SE: Confidence the Key for K-State Women’s Golf
Sep 10, 2019 | Women's Golf, Sports Extra
By Corbin McGuire
One word might determine the success of the K-State women's golf team this season, which started on Monday at the Trinity Forest Invitational in Dallas, Texas.
"Confidence is the key," junior Niamh McSherry said, as K-State sits in seventh after the two-round first day.
"If we go out there confident, which is a huge side of the mental part of the game," sophomore Heather Fortushniak added, "this team has the skills, no doubt, to definitely win a couple tournaments and be in the running, at least."
K-State's roster can gather confidence from a few places.
To start, experience.
Six of the seven Wildcats on the roster are returners, with freshman Haley Vargas being the lone exception. Four of those returners are in at least their third year in the program, led by fifth-year senior Chloe Weir. She finished tied for eighth at the Big 12 Championship last season but is out this week with an illness. Junior Reid Isaac has three top-five finishes and five top-20 placements already in her career, including a victory at the Trinity Forest Invitational as a freshman.
"Experience does come into confidence," McSherry said. "I think the experience is just going to work in our favor."
That goes for both positive and negative experiences.
Two years ago, K-State won a pair of tournaments, including the Marilynn Smith/Sunflower Invitational, which the Wildcats are set to host at Colbert Hills on Sunday and Monday. Last season, K-State's best finish was a runner-up outing at the Texas State Invitational. The team's next-best finish: Seventh.
"We've all seen sort of the ups (and downs). Since I've been here as a freshman, we've seen the ups of winning tournaments and we've seen the downs of sort of not doing so well in Big 12s. We know what the downs are like and we don't want them again," McSherry said. "I feel like we know how good we can be."
From these ups and downs, McSherry said K-State's upperclassmen have been able to find the common denominators that led to the team's best golf. The first one was confidence.
"When we did play well in those tournaments, we went out there knowing we're good enough to win. The tournaments we didn't do so well in, we were thinking about how good the other teams were," she said. "It's just about going out there and sort of realizing that we're just as good as them. We worked just as hard as them. It doesn't matter who's on their team. We know we can win and it's just about going out there and believing that."
Fortushniak said it starts with an individual belief. It's something she gradually gathered throughout her freshman campaign and helped her finish in the semifinals of the Michigan Women's Amateur Championship in early August.
"I went out there with the intentions of winning," she said. "I think that's something that was a little bit different for me because my mindset changed in the spring and in the summer and I just wanted to do the best that I could do for me and the team. I think just going into those tournaments confident and wanting to win helped a lot."
All of K-State's returners, also including junior Darby Deans and sophomore Briony Bayles, should carry some level confidence in themselves and each other from last season. Even though, collectively, it did not live up to their expectations, all six returners recorded a top-20 finish. Four of them did so in a team tournament. Three different Wildcats notched a top-10 result.
"I think we all definitely are dripping in potential," Isaac said. "I think the talent level of this team is really high, but I think it's going to be a lot about our mental game and our attitudes on the golf course."
K-State head coach Kristi Knight agreed.
"They're just going to keep getting better and better. The sky's the limit," she said. "They don't have to do anything extraordinary. All they have to do is be their ordinary selves very well, because they're all extremely talented, great golfers."
One word might determine the success of the K-State women's golf team this season, which started on Monday at the Trinity Forest Invitational in Dallas, Texas.
"Confidence is the key," junior Niamh McSherry said, as K-State sits in seventh after the two-round first day.
"If we go out there confident, which is a huge side of the mental part of the game," sophomore Heather Fortushniak added, "this team has the skills, no doubt, to definitely win a couple tournaments and be in the running, at least."
K-State's roster can gather confidence from a few places.
To start, experience.
Six of the seven Wildcats on the roster are returners, with freshman Haley Vargas being the lone exception. Four of those returners are in at least their third year in the program, led by fifth-year senior Chloe Weir. She finished tied for eighth at the Big 12 Championship last season but is out this week with an illness. Junior Reid Isaac has three top-five finishes and five top-20 placements already in her career, including a victory at the Trinity Forest Invitational as a freshman.
"Experience does come into confidence," McSherry said. "I think the experience is just going to work in our favor."
That goes for both positive and negative experiences.
Two years ago, K-State won a pair of tournaments, including the Marilynn Smith/Sunflower Invitational, which the Wildcats are set to host at Colbert Hills on Sunday and Monday. Last season, K-State's best finish was a runner-up outing at the Texas State Invitational. The team's next-best finish: Seventh.
"We've all seen sort of the ups (and downs). Since I've been here as a freshman, we've seen the ups of winning tournaments and we've seen the downs of sort of not doing so well in Big 12s. We know what the downs are like and we don't want them again," McSherry said. "I feel like we know how good we can be."
From these ups and downs, McSherry said K-State's upperclassmen have been able to find the common denominators that led to the team's best golf. The first one was confidence.
"When we did play well in those tournaments, we went out there knowing we're good enough to win. The tournaments we didn't do so well in, we were thinking about how good the other teams were," she said. "It's just about going out there and sort of realizing that we're just as good as them. We worked just as hard as them. It doesn't matter who's on their team. We know we can win and it's just about going out there and believing that."
Fortushniak said it starts with an individual belief. It's something she gradually gathered throughout her freshman campaign and helped her finish in the semifinals of the Michigan Women's Amateur Championship in early August.
"I went out there with the intentions of winning," she said. "I think that's something that was a little bit different for me because my mindset changed in the spring and in the summer and I just wanted to do the best that I could do for me and the team. I think just going into those tournaments confident and wanting to win helped a lot."
All of K-State's returners, also including junior Darby Deans and sophomore Briony Bayles, should carry some level confidence in themselves and each other from last season. Even though, collectively, it did not live up to their expectations, all six returners recorded a top-20 finish. Four of them did so in a team tournament. Three different Wildcats notched a top-10 result.
"I think we all definitely are dripping in potential," Isaac said. "I think the talent level of this team is really high, but I think it's going to be a lot about our mental game and our attitudes on the golf course."
K-State head coach Kristi Knight agreed.
"They're just going to keep getting better and better. The sky's the limit," she said. "They don't have to do anything extraordinary. All they have to do is be their ordinary selves very well, because they're all extremely talented, great golfers."
Players Mentioned
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