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When Springfield Catholic junior Lyla Louderbaugh came on the scene as a freshman, she was already a top golfer in the area.
Still, she was only the number four player on her own team.
“Her freshman year, she didn’t struggle, but she was trying to find her way and how she fit with all [her teammates],” said Catholic Head Coach Frank Gallant.
Lyla quickly found her way, posting a second straight top ten finish at state last season.
Now, as a junior, she’s thinking even bigger.
“She’s not the number four [anymore], she’s pushing the number one,” Gallant said.
“We’ve developed a friendship and bond, so it’s nice to have a friendly competition,” Lyla said of her teammates.
That friendly competition was on full display last week, when Lyla broke the course record at Fremont Hills, which was previously held by her teammate, and defending state champ Reagan Zibilski.
“She did it amazingly by shooting even on the front [nine holes] and she shot seven-under on the back [nine holes] with a 29,” Gallant said.
Still, Zibilski was the first one out to the green to wish Lyla congratulations.
“You want to beat each other, but you’re still there to congratulate each other at the end of the day,” Lyla said.
That competitive fire has pushed Lyla to improve over the past year.
Add in a five-inch growth spurt and this Lady Irish junior hits the ball farther than ever before.
“It’s the difference between like a long iron and a short iron, and like par-fives, sometimes I can reach them in two [strokes] so I have to practice those long irons and short irons, because like on the par-fours, I can almost drive the green,” Lyla said.
But as any golfer knows, getting there is only half the battle.
“Lyla has a great short game,” Gallant said. “Just because you can hit it far, doesn’t mean you can score, [the goal] is to get that little ball in the hole.”
Lyla says her approach to doing that is just to focus on her own play and let the leaderboard sort itself out.
“I want to be playing for myself and playing the best I can, instead of trying to play better than [my competition],” she said.
For that poise on the course, and a record-breaking performance, Lyla Louderbaugh is this week’s Athlete of the Week.
