Take a chance, girls; try out for the golf team

With the school year approaching, I think this would be a good time for me to get a message out to the high school girls of Putnam County. It's never too late to think about joining your school's golf team, and it will be worth it.

I was a beginner my freshman year; just decided to give it a try and it ended up being one of the best decisions I've ever made. The coaches in the county, I know for a fact, are all wonderful people who are always looking for new girls and are more than willing to help anyone get started.

Over the past four years, the teams in Putnam County have slowly lost their numbers as girls started losing interest.

It would be really neat to see an extremely competitive county match and even a good conference tournament.

For Cloverdale, I know coach Matthew Langdon has his door wide open for people interested in playing. We haven't really had a competitive team since my freshman year and while it is a sport than can be played individually, it feels even better to get team wins or be in contention at invitationals.

North Putnam has one of the nicest coaches I've ever met, Linda Patrick. She is willing to help anyone who wants to be there and has always seemed to be extremely encouraging.

I know they have struggled to get a lot of people out on the team but it's never too late. You won't only get two great coaches, but your home course is a great course with a really good practice area.

South Putnam will not have the same coach this year as they have in the past, and at this time the school hasn't hired a new one. Most high school girls' teams around here start their season with two invitationals in the summer before school begins and South usually is the host of one (The Eagle Invitational).

Even if you haven't met the coach or signed up before school starts, I'm sure there will be no question with getting on a team as long as you get your required amount of practices in.

Lastly, we have Greencastle. They have a new coach this year as well, Bob Hedge. He is out at Windy Hill all the time and would welcome anyone wanting to give golf a shot.

Greencastle usually seems to have enough people, but competition in numbers is always good for a team.

What I'm saying is, going out for your high school's golf team is a great idea and, yes, this might be a little bit of a biased statement, but it's also the truth.

I've met some of my best friends just through playing high school golf and it really helped me grow as a person -- cliché as it sounds, it's the truth. You live in a great county full of coaches with open arms and you should take advantage of the opportunity.

If you find that you really like golf and want to consider taking it beyond high school, try and get registered in some summer tournaments through Indiana Junior Golf or even some local junior leagues such as the Hendricks County Tour.

It won't hurt to give golf a shot at least once, especially if you aren't busy during the fall season. You could find that golf isn't for you, but you could also find something that you will love.