Many of Kirin Bowden’s clubs stayed shiny and clean at the end of her sectional round.
Most importantly, her driver remained untouched. She didn’t want to chance it. Coach Jim Southern gives his players an 80% rule, that if they can pull off a shot eight out of 10 times, go for it.
Bowden thought about her driver and given Cascades’ layout, decided to keep it under cover. Turned out to be a smart decision on her part, allowing her to post a 99, her second-best ever score, in her first sectional round, helping South to a second-place finish and a spot at regional.
Her improved mental game and better course management all came together along with the supreme confidence she has in one particular club (along with her 60-degree wedge around the greens).
“I’ve learned how to improve my mental status when I hit a bad shot,” Bowden said after Monday’s sectional. “I just know how to revive myself. And my irons are doing a lot better, really the 5-iron, it’s a hybrid situation, I love it. I hit really good with it. I’m consistent.”
And so she pulled that club out and nearly wore the grooves right off of it.
“Today, I didn’t hit a single driver,” she said. “Because it’s so inconsistent and I knew I needed to be consistent today. Get it in the middle of the fairway, even if it’s 20-30 yards back, it didn’t matter because it was in the fairway. Always in the middle.
“Obviously, next year I’m goign to work harder in the off-season to get my driver back. But it was such an important match today I just needed consistency.”
Actually, Southern said, the team will be working on drivers this week as they prep to hit a much longer and probably windier layout at The Legends. The Panthers — Silvia Walker, Bowden, Daphne Southern, Macy Hays and Melanie Southern — will tee off on Saturday on the 10th tee from 8:30-9:10 a.m. Edgewood’s Boston Chambers will start at 9:10.
Other teams there will be sectional champs No. 9 Batesville, No. 6 Franklin, No. 4 Floyd Central and Madison along with No. 8 Center Grove, East Central, Greensburg, Southport, Corydon Central, New Albany, Switzerland County and Scottsburg. Only three teams move on so a top-10 team will be disappointed.
‘I know he’s always supporting me’
Kirin is the daughter of professional golfer Craig Bowden but the sport was just a sideline until she got to high school. She started golfing when she was 7 or 8, playing in the Junior PGA league with her friends.
“I’ve always had golf in my life, but I’ve never really taken it seriously until the start of my freshman year when I joined the team. And I really started taking it seriously.”
She described herself as an “outdoorsy person” so golf for her was a good walk in the park. Another draw was the team itself. “They help motivate me because they’re all my friends,” she said. “It’s fun to come out. It’s something I actually look forward to.”
Kirin didn’t take to golf with the drive to become a professional like her dad, but once she started, she was determined to improve and make herself as good as she could be. When she came to South, she never felt the weight of expectations from her dad or others, to be a great golfer given her last name.
“A lot of people ask me that question, but I don’t really feel that much pressure from him,” Kirin said. “And I’m not really sure why, but I just don’t because I know he’s always supporting me.
“I’m pretty good. I’m not an awful golfer. I can break 100. I feel like the pressure was mostly there when I was a freshman and still learning.”
That said, Craig is a helpful voice to go with the coaching she gets from South’s staff.
“He plays a big role in it,” Kirin said. “The coaches play the biggest role, because I’m with them more for golf. But he can help me so quickly. He always knows what’s wrong with my swing because he’s really good and he knows the right thing to say.”
Bowden back to work
Southern described Bowden has having a ‘natural swing’, just needing more seasoning and a year of varsity play has done that, helping the junior drop her scores from nine-hole rounds in the 60s and 110s for 18 to now back-to-back rounds at Timbergate and Cascades under 100.
“She’s really happy with the work she’s put in and her progression,” Southern said. “She’s learning some course management stuff.”
More: ‘I’m going to take a break here’: How South’s Melanie Southern found new love for golf
There’s always a carrot with golf, another stroke to be lost, especially for someone just three years into putting some real work into the craft. Being good enough to make the top five this year has just motivated her even more.
“It’s fun to try to beat my previous records,” Bowden said. “You get sucked into it, keep advancing and getting better. The team makes me want to come out, too. They are so supportive and so fun to be around.”
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: IHSAA girls golf: Kirin Bowden finds space for Bloomington South
