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By Justin Sampson and Matt Turer (Ozarks Sports Zone)
MARSHFIELD, Mo. — The proverbial warning flare has been sent and it’s hovering around Lake of the Ozarks.
It spells out that Amber Wilson has one thing left on her checklist: a state championship.
“That’s my ultimate goal,” she said. “I hope to play as well as I’ve been playing and that’s a good possibility.”
Over the last month, the Camdenton senior has led the Lady Lakers golf team to an Ozark Conference title, claimed a 15-stroke victory in her district, and shot a personal-best 67 to win her Class 2 sectional in Marshfield by eight strokes.
When you’re dialed in, be dialed in during October. After back-to-back all-state finishes, Wilson is more comfortable than ever this time of year. Having her teammates join her at the state tournament in Sedalia next week helps.
“I (used to be) more worried about everyone else. That screwed me up my first couple years. Other tournaments I focused on myself and how I was doing, not how everyone else was doing.”
Her poise on the course has been building since her father, Rob, a PGA Professional, started showing her the game when she was four years old.
“He’s still my coach (outside of school). It’s great. He’s normally there encouraging me all the time. It’s nice having a coach there 24/7 who will help you whenever you need it.”
Her parents moved to Missouri from England before she was born, a decision that has worked out nicely for the Lady Lakers.
“When she was in sixth grade I started seeing her scores in the paper from the summer league and noticing her then,” head coach Jane Eidson said. “For a while there weren’t any girls playing in the summer league at the lake and she was playing with the boys and keeping up with everybody. You could see that she was something special.”
Golf has always been the family hobby. Even as a four-year-old flailing at this small white ball, Wilson found a calling. She feel in love quickly.
“When I can, I’m on the lake a lot with my grandparents. I try to spend time with my family and do fun stuff like a normal kid would do. Sometimes I feel like I’m so tied up in sports, I need to be a normal teenager and have fun.”
But Wilson’s sense of fun has always found its home on a golf course. Her favorite toy is a set of TaylorMade clubs. Her favorite TV show is whatever camera is fixed on Rory McIlroy.
Her immersion into the sport has paid off.
“Amber [Wilson] is just the total package,” Camdenton head girls golf coach Jane Eidson said.
“She’s got the golfing ability. She’s got the head for it, and the heart for it. If she has a hole she doesn’t like, she puts it behind her and goes on to the next one. She doesn’t let things get her down. She really just knows the game of golf.”
And she relishes the individuality of it. Just speaking with Wilson, it’s easy to hear an athlete with an understanding of herself and her game that goes beyond her age. She speaks about what she needs to work on like a tour pro. There’s a twinge lackadaisical confidence in her tone that’s almost Belichickian, but there’s no lack of anything at all in her focus.
“I think she’s on a trajectory for a state title,” Eidson said. “She’s set that goal for herself. I think she’ll keep working and working on the parts of her game she needs to work on, and as she keeps playing, she’ll just get stronger mentally.”
That would mean the first state champion for the program since Joni Purvis in 2010.
As a senior, Wilson is losing the self-imposed chip on her shoulder of competing against the region’s top upperclassmen. She’s always played against those older than her. It’s good motivation, she says.
After all, the only way to get smarter is by playing a smarter opponent. Wilson knows this, but for her, golf is as much about the competition with yourself than it is with anyone else.
“I like golf because it’s independent,” she said. “It’s only one person. You don’t really have to count on other people, and if you win, it’s all your glory.”
