Heading into her freshman year of high school, Baldwin’s Peyton Wright was given a couple options for continuing to play golf: join the boys team, or find a girls team at another school in the area to play for. 

Wright, a self-described lifelong golfer, competed in summer tournaments over the last few years, but Baldwin Middle School did not have a golf team to play for during the school year. At the high school, Baldwin had a boys golf team during the spring season, but it did not have a girls team during the fall. 

This meant that aspiring girls golfers like Wright were left with a tough choice. Wright did not want to join the boys team, something she views as an unfair option because of the ability for boys to hit the ball farther.

“I know the boys, it’s like a different game if the girls compete with them,” Wright said.

Wright viewed it as a real possibility that she might have needed to join one of the Washburn Rural, Free State or Eudora girls golf teams.

But deep down, Wright always wanted to stay home and play for her school.

“I probably would’ve gone with one of those alternate decisions, but I’m just really glad this worked out because this would’ve been my number one choice,” Wright said.

Her problem worked out, but it definitely did not work out on its own. Instead of joining those other squads, Wright set out to create a third path: lobby to create a Baldwin Bulldogs girls golf team.

“It’s something that needed to happen,” Wright said.

Wright started out by recruiting Baldwin Middle School teacher Hannah Clark, a 2018 Gardner Edgerton graduate who played golf for Baker University.

“We thought she would be a really great coach,” Wright said. “We knew that was a really big factor in this whole thing.”

Clark even helped create flyers for Wright to pass out around school to recruit new players. Wright recalls one seventh-grader and herself being the only ones who showed up for the summer camp.

In spite of only getting a little momentum at the beginning, Wright was already set on pushing this idea forward. To make it happen, Wright attended a Baldwin school board meeting last year to roll the ball forward. She had to go up and speak in front of the school board to request approval for starting the golf team.

“It was a little intimidating, just having a few pages of things to say to the school board,” Wright said. “I feel like a lot of people get nervous when they speak publicly. I was a little nervous, but I was also confident with what I wanted to say.”

The school board apparently liked what she had to say, because it ultimately approved the request to start the team. However, a part of that approval requires a probationary period where the team is self-funded for the first three years.

Wright, with the help of her parents, kicked off the fundraising effort. The team held its first annual Baldwin girls golf fundraising tournament on June 17th with a silent auction to help on the fundraising front.
 
Clark said it’s been great having the Wright family and the rest of the community supporting the start of the girls golf team.

“It’s been awesome to have the support of the town,” Clark said. “We have such a strong community that’s been really helpful.”

Clark plans to lean on that community support for other ways to help the team continue to grow and improve. She said she’s reached out to Baker University about using its golf simulator room to practice in the offseason. 

Since Clark is also the coach of the boys team, she plans to give girls golfers the option to practice alongside the boys in the spring.

Wright remained the only girl on the high school team through the first tournament of this season, before successfully recruiting sophomore Kristin Manbeck and freshman Carson Chambers. Both were close friends who were basketball teammates.

Wright still feels more comfortable navigating a bunker than school board meeting, but her leadership role for this team as a freshman has already helped her improve in that regard. Her anxiety induced by public speaking has started to wane as Wright represented the team while speaking at the school’s homecoming rally last week.

“So she’s shown a strong attribute with speaking and helping our team out,” Clark said.

On the course, her goals entering this year still include being mentally tough through a whole round and finishing a tournament shooting par.

Wright said she’s ready to turn her attention to the postseason and try to complete her other goal, which is to place at state. Her chances look good after a strong regular season. Wright won the Anderson County Invitational with an 80 while also finishing second in three tournaments and third in another.

 

OTHER STANDOUT GIRLS GOLFERS

• Coming off last year’s 6A state title, Olathe Northwest has maintained its status as the frontrunner for this year’s championship race. The Ravens top four is still capable of playing at the level they played in last year’s state tournament. Junior Claire Sullivan and senior McKenzie Kelso have both shot a career-low 73 this season while junior Avery Hearshman and senior Julia Beveridge have 75 as their best outings this season. All the top marks are close for these four, but Sullivan has consistently been the team’s top golfer throughout the season.
   
• Olathe West sophomore Savannah Cagle does not have the now-graduated Liz Lyons next to her to help keep the Owls in state title contention, but Cagle herself has shown the ability to stick with the top golfers in 6A. She shot a career-low 71 at the Lawrence Invitational.
   

  

• Olathe East sophomore Jenny Sun and junior Addie McKenna have kept the Hawks in the mix with their consistently low scores this season. Sun shot a career-low 70 at the Turner Invitational while shooting a 73 or lower two other times this season. McKenna is playing her best golf down the stretch, shooting a 72 to win the Olathe East Invitational on Oct. 2 in the team’s last regular season tournament.
   
• Eudora senior Joellen Vogt has shot a season-low 85 at Turner Invitational to start the season. She is still trying to get back down to her career-low 82. Sophomore Marleigh Grant has shot around 100 with a season-low 95, while senior Olivia Lawhorn has averaged a 117 through four rounds, but her season-low 92 is second best on the team.
   
• St. Mary’s Colgan looks prepared to defend the team’s reign of three straight state championships. The Panthers’ trio of Ava Scripsick, Daniell Yaghmour and Molly Swezey has consistently shot at 90 or below with season-lows in the high 70s. Yahgmour had the best outing with a 76 at the Wichita North Invitational.
   

  

• Shawnee Mission East sophomore Ella Slicker has not been able to replicate her constant delivery of 71 scores from last season. But Slicker did have her best outing late in the season when she shot a career-low 67 at the Lawrence Invitational. Junior Ingrid Blacketer has also delivered a season-low 75 in the Firebird Invitational to start the season, but she’s only been able to shoot sub-80 scores in two other events this season. Of course, she had only shot 79 or better in one tournament last season before delivering a 71 at the state tournament. With five other golfers who have shot in the low 80s this season, the Lancers should be right in the state title hunt.
   
• Blue Valley junior Hadley Neese has been going back-and-forth with Shawnee Mission East sophomore Ella Slicker for the title of frontrunner in 6A, only to find out late in the season that class enrollment changes would send up Maize’s Kinslea Jones and Wichita Southeast’s Alina Lam from 5A. Neese seemed to immediately respond to that news by shooting a career-low 66 at the Lawrence Invitational.
   
• Independence sophomore Violet Robins shot a career-low 85 during the McPherson Invitational while seniors Mattily Brumley and Hadley Hines have shot in the low 90s this season.
   
• Eudora senior Joellen Vogt has shot a season-low 85 at Turner Invitational to start the season. She is still trying to get back down to her career-low 82. Sophomore Marleigh Grant has shot around 100 with a season-low 95, while senior Olivia Lawhorn has averaged a 117 through four rounds, but her season-low 92 is second best on the team.
   
• St. Mary’s Colgan looks prepared to defend the team’s reign of three straight state championships. The Panthers’ trio of Ava Scripsick, Daniell Yaghmour and Molly Swezey has consistently shot at 90 or below with season-lows in the high 70s. Yahgmour had the best outing with a 76 at the Wichita North Invitational.