Junior Reese Roudebush swings her golf club during State at Prairie View Golf Club on Oct. 17, aiming to help secure a strong team finish. The team ultimately placed fourth overall in the championship tournament.(submitted: Reese Roudebush)

Karis Reid, freshman

How did State finals go?

I felt like as a team, we really did do pretty good. Unfortunately, on Day 1, I hurt my wrist and tore a tendon, so Day 2 did not go how I really wanted it to. But the team really fought and I think we’re definitely going to be set for next year.

Was the team content with its performance?

I think we all wished we did a bit better on Day 2. It just wasn’t our day golf wise but I have full confidence we could have won, especially with how much potential we have as a team. 

Was there any extra pressure because of the tournament’s stakes?

For me, personally, I would say not really especially since I’ve played competitive golf since I was 10, so I just kind of treated it like any other tournament. I also play in some national tournaments, so I feel like it wasn’t nearly as much pressure as some of those tournaments, so I just treated it as a good experience and had fun.

Did the team practice any differently leading up to the State finals?

Me personally and a few of the other girls, we put ourselves into pressure situations just so we could simulate (finals), but other than that we pretty much went along business-as-usual.

Do you find it hard to balance tournament season and academics?

I definitely feel like, especially as a freshman, it was a bit of a struggle, but I know what I need to do for next year, especially routine-wise because practices go late and there’s more homework than you have in middle school. I definitely think that I can learn from experiences I had this year and be more successful next year.

Mallorie Monico, sophomore

How did the State finals go?

State finals went good. I had the amazing opportunity to play Day 1 of State. I shot an 88, which was pretty good for State Finals, but unfortunately it was not good enough to place us higher (than fourth).

Was the team content with its performance?

On the first day we all did pretty (well). On the second day, I think we all just had a bad day, and unfortunately it tanked us. I think the second day was really hard for everybody and we did not do well.

Did the second day of State negatively impact team morale?

I think so. Our top golfer, she tied the state record the first day, so she was leading going into the second day, and on the second day she ended in fourth place (individually), so I think her not doing as well was really harmful (for team morale). Everyone in general did worse on the second day. It was just really hard.

Was there any extra pressure because of the tournament’s stakes?

Definitely. All season we’ve just prepared for State. The leading two weeks before state, we’d just been practicing at Prairie View, we’d play practice rounds, we tried to mentally prepare ourselves. It was definitely a battle. We worked for this all season.

How did State preparation compare to the preparation for other tournaments?

Preparing for State was a mental challenge, because it’s a lot of pressure on anybody, and I think for regular tournaments it’s just for fun. There’s usually not a lot of pressure. But when it comes down to State, that’s where you have to perform and that’s where you have to do (well).

Do you find it hard to balance tournament season and academics?

Definitely. For golf we’re leaving school early a lot, so it’s hard to keep up with school work because most of the time we have multiple tournaments in a week, so it’s just a lot of time management. It’s very hard balancing (golf and academics), but I think our teachers understand that and they really do try to help us out as much as they can.