PENDLETON — Kiersten Maxwell trudges off the 18th green during the Pendleton Heights golf team’s first practice of the season. It has not been her best day on the links at Fall Creek Golf Course.
She has been working most of the summer at Regal Cinemas in Noblesville, not allowing for much time swinging the clubs. But she knows things will get better.
“I would say starting the beginning of August,” she said. “I’ve requested off for work for golf; I’ll only be working on Sundays when there is no golf. After this week, I should be able to fully hone in on my golf game.”
Maxwell is the lone senior on this year’s team and is one of two players returning from last year’s team that advanced in sectional before bowing out in a very tough regional. She said the opportunity to play in the regional was a great experience for her.
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Click here to purchase photos from this gallery“It was definitely a sense of accomplishment,” she said. “Last year was the first year I’d been to regional. I remember the previous year, we were one spot from making regional, and we were all upset about that. To be able to come back the next year and make regional, it was a great feeling.”
Maxwell said she learned a lot about leadership from last year’s seniors, Addison Farrer, Jessie Meyer and Claire Patishall. She said it is all about staying positive in a game that can be very frustrating at times.
“You definitely have to keep the positivity up, because it’s easy to get down in the dumps if you’re not having a good round,” Maxwell said. “It really does help to improve your score if you have a good mindset while playing.”
Maxwell began playing at an early age and credits her family with helping her learn the game.
“I started competing in eighth grade on the coed middle school team,” she said. “But I’ve been playing with my family since I was 5 years old. My grandparents golf, and my parents golf, so I’ve grown up in a golfing family. I used to go to my grandparents’ house a lot when my parents worked, so they would take me to the golf course every day. They got me a little plastic set of clubs. I’ve sort of grown up on the golf course.”
She says her goal for the upcoming season is to be consistent with her play.
“I would definitely like to shoot in the 40s consistently,” she said. “I’ve been struggling to be consistent with my scores. If I could even get into the 30s, that would be amazing.”
Maxwell is undecided on what college to attend or which major to study. She hopes to find something along the way that she will enjoy and focus on.
“I’m not sure what I want to do yet,” she said. “My plan is to go in undeclared and get my core classes done and figure out a major when I get a better feel for things.
“I’ve been looking at sociology or criminology, but other than that, I’m keeping an open mind.”
