Jamieson prepared for return to state
Lead Summary
By
Caitlin Forsha-crforsha@gmail.com
Hillsboro High School junior Kristin Jamieson has gone four-for-four with her goals as a member of the Lady Indians golf team this season. This weekend, Jamieson is preparing to reach another goal – improving on her score at the highest level of high school competition – as she competes in the OHSAA Division I Girls Golf State Tournament for a second consecutive year.
Jamieson told The Highland County Press that she began her junior season with four goals: to shoot par or under consistently; to be undefeated in the Frontier Athletic Conference as an individual and as a team; to advance into the postseason with her teammates; and to qualify for the state tournament individually.
In two consecutive days this season, the Lady Indians golf team broke the school record for the lowest nine-hole score in a girls golf match, which now stands at 172. Both Jamieson and the Lady Indians went undefeated in the conference, winning the inaugural FAC championship as well as a sectional title.
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“We achieved them — me and the team, we reached all four goals,” Jamieson said. “We had an unexpected year with the team because we thought last year would be our good year. This year was our outstanding year, not just record-wise, but scoring-wise.
“We definitely made history with the record and winning our sectional. That made history, too. It hadn’t ever happened before.”
Over the summer, Jamieson won two tournaments in July and competed in several major tournaments before the high school season began, including an American Junior Golf Association tournament on the Ohio State University campus.
“I enjoyed that one a lot,” Jamieson said. “The day that tournament finished, I flew to Florida for the Optimist International Championship. I shot pretty well for three rounds, then played another round. I placed 31st out of 140 golfers. That was a lot of fun.”
In addition to the experience playing in a high-pressure atmosphere at the tournaments, Jamieson said playing against people from other states and countries has helped her to realize that in golf, “every day is different for every person.”
“You could have a great or bad day,” Jamieson said. “Just because you’re not Tiger Woods doesn’t mean you can’t shoot under par.
“One thing I’ve learned through tournaments is it doesn’t matter who [competitors] are, and focusing on other people doesn’t help you at all. It just gets in your head and makes you play worse, in a lot of cases.”
Jamieson said that she felt the sectional round was her best match of the season thus far. At that 18-hole event won by the Lady Indians, Jamieson was match medalist, finishing with a score of 73 and winning by 15 strokes.
“I shot one over par, but I think there was just one part of my game that wasn’t there,” Jamieson said. “Everything else, I felt confident in, and I just played golf. I really enjoyed that round. It was really fun. Then experiencing the win with the team too, that was a special moment.”
Jamieson said that being able to compete at the district level with her teammates was “awesome.”
“Once Coach (David) Hilliard had told me that our goal as a team was to go to state, up to the very end, it was so realistic,” Jamieson said. “This year, the whole team got to experience the team aspect of the postseason, which was awesome. We came up short at districts, but everyone had a good time.”
As an individual, Jamieson achieved her goal of reaching state for a second year, after finishing second overall at the Division I East/Southeast District Girls Golf Tournament at the EagleSticks Golf Course in Zanesville. To get to that point, Jamieson has put in countless hours of work in the offseason as well as in extra practices this season to improve her golf game.
“The past two seasons, when you put them side by side, have been like night and day,” Jamieson said. “It’s hard for me to compare my game last year to this year. Everything is so different. It’s a lot better this year than it was last year, and I feel a lot better about my game going into the tournament this weekend compared to last year.”
As a sophomore, Jamieson tied with seven other golfers for 34th place at the OHSAA Division I State Golf Tournament last fall at the Gray Course on the campus of The Ohio State University. She said the finish was “disappointing,” but she believes having one trip to state under her belt will help her this weekend.
“After a disappointing end to the postseason last year, immediately I’m thinking ‘go back to state,’” Jamieson said. “That’s what I’ve been working on since the end of the state tournament last year.
“I was hoping to do a bit better last year at state, but it was a direct correlation with how I prepared. It’s not that I prepared badly last year, but I wasn’t as experienced. I was a new player in the playoffs. The nerves got to me — just being at Ohio State, it’s a dream. It all got to me last year. This year, I know how it is to be at state. I know the feelings you have on the range.”
Another way that Jamieson is preparing for this season is “practicing under pressure” to prepare for the tournament atmosphere.
“I’ve been hitting really hard the past couple weeks,” she said. “Even if I don’t want to go practice that day, it doesn’t matter. You still have to go and put everything you have into that practice. I feel a lot more disciplined this year regarding practicing. Last year, I wasn’t necessarily distracted, completely, but this year I have more of an edge on my practicing.”
Jamieson said that after competing at state last year, as well as practicing at OSU several times this summer, she “feels better about her game” as she prepares for the practice round in Columbus Thursday.
“With the emotions, I feel a lot more comfortable with those, too,” Jamieson said. “Last year, I wasn’t really sure how I’d react under the circumstances. I wasn’t sure my game was where it needed to be. I tried my hardest, but it didn’t work out.
“I didn’t think my game could improve as much as it has, but it has. I feel a lot better approaching it. There’s no pressure. I play how I play. If that means I put up a good number, then I put up a good number. I’m going to take it shot by shot, one hole at a time. There’s no reason to be nervous.”
Going into this weekend’s tournament, Jamieson said she hopes to be first-team All-Ohio, but she said that she entered last year’s state tournament with too many expectations.
“That’s one of the worst things for a golfer, to have expectations, because it’s a very mental and emotional game,” Jamieson said. “I just want to stay in the moment and play each shot as best as I can, hitting every shot with the best swing I can. However it works out is how it works out. I can’t focus on the outcomes, just what I do. I’m focusing on what’s in my control. If I do that, I think I’ll post a good number.
“I’ve been playing well for the past week or two, for a good amount of time. I feel comfortable with my swing and my game. I feel like it’s going to be a good weekend. I’ve just got to stay in the moment and stay out of my own way.”
Jamieson also thanked the many people who have helped her reach her goals as she prepares to end another successful high school golf season. She thanked her father, David Jamieson, for introducing her to golf and encouraging her to focus on it as her main sport, and her mom, Jeanine Bagshaw, who “spends countless hours traveling and putting hours into my practice, driving me everywhere.”
“Being able to have all the opportunities I do is all because of my parents,” Jamieson said. “I’m privileged to be where I am. It’s all because of them.
“My family is always there — it’s a little joke now that we have, they’re my ‘golf groupies.’ My inner family is always there and are super awesome and super supportive.”
In addition to her family, Jamieson thanked her coaches, David Hilliard and Sharon Sims, for their help, as well as her friends and teammates.
“There have been multiple times on the course I don’t know what to do, and Coach Hilliard helps me with that, as well as different situations on approach that I ask him about,” Jamieson said. “Whenever I have anything to talk about or any questions, Sharon Sims is always there.
“All my friends are super understanding, knowing I can’t go get dinner because I have to practice golf or have a tournament the next day. It’s been a very concentrated year. I also want to thank my team for their support.”
Jamieson also thanked the Hillsboro Elks for supporting the Lady Indians and her practices and Buckeye Hills Country Club and Snow Hill Country Club for being “open and flexible to whatever I need to do.”
“Finally, I want to thank the city and the community for their support this year and the past three years,” Jamieson said. “It’s been awesome.”
Jamieson’s tee time for Friday is set for 10:50 a.m. at the Gray Course at The Ohio State University.
Jamieson told The Highland County Press that she began her junior season with four goals: to shoot par or under consistently; to be undefeated in the Frontier Athletic Conference as an individual and as a team; to advance into the postseason with her teammates; and to qualify for the state tournament individually.
In two consecutive days this season, the Lady Indians golf team broke the school record for the lowest nine-hole score in a girls golf match, which now stands at 172. Both Jamieson and the Lady Indians went undefeated in the conference, winning the inaugural FAC championship as well as a sectional title.
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“We achieved them — me and the team, we reached all four goals,” Jamieson said. “We had an unexpected year with the team because we thought last year would be our good year. This year was our outstanding year, not just record-wise, but scoring-wise.
“We definitely made history with the record and winning our sectional. That made history, too. It hadn’t ever happened before.”
Over the summer, Jamieson won two tournaments in July and competed in several major tournaments before the high school season began, including an American Junior Golf Association tournament on the Ohio State University campus.
“I enjoyed that one a lot,” Jamieson said. “The day that tournament finished, I flew to Florida for the Optimist International Championship. I shot pretty well for three rounds, then played another round. I placed 31st out of 140 golfers. That was a lot of fun.”
In addition to the experience playing in a high-pressure atmosphere at the tournaments, Jamieson said playing against people from other states and countries has helped her to realize that in golf, “every day is different for every person.”
“You could have a great or bad day,” Jamieson said. “Just because you’re not Tiger Woods doesn’t mean you can’t shoot under par.
“One thing I’ve learned through tournaments is it doesn’t matter who [competitors] are, and focusing on other people doesn’t help you at all. It just gets in your head and makes you play worse, in a lot of cases.”
Jamieson said that she felt the sectional round was her best match of the season thus far. At that 18-hole event won by the Lady Indians, Jamieson was match medalist, finishing with a score of 73 and winning by 15 strokes.
“I shot one over par, but I think there was just one part of my game that wasn’t there,” Jamieson said. “Everything else, I felt confident in, and I just played golf. I really enjoyed that round. It was really fun. Then experiencing the win with the team too, that was a special moment.”
Jamieson said that being able to compete at the district level with her teammates was “awesome.”
“Once Coach (David) Hilliard had told me that our goal as a team was to go to state, up to the very end, it was so realistic,” Jamieson said. “This year, the whole team got to experience the team aspect of the postseason, which was awesome. We came up short at districts, but everyone had a good time.”
As an individual, Jamieson achieved her goal of reaching state for a second year, after finishing second overall at the Division I East/Southeast District Girls Golf Tournament at the EagleSticks Golf Course in Zanesville. To get to that point, Jamieson has put in countless hours of work in the offseason as well as in extra practices this season to improve her golf game.
“The past two seasons, when you put them side by side, have been like night and day,” Jamieson said. “It’s hard for me to compare my game last year to this year. Everything is so different. It’s a lot better this year than it was last year, and I feel a lot better about my game going into the tournament this weekend compared to last year.”
As a sophomore, Jamieson tied with seven other golfers for 34th place at the OHSAA Division I State Golf Tournament last fall at the Gray Course on the campus of The Ohio State University. She said the finish was “disappointing,” but she believes having one trip to state under her belt will help her this weekend.
“After a disappointing end to the postseason last year, immediately I’m thinking ‘go back to state,’” Jamieson said. “That’s what I’ve been working on since the end of the state tournament last year.
“I was hoping to do a bit better last year at state, but it was a direct correlation with how I prepared. It’s not that I prepared badly last year, but I wasn’t as experienced. I was a new player in the playoffs. The nerves got to me — just being at Ohio State, it’s a dream. It all got to me last year. This year, I know how it is to be at state. I know the feelings you have on the range.”
Another way that Jamieson is preparing for this season is “practicing under pressure” to prepare for the tournament atmosphere.
“I’ve been hitting really hard the past couple weeks,” she said. “Even if I don’t want to go practice that day, it doesn’t matter. You still have to go and put everything you have into that practice. I feel a lot more disciplined this year regarding practicing. Last year, I wasn’t necessarily distracted, completely, but this year I have more of an edge on my practicing.”
Jamieson said that after competing at state last year, as well as practicing at OSU several times this summer, she “feels better about her game” as she prepares for the practice round in Columbus Thursday.
“With the emotions, I feel a lot more comfortable with those, too,” Jamieson said. “Last year, I wasn’t really sure how I’d react under the circumstances. I wasn’t sure my game was where it needed to be. I tried my hardest, but it didn’t work out.
“I didn’t think my game could improve as much as it has, but it has. I feel a lot better approaching it. There’s no pressure. I play how I play. If that means I put up a good number, then I put up a good number. I’m going to take it shot by shot, one hole at a time. There’s no reason to be nervous.”
Going into this weekend’s tournament, Jamieson said she hopes to be first-team All-Ohio, but she said that she entered last year’s state tournament with too many expectations.
“That’s one of the worst things for a golfer, to have expectations, because it’s a very mental and emotional game,” Jamieson said. “I just want to stay in the moment and play each shot as best as I can, hitting every shot with the best swing I can. However it works out is how it works out. I can’t focus on the outcomes, just what I do. I’m focusing on what’s in my control. If I do that, I think I’ll post a good number.
“I’ve been playing well for the past week or two, for a good amount of time. I feel comfortable with my swing and my game. I feel like it’s going to be a good weekend. I’ve just got to stay in the moment and stay out of my own way.”
Jamieson also thanked the many people who have helped her reach her goals as she prepares to end another successful high school golf season. She thanked her father, David Jamieson, for introducing her to golf and encouraging her to focus on it as her main sport, and her mom, Jeanine Bagshaw, who “spends countless hours traveling and putting hours into my practice, driving me everywhere.”
“Being able to have all the opportunities I do is all because of my parents,” Jamieson said. “I’m privileged to be where I am. It’s all because of them.
“My family is always there — it’s a little joke now that we have, they’re my ‘golf groupies.’ My inner family is always there and are super awesome and super supportive.”
In addition to her family, Jamieson thanked her coaches, David Hilliard and Sharon Sims, for their help, as well as her friends and teammates.
“There have been multiple times on the course I don’t know what to do, and Coach Hilliard helps me with that, as well as different situations on approach that I ask him about,” Jamieson said. “Whenever I have anything to talk about or any questions, Sharon Sims is always there.
“All my friends are super understanding, knowing I can’t go get dinner because I have to practice golf or have a tournament the next day. It’s been a very concentrated year. I also want to thank my team for their support.”
Jamieson also thanked the Hillsboro Elks for supporting the Lady Indians and her practices and Buckeye Hills Country Club and Snow Hill Country Club for being “open and flexible to whatever I need to do.”
“Finally, I want to thank the city and the community for their support this year and the past three years,” Jamieson said. “It’s been awesome.”
Jamieson’s tee time for Friday is set for 10:50 a.m. at the Gray Course at The Ohio State University.