It was really fun to see how my hard work was finally paying off.” It allowed me to play better in my events after that. I had never really done anything even close to that before, so it was a big confidence booster for me. “It was a really big step in the right direction. “I think it was a bit of everything for me,” the golfer said. Even though Zibilski didn’t end up making Friday’s cut, she said her time competing in the U.S. The tournament consists of four rounds with a cut of players after the first two rounds. “A couple of them I was friends with, so that was really cool.”

“There were four of us that were my age,” Zibilski said. The amateur golfer said the youngest qualifiers were 14 years old, and she was one of them. “This was my second USGA qualifier that I was playing in so I was still fresh to those types of events.” “Usually if you are just starting, you start qualifying for USGA events when you’re 14 or 15 and that’s when I started.” Zibilski said. “I played well and I got it done, so it was really cool.” “The past two years, I didn’t really play that well in state so it felt really good to kind of have that redemption,” Zibilski said. Not only did she lead the Lady Irish to a team score that was 36 strokes better than the runner-up this October, but Zibilski finished with a two-round total of 139, earning herself the Missouri state individual title. The results are because of players like Zibilski. The Springfield Catholic girls golf team has been no stranger to success, earning two consecutive state titles since 2019. I really liked how it was mainly an individual sport but then as I got older, it became a team sport as well.” “Honestly, I just fell in love with golf and I think that’s how it is for most people when they start playing a sport, it’s just really special. Zibilski said that it was easy for her to get into because she was instantly passionate about becoming a golfer.

“I didn’t really play in many tournaments but as I got older, that’s when I started playing in local tournaments and then got into bigger events, and now I’m here.” “I started when I was pretty young, probably like 5 or 6 years old,” Zibilski said. Her talent for the sport was evident from her young interest in golf. She has played for the girls varsity golf team since entering her freshman year. The 16-year-old Zibilski is a junior at Springfield Catholic High School in Missouri.

All About Redemption by Kathleen Reagan