Senior Isa Loya has been around golf most of her life. Loya said that she started playing golf because of her dad, who used to take her along on golfing trips or to the driving range. Some of her best memories while golfing have been with her dad.

“My favorite golf memory has been playing in a parent/child golf tournament with my dad. It’s really cool to be able to share what I love with him,” Loya said.

Golf; a game played on a large open-air course, in which a small hard ball is struck with a club into a series of small holes in the ground. For some, golf is no more than a game, but for others golf is so much more.

Loya said she believes she has learned a lot from playing golf, particularly life lessons. She said she has gained much experience and knowledge throughout the years.

Loya plans to attend Bethany College after graduation.

“People can learn about themselves and life in general through golf. It teaches really good life skills,” Loya said.

Loya said that she has not done as well as she would have liked, placing ninth at the Paola tournament.

“Since then, no top 10s, but hopefully in the next few tournaments I can do better and place,” Loya said.

Junior Kayla Kaps also picked up golfing with her dad. She said that through golf, she has accomplished her goals of becoming more confident in herself and her swing. Kaps said that her future goals for her upcoming senior year are to continue to lower her overall score and to continue to improve in every aspect of the game.

“I’ve learned that just having fun makes everything more enjoyable no matter how I play,” Kaps said.

During meets, Kaps said she relies on her teammates to help get her through difficult games.

“My teammates are very encouraging and if I have a bad round they always try to cheer me up or distract me to get my mind off of it,” Kaps said.

Second-year coach Todd DeYoung said he sees improvement in all of his players, especially students who are new to the game.

“For a kid new to the sport, they have improved the most because they had so little knowledge starting out. But, overall, everyone improves based more on their natural talents,” DeYoung said.

Before a meet, DeYoung said he likes to remind his players to keep their head in the game a focus on the next shot.

“You can only hit one shot at a time so don’t worry if you hit a bad one, don’t dwell on it. Focus on the next shot. Also, all shots count regardless of how far the ball travels. A short putt counts as much as a long drive,” DeYoung said.

DeYoung said that his goals for his team would be for them to learn the game well enough to become lifetime