GOODLAND, KS — No matter what the circumstances may be, Goodland girls golf head coach Connie Livengood does not miss a chance to make it to the state tournament. Even though her streak of taking a team to the tournament for 15 consecutive years was snapped last year she still got to take one golfer at least in now senior Alison Sheldon.
“It’s an honor to get to state and it was nice to get back there and as a coach, it’s been 21 years taking someone to state,” Livengood said.
Even though the 2021 season might not have been up to the usual par there was good improvement from a young squad led by the senior Ali Sheldon who said she gained a lot of confidence in her game going to state and getting more one-on-one time with Coach Goods.
“The one-on-one time definitely made me a better golfer and really helped me with my mindset more than anything,” Sheldon said.
2022’s roster once again looks to be quite young but has a good number with eleven ladies participating which is creating great completion among all the girls.
“It’ll be tough sometimes getting to decide who gets to go to which tournaments and such,” Livengood said.
Besides Sheldon, Goodland will look to lean on sophomore Ella Wolf, who almost made it to state last season and was by Sheldon’s side at state taking in the experience. Sheridan Townsend & Ali Cure have had a really good start to the season. And also look for Freshman Tori Jones to make an impact this season as well. Jones comes from a big family of golfers and is quite experienced for her age.
Summer golf participation is always a big thing for Coach Goods and this summer there was a good number of her team that competed and played a good amount and that gives the team a good lead-in into the upcoming season.
"Overall, I’m really looking forward to a really good year this year” says Coach Livengood.
Goodland’s varsity squad will open its season at Forewinds Municipal Golf Course in Hugoton for the Hugoton Invitational on September 1st.
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Head Coach Connie Livengood
Senior Alison Sheldon
Sophomore Ella Wolf & Freshman Tori Jones
PHOTO CREDIT: Jackie Elliott