcat junior, there is no question she is swinging a hot golf club. Her career best score was a 79, that she shot at the Freddie Invite, which she finished third and is averaging an 87.7 from the red tee’s. She did earn medalist honors at the Ashland Invitational where she fired a 41 on a round of nine.
“I’ve definitely improved my short game,” said Hostettler. “It’s crazy to see from my freshman year to now, how much it’s improved and my swing in general has been much better.
“My coaches, my dad and grandpa always tell me the scores I’ve shot before, and it’s definitely improved, I am excited to see what will happen and hopefully I can put a good round in.”
A year ago, a 78 was the lowest individual to advance out, but that could change this year as two of the three individuals from a year ago graduated. With three teams and three individuals advancing, it will be anyone’s guess who can make it as Taylor Blazek (Southeast, 78) is the lone returning state qualifier, but there will be Anuja Patel (Orange, 87) and Hailey Franks (Canton South, 85) who were close a year ago.
The biggest key for all three young ladies will be the ability to forget what just happened, to be able to move on, take lessons learned and to apply them on the fly.
“Golf is so hard either way, you’re going to have a lot of good shots and a lot of bad shots, it is what it is,” Hostettler said. “I mean, I have so many bad shots that I have in a round, so just forget about it and move on to the next and you can make up for it on the next hole.”
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Meek couldn’t have agreed more.
“Just remember that one bad shot doesn’t mean that the next four will be bad,” she said. “You just have to let the last shot go, move on from it and not let one bad shot ruin a whole round of 18.”
She then talked about the best piece of advice which helps with this thought process.
“Nothing is ever going to be perfect,” Meek said. “You’re always going to have a bad shot, a bad hole – you can’t let that determine the rest of your round. You can’t get down on yourself for a bad shot and you need to have a short-term memory, forget about that last hole, move on and continue to play your game.”
It’s something that Wade concurred with as she talked about how difficult it can be to bring yourself back into that headspace after a tough hole. The ability to step back, take that deep breath and continue on your way, that’s one of the toughest battles out there in districts.
“Just trying your best to stay mentally in it, after I get upset at myself, it can be really hard to get mentally back in it, so I just keep thinking. ‘You’re going to be fine.’
“Definitely don’t expect perfect, golf is only perfect two percent of the time, the rest are shots that can be mildly close, and others are like, ‘Oh, I don’t know where that’s going.’ So, try and keep yourself neutral, you have a whole round of 18 to play.”
This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Goal is state for trio of WCAL golfers at District
