Addison Goen played Hole 4 at Grandview Golf Course many times before Monday evening but never in a varsity match. In fact, Anderson’s girls golf meet against Connersville was just the Lady Tribe’s second team contest in half a decade.
Goen started things off with a drive out of the tee box she appeared very pleased with and waited for her opponent to tee off before the two walked toward their respective golf balls. Hole 4 is a par-4, so the two still had a lot of work to do from this point.
Goen continued her strong start with an impressive chip shot to land her on the green, just a few feet away from the hole on her third shot. She sank the putt to start her evening off with a par.
“It’s a little bit shorter, so most of the time my drive will get up (the fairway) pretty good,” Goen said. “… I was really impressed with myself.”
She’s the Lady Tribe’s No. 1 for a reason, but she didn’t earn this spot due to seniority. All four competing members of Anderson’s five-person roster are freshman, including Goen, and they all began their golf journeys just a year-and-a-half prior when joining Anderson’s seventh-grade squad.
Goen remembered accompanying her father to some of his leisurely outings to local golf courses when she was about 5 years old, only sometimes climbing out of their cart to try and hit a ball like her dad. She practiced many times at Grandview leading up to this matchup against the Spartans, but after her first high school competition on her home course was finished, she shot a team-best 52.
The No. 2, Adelyn Swain, finished with a 55. Wedged in the middle was Brielle Schott, the Tribe’s No. 3, who scored a 54. Kiki Evans, the No. 4, shot a 57 to finish things up.
When the scores were tallied, Anderson’s 218 combined score narrowly finished better than Connersville’s 223, clinching the Lady Tribe’s first team win of the 2020s.
“My score didn’t really matter because I felt good about how I played,” Goen said, though she later claimed she wasn’t happy with her 52 finish. “… I just love being out on the golf course, honestly.”
What makes golf most enjoyable for Goen is who she competes alongside, as not only has she only ever played the sport with her four teammates, but they’ve all grown up together. Swain even called Goen her best friend.
“I don’t really like to do any other sports because everybody else knows what they’re doing, and I wouldn’t,” Swain said. “But with this, nobody had ever picked up a club, so we were all on the same page.”
Evans, who’s 57 score Monday evening was her best ever, explained how the Lady Tribe has formed its collective bond.
“Just being ourselves, and we encourage each other,” she said.
Coach Chuck Graybiel did plenty of encouraging as Anderson battled against Connersville, too. His golf cart zipped around Grandview Golf Course perhaps more than anyone’s as Graybiel constantly checked in on his athletes.
Though it wasn’t to see what their scores were. It was to ensure they didn’t lose confidence in themselves. Swain was a perfect example of what Graybiel’s words have done for the quintet of freshman in such limited time, as she outlined her struggles with self-confidence on the golf course but admitted her new coach’s mentality has helped her self-talk turn more positive.
“If you hit it bad, who cares? Don’t even think about it,” Graybiel said. “Just think about the next shot.”
Anderson girls golf is a historic program. Before its recent struggles to even recruit enough members to field a team, the Lady Tribe won 11 sectionals and two regionals — though the most recent sectional title came in 2005, and the last time Anderson won a regional came 45 years ago.
But that isn’t Graybiel’s concern right now, nor is it occupying the minds of Anderson’s five freshmen. For now, everyone within the program is more concerned with enjoying the game.
“Even though it’s crazy that they’ve only been playing for a year-and-a-half, they’re capable of shooting better than what they are right now,” Graybiel said. “… I think a lot of kids take golf too seriously. If you’re not having fun and just playing, you’re not going to be good.”
If that philosophy rings true, Anderson certainly subscribed to it Monday.
“I love having my friends as my teammates,” Schott said. “We just have fun, and we try to boost each other up.”
To cap off Anderson’s improbable win, the Lady Tribe had been practicing for just a week and only had one prior meet under its collective belt heading into Monday evening. Anderson put its previous loss to Richmond aside, though, and will look to capitalize on this momentum when it faces Frankton and Tipton at 4:15 p.m. Wednesday.
This article appeared in The Herald Bulletin.