Buitendorp and Waite never expected to qualify for state

Washington?s Megan Buitendorp and Sarah Waite both said that they are nervous to play in next week?s Class 4A state golf tournament.

They have reason to be. Neither expected to be playing at the Ames Golf and Country Club next Tuesday and Wednesday.

?I never thought I?d ever make it to state,? said Buitendorp, a junior.

Buitendorp?s best 18-hole score coming into this season was a 90. And Waite had only played in four varsity meets last spring as a freshman, with her scores averaging in the upper 60s for nine holes. But they both improved a lot this spring.

?[I?ve improved] a lot from the beginning of the year,? said Waite, the daughter of Dave and Jessica Waite. ?I wasn?t that great, but I?ve lowered my score a lot.?

Both golfers showed improvement after getting a pep talk from head coach Leonard Kull.

?I did have a talk with them, and I said basically this: ?You guys are better than you?re performing, and you just need to get out of your own way. Maybe you?re thinking too much or whatever, but you have a good enough swing, you know what to do around the greens, and your short game is decent enough. You just need the confidence to go ahead and make it happen,?? Kull said.

Buitendorp got a boost of confidence when she shot a 92 at the Fairfield Golf and Country Club on May 7 to win the Southeast Conference individual title.

?I think the turning point was the conference tournament when Megan was able to play extremely well and was conference medalist. That helped her immensely,? Kull said. ?At the same time, Sarah started coming along, too. She kind of fed off of Megan, I think. They were just kind of pushing each other. It was almost a perfect storm there at the end [of the season].?

It all culminated when Buitendorp and Waite both shot career-best 18-hole scores at the regional tournament in Oskaloosa on Monday to earn trips to the state tournament. Buitendorp carded an 85 to take third place, and Waite had an 88 to finish fourth.

?I felt like they both had the potential [to do that],? Kull said.

Unfortunately, career-best scores from Buitendorp, Waite and junior Maddie Hora couldn?t propel the team to state. The Demons finished four strokes behind second-place Mt. Pleasant at the regional tournament.

?We all played a good round,? said Buitendorp, the daughter of Jim and Lisa Buitendorp. ?It was disappointing, but then next year all but one of us are back, so we?re going to shoot for it next year.?

But Kull said that Buitendorp and Waite can?t expect to get back to state again next year. That?s why they must make the most out of next week?s tournament.

?We?ve been using ?carpe diem? as our motto,? Kull said. ?I made them Google it. I?m not sure they knew what it meant. They said they?d heard of it, but I said, ?You need to find out the definition.??

Buitendorp seems to be getting the idea.

?This year is my year, so I?m pretty happy,? she said.