Ace-ing Authority: Without any seniors on the Varsity girls golf team this year, juniors Maggie Leonard and Maren Adams lead the team as captains

Smoothing out her blue Nike golf tank and double checking that she had all of her clubs in her TaylorMade golf bag, varsity golfer and freshman Ella Slicker stepped onto the Indian Hills Country Club golf course for the first practice of the season. Unsure what to expect, Slicker hands shook as she gripped harder on her clubs — joining her older teammates on the course.

After a few holes, Slicker became more comfortable around her teammates as they included her in conversation about the upcoming homecoming dance and other various events.

“After the first practice, I felt like I already knew the other girls on the team because it was so easy to talk to everyone,” Slicker said. “Everyone was so friendly and made an effort to include me in the conversation.”

Girls golf has always been a sisterhood, according to team captain and junior Maren Adams. Due to the limited number of athletes and the three-hour daily practices, the team grows closer each year — from texting constantly in their group chats to posting funny photos on their instagram page, @girlsgolff. 

While the team dinners and bonds don’t differ from year to year, this year is different than most — there are no seniors on varsity. Juniors like Maggie Leonard and Adams have had to adjust to becoming the team role models a year earlier than they normally would.

Leonard and Adams have been stepping up to make sure the team has a close bond. Whether it’s setting up team dinners and other bonding activities to making sure everyone attends practice, the captains act as a support system so the rest of the team can get closer.

Adams enjoys that it’s finally “her time” to be a leader on the team. She is able to crack jokes and have fun on the course every day at practice, but she can also provide valuable advice to underclassmen players who need it, offer golf polos to girls who don’t have them yet and answer questions about how to improve their shots. 

“If a freshman keeps getting really bad drives, I give them advice on how to fix it,” Adams said. “[The team] can be honest with each other about anything.”

Varsity golfer and junior Sofia Wehner recalls feeling scared to play with upperclassmen players and not knowing all of the rules of golf, so she makes sure the freshmen aren’t anxious to play with older players — letting them know that it’s okay to mess up at practice and that they’re here to help. 

“Practice should be easygoing, and it shouldn’t be tense for them,” Wehner said. “They’re always making sure they’re not doing anything wrong. If they hit a bad shot, they get upset and we’ve made sure they know that you can hit that again. This is meant to be practice, they have the opportunity to grow as a player.” 

Golf practice is built-in team bonding, according to freshman Georgia Boyd. Because of how slow-paced golf is, it’s impossible to play alongside someone and not get to know them because you’re together for extended periods of time. The girls still manage to bond outside of practice too, with ice cream runs, carpooling, breakfast on late start days and movie nights watching “Caddyshack.”

“In some [sports] there’s so many people,” Boyd said. “So usually you just get close with a couple people and not the whole team. But in golf, it’s not just a few who get really close. We all get close.”

The team’s ultimate goal is placing in state this year. Leonard believes that their close-knit team dynamic is what will also help them to do this, as it lessens the pressure the girls feel at tournaments.

“If we weren’t all close, it would just add a lot more pressure,” Leonard said. “If I have a bad round, I’m not nervous and scared to go and tell my team about it because I know that they’re going to be supportive of me.”