Magnificat’s Ellen Dreher chips one out of the sand during last week’s Ohio girls Golf foundation tournament at Avon Oaks Country Club. (West Life photo by Larry Bennet)

OGGF tournament means more than just winning
By Jon Wysochanski
Sports
Published July 29, 2009

The Ohio Girls Golf Foundation Tournament was held at Avon Oaks Country Club last week, and the course was alive with 120 girls competing from high schools across Ohio.

The weather was calm and pleasant during last Monday’s tournament, where girls competed both as individuals and as members of their high school teams.

Some of those present said golf is always an individually competitive game, even while playing on a team. They noted how there are good days and bad days on the course, and talked about how becoming a good golfer provides skills that can be beneficial in dealing with the frustrations of daily life.

According to Teen Burke, president of the Ohio Girls Golf Foundation, the tournament and the foundation’s goal is to encourage the creation of girls golf teams. She said this is done through teaching girls how to enjoy golf, play a better game and hopefully handle situations without cursing or club throwing.

“I think it can teach a girl patience, I think it can teach social skills and I think it can teach communication skills,” said Burke. “Obviously, it also teaches physical and control skills, along with discipline and concentration.”

While talking about what lessons golf can teach girls, Burke also added that golf is something someone can conceivably play until the day they die.

“I think all of this transfers into life skills,” said Burke  “Golf is certainly a lifelong leisure sport that they can play throughout their life. I think it is one of the few sports you can continue to play until you are 90-years-old.”

Leigh Brattian, an avid golfer who has volunteered at the tournament for the past seven years, said golf is a good way to challenge girls to reach their fullest potential in life. She said if girls realize they can excel in a sport by learning the proper way to play, they will have better chances of succeeding in whatever it is they choose to do throughout their lives.

Above: Jenna Gentner of Rocky River lines up a shot during the OGGF Tournament last week at Avon Oaks. Below: Caroline Kennedy of Bay Village tees off at last week’s Ohio Girls Golf Foundation tournament at Avon Oaks Country Club. (West Life photos by Larry Bennet)

“The push is to get girls interested in golf,” said Brattian. “It’s all about good sportsmanship and teaching the girls the etiquette of golf.”

Brattian said it is equally important to provide tournaments and events for girls, where they don’t have to feel intimidated by men.

Laurel Friesen, who competed in the tournament for Magnificat High School, said she started golfing when she was about 10. She recently graduated from Magnificat and plans to attend Northwestern University where she wants to study medicine.

She was still allowed to compete in the tournament since she graduated this year. After landing her ball on the green while playing on the 15th hole, Friesen discussed what golf is all about to her.

“I think golf teaches you independence,” said Friesen. “Although you’re with a team, everything is about you. “You’re in control of everything, and it teaches you patience and perseverance.”

Perseverance and patience are valuable skills to acquire in a game where one minute your ball could land safely on the fairway or green, while the next minute one could find themselves in the sand, water or braving the brush to find the ball. 

Friesen said she likes to consider some advice her dad gave her when it comes to golf and life in general.

“My dad always says it’s not over until it’s over,” said Friesen. “I think that helps a lot - it helps with everything. Even if something bad happens it’s not over until you quit, and you shouldn’t quit.”

At the 16th hole, which Brattian said is a par 3 that plays like a par 5 when you are swinging into the wind, another Magnificat golfer, Victoria Bello, talked about giving golf a chance.

Bello, who will graduate next year, said she really didn’t like golf when she started.  She said that throughout her freshmen year, she just wasn’t very interested in it. But after her freshmen year, her interest in the sport grew and now she says that playing has been a learning experience.

“It has been a lot about teamwork even though it is an individual sport,” said Bello. “Our team is really close. I kind of think it helps me contain myself. It’s about control because every shot counts. You need to let it go when you have a bad shot.”

Bello remained cool and collected, even laughing when asked if she ever has bad days on the course.

“Today is one of them,” she laughed.

Bello said she really wants to go to college in Charleston, where she hopes to study marine biology or become a veterinarian.  She said she wants to focus on academics first, and then she’ll decide if she wants to continue golfing while she is in college.

“I want to go to college and then figure it out,” said Bello.

Burke said that girls who compete in the OGGF Tournament may have never played 18-holes, and that it is a good way to introduce them to it.  She also said it is a good way for girls to warm up for the high school season.

All competing aside, Burke said the tournament is about teaching the girls how to become better golfers.

“This is an educational tournament,” said Burke. “We start out in the morning by having a sport psychologist talk to them, which gets them into the mental aspects of the game.  This is probably the biggest part of the game, and I think more important, besides the skill level of it.”

The mental program is followed by having the girls watch a demonstration by two former participants, according to Burke. The girls then play two holes while being followed and critiqued by a pro.

The pro teaches them what they need to be aware of while they are playing golf in terms of equipment and terrain.

“Why are you using this club? Why are you approaching the hole from that angle?” said Burke, referring to the critique the girls receive on the test holes. “So we have two different aspects of the game of golf that we are trying to teach the girls and have them exposed to. Then they go into the tournament itself.”

Burke said she was a physical education teacher who didn’t have much of an interest in golf until she was in her late 20s. After her husband finished law school, they decided to take up golfing.

She has been president of the Ohio Girls Golf Foundation since 1994, having been involved with, and at one point president of, the Cleveland Women’s Golf Association.

When the OGGF was founded in 1994, there were very few girls golf teams, said Burke.  Brattian added that when she was in high school, if a girl wanted to play golf they had to play on the boys team.

Burke said the foundation has been instrumental in changing this by encouraging, introducing and instructing more girls about golf.

“In Northeastern Ohio, there were no girls golf teams,” said Burke. “And then - it started out very slowly - a school here and a school there would develop a girls golf team. Now in Northeastern Ohio, there are over 100 girls golf teams, and in the state of Ohio there are over 250 teams.”

Burke said high school girls have played in the tournament for the past eight years, and for the first seven years adults played to help raise money for the foundation.  Burke said the foundation provides scholarships to girls and funds girls to play in local, regional, state and national tournaments

“This year we had two girls qualify to compete in the USGA Junior Championships in Missouri,” said Burke.

Burke noted one last aspect of golf that she loves,  watching a young golfer take a swing and hit a nice shot.

“This is what I tell the kids,” said Burke. “You will make friends every time you golf. You will make friends for the rest of your life.”

For more information about the Ohio Girls Golf Foundation, visit their Web site at www.oggf.org.