SE: For Remington Isaac, It’s Only the Beginning
Oct 06, 2021 | Women's Golf, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
Kansas State head women's golf coach Kristi Knight half-jokingly says that freshman sensation Remington Isaac has the "Montgomery Wrap-Around." Remington is the latest Isaac to play at K-State. She harbors an identical follow-through on the course as older sister Reid, who finished her K-State career last year with a team-best 73.79 stroke average. The Isaacs are from Montgomery, Texas.
"If you watch Remington from afar, you'd have a hard time telling her and Reid apart with their follow-through, which we call the 'Montgomery Wrap-Around,'" Knight says. "They're each their own young lady and are both good kids. This is Remington's time at K-State – and who knows what she'll be able to accomplish – but I know she's going to give it everything she has, and we're going to support her.
"We're looking forward to it. I know it's going to be fun."
On a team with two seniors, two juniors, two sophomores and two freshmen, Remington, who arrived at K-State on August 8, continues to make a statement of her own.
As a senior, Reid had four top-20 finishes, including two top-10 finishes, and she tied for first place while shooting a season-low second round of 65 at the Schooner Fall Classic. As a freshman, Reid finished third on the team with a 75.37 average in 10 events.
After Remington's first three tournaments, she owns a team-best 72.33 stroke average. She tied for third at the Sunflower Invitational while shooting a career-best first-round 68 in just her second collegiate tournament on September 20.
"I still don't know if it's really sunk in," Remington says. "I actually double-bogeyed my first hole. I play well when I'm motivated and focused. That double put me in the zone. I wasn't happy. After that, it was like a dream. I just kept having birdies.
"It just showed me that I'm capable and to never settle and to always be motivated, because anything is possible. I can go out there and try to win and get a top 10 every time. It just showed me that I'm capable and to keep working."
Remington has played in all three events this season, and she has been high finisher for K-State in each of the last two. After shooting a 68-74-78 (220) in the Sunflower Invitational, she shot a 71-73-71 (215) at the Schooner Fall Classic.
Knight calls Remington's early top-three finish in her career "fairly rare" for a freshman, adding that "it's definitely a special accomplishment."
However, it perhaps comes as little shock to Knight, who has led K-State since 1995 and is the longest-tenured head women's golf coach in the Big 12 Conference. Under Knight, the Wildcats most recently qualified for the 2017 NCAA Regionals, and have accumulated 70 top-5 team finishes and 13 wins, five of which have come in the last five seasons. Knight has had many outstanding golfers in her tenure.
"We knew we were getting a super-talented player in Remington," Knight says. "What associate head coach Jared Helin and I admire most is she's very even keeled, which is really important. She doesn't get too excited, and she doesn't get too down on herself. She's highly competitive. Yes, there are some shots that tick her off a little bit, but she doesn't carry it very far. She's shown the ability to just move on.
"She's really just scratching the surface. I think she realizes that, so I'm definitely excited about the future."
The town of Montgomery had a total population of 1,575, according to the 2019 census, and is a part of the Houston/Woodlands/Sugar Land metropolitan area. The Sip n Stroll Farmers Market is every Thursday. It also has a Quilt Walk and Fall Festival in October, a Pet Parade in November, and a Christmas Parade the second Saturday in December.
Lake Conroe Park sits on the west shores of Lake Conroe and was typically the hot spot on the weekends when the Isaac sisters weren't golfing in tournaments.
"A lot of what goes on in Montgomery is based off the lake," Remington says. "It's kind of a country town in the middle of nowhere. It's pretty small, but it was so much fun."
Montgomery also harbored the best high school women's golfer in the Houston area last year.
Remington won seven of 10 events during her senior season at Montgomery High School to earn All-Greater Houston Girls Golfer of the Year by the Houston Chronicle. She shot six-under to capture the AJGA Junior Championship.
Remington held several scholarship offers from Division I programs in the south, but she fell in love with K-State. She loved it when Reid shared her experiences and knew that "I wanted that for myself." She loved the atmosphere in the Manhattan area.
"K-State just felt like family," she says.
Remington's parents, Kerry and Jay, were excited for her to blaze her own path in the Little Apple.
"I told my mom that I didn't think she was very sad that I was moving away," Remington says. "She said that she obviously was going to miss me, but that she was just so excited for me, and so proud of me, that it was hard for her to be upset."
Funny thing about Remington's journey, though.
"Actually," she says, "I didn't like golf for a very long time."
Her grandparents, parents, sisters Riley and Reid, aunts, uncles and cousins all played golf, so it was a no-brainer that they handed Remington a golf club "the second that I could hold one."
"I wanted to play every other sport besides golf," she says, "then I saw how rewarding it was for my sisters and where golf could take you. I began getting into golf when I was 12. Eventually, I was like, 'This is what I want to do.' Golf is addicting. Whenever I began practicing and had a coach and put in the work and had a good round and won a tournament, I realized it could be so rewarding. So how could I not play golf? Especially because I had two great role models, my sisters, showing me the way."
And early on in Remington's collegiate career, she's helping lead the way for the Wildcats.
"It's a good feeling," she says. "Everyone on the team is so capable. It's so up in the air. Any five could go in any order because everyone is such a good player. I've just had a few really good tournaments and I play well under pressure. It feels good but I know we all are very capable."
Remington will look to keep up an impressive start to her career as K-State caps the fall portion of its schedule in the Dale McNamara Invitational in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, this Sunday through Tuesday.
The Wildcats then wait until February 27 to participate in the Westbrook Invitational in Peoria, Arizona.
"Honestly, one of my main goals is just to have fun and not put too much pressure on myself, which is going to be hard," she says. "As a team, we can do good things. I'm really excited."
And she is just getting started.
"Remington is going to continue to develop," Knight says. "She's super talented, but she would tell you that she has room for improvement around the greens with her chipping and putting. As she continues to play and compete in college events, you just gain experience and that experience builds up, strengthens you, and you gain knowledge from that.
"We definitely know she'll continue to improve, and the sky is the limit for her. This is only the beginning."
Kansas State head women's golf coach Kristi Knight half-jokingly says that freshman sensation Remington Isaac has the "Montgomery Wrap-Around." Remington is the latest Isaac to play at K-State. She harbors an identical follow-through on the course as older sister Reid, who finished her K-State career last year with a team-best 73.79 stroke average. The Isaacs are from Montgomery, Texas.
"If you watch Remington from afar, you'd have a hard time telling her and Reid apart with their follow-through, which we call the 'Montgomery Wrap-Around,'" Knight says. "They're each their own young lady and are both good kids. This is Remington's time at K-State – and who knows what she'll be able to accomplish – but I know she's going to give it everything she has, and we're going to support her.
"We're looking forward to it. I know it's going to be fun."
On a team with two seniors, two juniors, two sophomores and two freshmen, Remington, who arrived at K-State on August 8, continues to make a statement of her own.
As a senior, Reid had four top-20 finishes, including two top-10 finishes, and she tied for first place while shooting a season-low second round of 65 at the Schooner Fall Classic. As a freshman, Reid finished third on the team with a 75.37 average in 10 events.
After Remington's first three tournaments, she owns a team-best 72.33 stroke average. She tied for third at the Sunflower Invitational while shooting a career-best first-round 68 in just her second collegiate tournament on September 20.
"I still don't know if it's really sunk in," Remington says. "I actually double-bogeyed my first hole. I play well when I'm motivated and focused. That double put me in the zone. I wasn't happy. After that, it was like a dream. I just kept having birdies.
"It just showed me that I'm capable and to never settle and to always be motivated, because anything is possible. I can go out there and try to win and get a top 10 every time. It just showed me that I'm capable and to keep working."
Remington has played in all three events this season, and she has been high finisher for K-State in each of the last two. After shooting a 68-74-78 (220) in the Sunflower Invitational, she shot a 71-73-71 (215) at the Schooner Fall Classic.
Knight calls Remington's early top-three finish in her career "fairly rare" for a freshman, adding that "it's definitely a special accomplishment."
However, it perhaps comes as little shock to Knight, who has led K-State since 1995 and is the longest-tenured head women's golf coach in the Big 12 Conference. Under Knight, the Wildcats most recently qualified for the 2017 NCAA Regionals, and have accumulated 70 top-5 team finishes and 13 wins, five of which have come in the last five seasons. Knight has had many outstanding golfers in her tenure.
"We knew we were getting a super-talented player in Remington," Knight says. "What associate head coach Jared Helin and I admire most is she's very even keeled, which is really important. She doesn't get too excited, and she doesn't get too down on herself. She's highly competitive. Yes, there are some shots that tick her off a little bit, but she doesn't carry it very far. She's shown the ability to just move on.
"She's really just scratching the surface. I think she realizes that, so I'm definitely excited about the future."
The town of Montgomery had a total population of 1,575, according to the 2019 census, and is a part of the Houston/Woodlands/Sugar Land metropolitan area. The Sip n Stroll Farmers Market is every Thursday. It also has a Quilt Walk and Fall Festival in October, a Pet Parade in November, and a Christmas Parade the second Saturday in December.
Lake Conroe Park sits on the west shores of Lake Conroe and was typically the hot spot on the weekends when the Isaac sisters weren't golfing in tournaments.
"A lot of what goes on in Montgomery is based off the lake," Remington says. "It's kind of a country town in the middle of nowhere. It's pretty small, but it was so much fun."
Montgomery also harbored the best high school women's golfer in the Houston area last year.
Remington won seven of 10 events during her senior season at Montgomery High School to earn All-Greater Houston Girls Golfer of the Year by the Houston Chronicle. She shot six-under to capture the AJGA Junior Championship.
Remington held several scholarship offers from Division I programs in the south, but she fell in love with K-State. She loved it when Reid shared her experiences and knew that "I wanted that for myself." She loved the atmosphere in the Manhattan area.
"K-State just felt like family," she says.
Remington's parents, Kerry and Jay, were excited for her to blaze her own path in the Little Apple.
"I told my mom that I didn't think she was very sad that I was moving away," Remington says. "She said that she obviously was going to miss me, but that she was just so excited for me, and so proud of me, that it was hard for her to be upset."
Funny thing about Remington's journey, though.
"Actually," she says, "I didn't like golf for a very long time."
Her grandparents, parents, sisters Riley and Reid, aunts, uncles and cousins all played golf, so it was a no-brainer that they handed Remington a golf club "the second that I could hold one."
"I wanted to play every other sport besides golf," she says, "then I saw how rewarding it was for my sisters and where golf could take you. I began getting into golf when I was 12. Eventually, I was like, 'This is what I want to do.' Golf is addicting. Whenever I began practicing and had a coach and put in the work and had a good round and won a tournament, I realized it could be so rewarding. So how could I not play golf? Especially because I had two great role models, my sisters, showing me the way."
And early on in Remington's collegiate career, she's helping lead the way for the Wildcats.
"It's a good feeling," she says. "Everyone on the team is so capable. It's so up in the air. Any five could go in any order because everyone is such a good player. I've just had a few really good tournaments and I play well under pressure. It feels good but I know we all are very capable."
Remington will look to keep up an impressive start to her career as K-State caps the fall portion of its schedule in the Dale McNamara Invitational in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, this Sunday through Tuesday.
The Wildcats then wait until February 27 to participate in the Westbrook Invitational in Peoria, Arizona.
"Honestly, one of my main goals is just to have fun and not put too much pressure on myself, which is going to be hard," she says. "As a team, we can do good things. I'm really excited."
And she is just getting started.
"Remington is going to continue to develop," Knight says. "She's super talented, but she would tell you that she has room for improvement around the greens with her chipping and putting. As she continues to play and compete in college events, you just gain experience and that experience builds up, strengthens you, and you gain knowledge from that.
"We definitely know she'll continue to improve, and the sky is the limit for her. This is only the beginning."
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Golf
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