She may be a team of one…but she is a mighty team of one!
Junior Madeline Akers is the lone member of the Salem High School girls golf team and she isn’t letting it slow her down.
“Maddie has done really well this season,” said Coach Brett Miller. “At the beginning of the season she worked through some scores she wasn’t happy with, but at this point of the season she is playing consistently good golf. Her last several matches she has scored mid to upper 40s for nine holes.”
This is her second season playing the game.
“I started golfing last summer when Coach (Jerry) Hickey started up the girls golf team again, but before that, I had never touched a golf club before in my life,” she said, adding that she decided to play golf because she felt like it would be a more "laid back" sport to play.
“My freshman year I played volleyball, and it was filled with drama the entire season. After that, I decided that volleyball wasn't for me anymore and decided to play golf.”
Akers said being the only one on the team this year has actually been “quite peaceful.”
“I decide when I want to practice, what I want to wear to matches, who I golf with at matches, what hole I start on,” she said. “Even though I am the only one on the team this year, it doesn't really change anything. Golf isn't necessarily a ‘team’ sport, but it's more an individual sport, that is averaged out to a team sport.”
Miller said although it was challenging not having anyone else on the team to work with everyday, Akers has made the best of it, competing against her own scores and working through that.
“She is getting better every week and you can tell by the scores she is putting up,” he said. “She always has a smile on her face and is ready to play and enjoy golf!”
When asked about the season, Akers said her best match this year has been either the August 22 match against Borden and Eastern or the September 3 match against Brownstown, Eastern and Paoli.
“At both of these matches, I shot a 49, which is the second lowest in the county to a junior from Eastern, only by two strokes!” she said.
As the season nears its end, Akers said she is looking forward to the Mid-Southern Conference match that's coming up at Shadowood in Seymour.
“I know that this year I have a good chance at getting All Conference Honorable Mention, if I keep playing the way that I have been playing,” she said. “Another match that I'm looking forward to is sectionals. I feel like last year, I learned a lot at sectionals that I knew would come in handy later on.”
When asked what advice she’d give to someone who is considering golf, she said to give it a try.
“You might think that you're not good at it, but it takes practice,” she said. ‘I know that with me, it came naturally, and after that I wanted to go golfing all the time. I feel like golf doesn't get a lot of recognition, especially for girls, because they don't expect me to be good at it. But I most definitely know that I can shoot better than some of the boy golfers at our school.”
Akers would love to have company though and welcomes anyone to come join her on the course next season.
“Come golfing with me!” she said. “I'd be more than happy to go golfing with you anytime. I would love to have some girls join me next year for my senior season!”
Coach Miller also would like to see the numbers increase for next year.
“I have coached many sports but girls golf is really different,” he said. “The coaches, parents and spectators are really encouraging to everyone and easy going. The atmosphere for girls is very relaxed. For anyone who enjoys participating in sports but doesn’t like the more-pressured situations or competition, this sport is for you.”