MUSKEGON TWP. - There are no more tears on the golf course for Reeths-Puffer’s Sophia McCollum.
She still has a few bad holes here and there, but it does not emotionally sidetrack her, like it did in the past.
That has led to an amazing season for the standout junior, with first place finishes in an incredible nine events, with two very big opportunities still on the schedule.
McCollum was good last season as a sophomore – winning the local Greater Muskegon Athletic Association Tournament and qualifying for the state finals - but not nearly as dominant. That’s because, when things inevitably went a little bit wrong on the course, she let it get to her.
R-P's Sophia McCollum
“I would just cry all the time, and get really upset,” McCollum said. “But I think I have just matured. I realized that crying is not a solution to not doing good. It’s not going to change anything. Now I just get mad at myself for a couple of minutes, and I am fine on the next hole.”
R-P head coach Matt Pallett watched McCollum’s frustration get the best of her in the past, affecting her outcomes.
“She has really grown mentally,” he said. “In the past she had good rounds, but a bad hole would take her out of the round for a while. She struggled to rebound and close out her rounds.
“She still gets frustrated, but not to the point where she will stay mad for a couple of holes. She learned that, hey, it’s good, you’re not always going to have a perfect shot. She learned that you just go on to the next shot and the next hole. That’s not always easy to do in golf.”
Photo/Joe Lane
Eliminating the emotional meltdowns has led to an enormous sense of confidence for McCollum. She knows that she’s a really, really good high school golfer, and will probably finish at or near the top of any event, far more times than not.
Perhaps her most eye-opening performance this season was at the GMAA Tournament, which she won for the second year in a row, this time by a whopping 10 shots.
“If you are a golf fan and did not get to see it, then you missed out on some spectacular golf,” Coach Pallett said after that win.
McCollum also took first place at the prestigious Lober Classic at Crystal Mountain, the very tough Blue Devil Invitational hosted by Gull Lake High School, and R-P's own Lady Rocket Invitational. She won five of seven O-K Green conference tournaments, and was the overall individual conference champion.
Photo/Joe Lane
She’s been finishing her rounds with very strong play, something that did not always happen in the past when frustration took over.
Last week, for instance, she managed to birdie hole 13 after a troublesome bunker shot, then sank a 20-foot putt on the 18th hole to clinch the title in a very tight race at the Blue Devil Invitational.
A few weeks ago she shot a very hot 37 on the back nine, with some great shots down the stretch, to clinch a one-shot victory at the Lady Rocket Invitational.
“It was an incredible stretch of golf where she made big shot after big shot,” Pallett said about that strong finish.
Big goals
McCollum’s extreme confidence is obvious when she talks about the last few events of the high school season, starting with Division 2 regionals on Tuesday, when teams and individuals will be competing for a chance to qualify for the state finals.
It would be premature for any player to think too much about how they might do in the finals, because a bad day at regionals could prevent them from even getting that far.
McCollum is well aware of that, but she is still confident enough to freely admit that she wants to win a Division 2 individual state championship - this year, if possible – and thinks she’s capable of doing it.
“I would like to win state,” she said. “I know I can. I just have to have two very good days. I go into every tournament saying I am going to win. It’s just confidence, I guess. You want to go into everything thinking you are going to do good. And when I say I am going to win, I rarely don’t win.”
The “two very good days” comment points to an important factor.
Photo/Joe Lane
Last year McCollum qualified for the state finals for the first time and had a good first day, but faded a bit on the second day and finished in 17th place.
This year it's been different.
It started early in the season at the Lober Classic. It was a two-day event played on two different courses, and McCollum was great both days.
She shot a 74, the best score out of the 123 golfers, on the first day. She shot a 79 on the second day and ended up winning the individual championship by four strokes.
Photo/Joe Lane
In late September, she won the GMAA tournament by the huge margin, and the next day took first place at an O-K Green conference jamboree.
Last week, she won the Blue Devil Invitational on Wednesday, then won the O-K Green Conference Championship Tournament on Thursday. Both were 18-hole events.
So shooting great for two days in a row is obviously not an issue for McCollum.
“She will be an All-Stater this year, no doubt,” Pallett said. “She’s ranked as one of the top players in the state in Division 2. As for the finals, it’s a two-day thing, and if she plays very well, she could win it.
“That’s one of the reasons we scheduled tournaments back-to-back this year – for her to play good two days in a row.”