the par for course

Sydney Rademacher reminisces about her time on the girls golf team

by Kristen May content editor

Once Sydney Rademacher discovered golf, she never wanted to stop. She finds that “golf is really important to me, once I started…I fell in love with it.” Rademacher practices all the time, whether it’s golf season or not. “I play all the time in all these summer tournaments. I [go] and [practice] on my own in the spring and summer, and I just go out and play everyday,” she recalls. Rademacher began playing golf during her freshman year and met many of her current best friends through the team. Her golf experiences have impacted her in many ways, and she has made wonderful memories and connections during her time on the team. “I met Evie [Nowicki] and Mackenzie [McManus], and my whole varsity team got really close,” she explains. “After my sophomore year, I started hanging out with Evie more, and we became best friends, and then Mackenzie also became one of my best friends… we would hang out all the time.”

Throughout the season, there are several tournaments; one of Rademacher’s favorites is the Lober Tournament. “We get to stay in this nice house that one of the West girls loans to us so we [can] play for two days…we really bond there and it’s really nice,” she recounts. One of the significant parts of being on the golf team is the relationships that people build with their teammates on the course. During the tournaments, Rademacher depends on her teammates, whether that help comes in the form of shooting good shots if hers fall short, or just encouraging her during her time on the course. There’s a lot of pressure during these tournaments, but with the help of her team, Rademacher feels more at ease.

Rademacher may be on varsity golf, but she still has her struggles throughout the season. “During the beginning of my season, I couldn’t hit any of my clubs right, my driver would top off of the T boxes terrible, [and] I couldn’t hit it at all,” she admits. As the season progressed and she got more practice, Rademacher made more of her shots and found that she had improved significantly. “When the end of my season came around I could hit the ball great and I was getting great scores,” Rademacher reflects.

During her time on the golf team, Rademacher has learned so much. She’s made amazing friends, but is bummed to say goodbye. “It was really sad to have my last tournament because all my sophomore and junior friends I’m leaving behind…I’ve gotten really close with them this season…my coaches too.” However, she’s looking forward to attending college at Spring Arbor, where she was offered a scholarship to play golf at a collegiate level. “I’m going to Spring Arbor to play golf because…it was one of the best fits that I found,” discloses Rademacher. //