Golf teams ‘stay the course’

The ball was going everywhere that senior Peyton Camardella didn’t want it to go. Between hitting the ball just short of the green or straight into the water, Camardella was having a very out-of-character match for her first nine holes of the girls’ golf sectional on Monday, Sept. 5. That was until she looked at the little number 19 written on her ball, her boyfriend’s jersey number, and was reminded that no matter what, it will be OK .

“I don’t want to go out like that,” Camardella said. “I had a little mental reset.”

Then she and the entire team turned things around and qualified for state.

The girls golf team competed in sectionals on their home course: the Mount Prospect Golf Course. For some of the girls, like Camardella, they struggled at the beginning of their match, but they were relentless.

According to the head girls’ coach, Brad Rathe, one of the biggest struggles of golf is everyone having a great round as a team and not just as an individual player. While sectionals started out rough for some of the girls, Rathe says that they really turned it around on the back nine holes. Camardella shot a 44 on the front nine, but she turned it around on the back nine by hitting a 36 and ending her match with a total of 80. The state-qualifying score was 81.

“We were just on fire at the same time,” Rathe said. “That makes a difference.”

Rathe described how golf is unique compared to other sports in high school. As someone who played soccer his whole life, Rathe said that golf requires a different mindset.

“There’s no playing harder and you’re the only person there,” Rathe said. “It’s between you and your head. You have to figure out mentally how to come back from bad shots.”

Golf looks different in other ways compared to other sports. There isn’t any chanting or student sections following the athletes throughout the course. It’s a focused environment with parents following their athletes along the course, quietly supporting.

Boys’ golfer senior Max Taylor recalls what it’s like to have his parents so close when he’s competing.

“It’s good when you’re on a high,” Taylor said. “But when you’re doing bad, it’s kind of weird because they’re always just right up against you.”

Golf also involves a ranking system for the athletes on each team. According to Rathe, they take all the different metrics depending on what the golfer shot, what their score was and how hard the course was.

For Camardella, who’s ranked number two on the girls’ team, the rankings give her a goal.

“It kind of brings out the competitive side of me a little bit more,” Camardella said. “It gives me something to work towards.”

For other golfers like junior Ashley Paddack, sh

“I was against two other girls, and we would have to play to see who would be in each tournament,” Paddack said. “We’d have to fight for a spot.”

Despite the ranking system, they still have a strong team connection that supports each other through those difficult matches.

The girls team went off to state on Thursday, October 8 and competed at Hickory Point Golf Course in Forsyth. While the team did not qualify for the second day , Camardella and senior Evie Thomas individually qualified for day two.

The boys’ golf team had two qualifiers for state, senior Ryan Murray and Luke Ginsberg, after advancing through regionals and sectionals.

Rathe reflects on his favorite memory from this season and watching the seniors grow up on the course.

“Nothing really tops what happened on Monday [at sectionals],” Rathe said. “You gotta stay the course.”

The Prospect Sports Center is maintained by student journalists at Prospect High School – it is a collection of scores, schedules, and sports coverage. To view sports schedules, scores, and rosters, click here .

Golf teams ‘stay the course’

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