Insight on the Girls Golf Season

Molly Claussen, Staff Writer

 

Sophomore Kendra Pender braves 35 degree weather for the girls golf team
Blaine High School’s girls golf team has begun practice and preparation for their season at Majestic Oaks golf course.
They are set to have their first varsity match April 13th against Champlin Park. Many of the team’s players have positive outlooks on the upcoming season. Sophomore Kathryn VanArragon feels “very good about the upcoming season,” along with senior Alina Schilo who is “excited to be golfing on a daily basis.”
With the weather getting nicer and practice beginning, sophomore Kendra Pender has been feeling great during practice but still knows that she is “beginning and can’t expect much,” as it is her first year ever trying golf.
There are many student athletes like Pender who have come out to try golf this year, for the team has more than 30 players playing the game. With all these new people joining, VanArragon who is the youngest player ever to win Minnesota’s state open, is “really excited about all the new people” and “all the potential they will bring.”
The Blaine Girls Golf team has grown dramatically since its last season in 2019, where they had fewer than 20 golfers. Some reasons for this are that a few girls have quit softball and joined golf, some were looking for an outdoor activity, and with no golf season last year the new group consists of both sophomores and freshmen.
VanArragon thinks that this season will be a “different experience with Covid” compared to last season but “will still be very fun to be able to golf with the team.” With such a long break in between seasons Schilo has been practicing in order to prepare and grow for this season.
Although everyone’s golf experience will be different everyone can have hopes for what they can get out of the season. VanArragon “hopes to have a lot of fun experiences with the team” and to be able to “grow as a player.” Similarly, Schilo wants to gain “lots of memories she’ll cherish for life.”
And even those who have never golfed before have things to look forward to, such as Pender who hopes to “understand scoring and get better at hitting the ball.”