Outstanding Year For Kimball Golf

A year to remember for the 2020 Kimball High Girls Golf Team as they qualified as a team for the State Tournament and Payton Wise earned her third consecutive state medal, and also lowered her own school record when she shot a new career personal best round of 76!

This year's team was made up of 2 seniors, 2 juniors and 2 sophomores and the pair of seniors who will graduate will be missed for certain. Maddie Cook was a four year contributor who saw her Kimball High career end on a sad note when she had to withdraw from play on Day 2 of the state tournament due to chest pains. Maddie was a top 10 medal winner 3 times her senior season.

Brooklin Golding is the other senior who helped the cause so much this season. After switching from volleyball to golf her senior year, this was her first year out for the sport of golf, but to her credit, she worked hard during the summer prior to the season to get her game to the point it would give her a varsity spot and she certainly helped the program. Golding also was a top ten medal winner 3 times this season with her lowest round of 96 good for 3rd place at the Creek Valley tournament. She shot Kimball's 2nd low score at the state meet finishing 54th individually. Not bad for her first year out!

Kimball had two sophomores on the team this year in Keara O'Brien and Hannah Schildhauer and they were needed to fill the varsity role and give Kimball that opportunity to qualify for state as a team. While neither girl earned a top ten individual medal, they both had good moments. O'Brien had the most varsity play as a team can consist only of five players, and she progressed big time during the season and shows lots of promise with two years remaining. Same thing for Schildhauer. 

The two juniors this season were the two returning highlights with Payton Wise and Katie Heeg both back as individual state qualifiers from their sophomore seasons. Miss Heeg had switched to golf for her sophomore year and in her first season with the sport qualified as a state tournament contestant finishing 8th at the District meet. She repeated her act this year as a junior placing 7th at the District meet. She was a 6 time top 10 medal winner and shot a round of 98 at the District event. Katie also spent a lot of her own free time out on the Four Winds Course sharpening up her skills and her best is yet to come as she looks toward her senior season. 

Another outstanding season for Payton Wise. For three straight seasons she has been a state qualifier and state medal winner. As a freshman, Wise placed 3rd at the District tournament and took 12th at the state tournament. Last year as a sophomore, she won the District event and finished 3rd at state. She also set a new school record and personal best round of 77! What could she do better than all of this?

How about a new improved school-record and improved personal best round of 76! And she did it at the District Tournament where she defended her medalist honors with a repeat individual win!

Payton was a medal winner in all 11 tournaments this season, winning 6 medalist honors including her record-setting round at District. At the state tournament she faced a very strong field of golfers but still ended up sixth with her round of 82-84=166! She was also the WTC Conference medalist. Miss Wise has proven she is not only one of Western Nebraska's top golfers, but one of the best in all of the state.

With Wise and Heeg back along with O'Brien and Schildhauer, coach Katie Culek should be able to compete for team honors once again and maybe she will get additional girls out who want to join the successful program that has brought so many honors back to the Kimball High trophy case. Congrats on a great season to the Kimball High Girls Golf Team including coaches and players, and Best Wishes for the 2021 season.