One of the major reasons for the Girls’ Golf team’s success is senior Momo Kikuchi, a four year golf participant who has punched her ticket to state for each of those years. Kikuchi has had a long history with golf. She recalls, “I had my first tournament when I was seven, my parents played and got me into it at a very young age.” 

She has been playing tournaments just like this past sectionals as she attempts to keep her composure, and with the pressure on and the winter weather brewing, it was not an easy task. Momo’s swings were pure and the ball flew well most of the time. It was a cold morning and most of the girls were trying to warm up, but the cold took the life out of the ball on just about every swing. Her putting was a little off and her touch for beautiful finishes seemed to be fading, but any good golfer can thrive under pressure, and that’s exactly what Momo did. 

After a bit of an upset on the front 9, Momo came out strong on the back 9 sending her to state. A week later Momo was headed to State on a three and a half hour drive to Bolivar, Missouri. Kikuchi played two days of golf and ended up placing 14th in state shooting an 80 the first round and an 83 the second round, shooting a total of 163 for the two days. After the tournament, Coach Gross (Girls’ Varsity Golf Coach) stated, “She played great for the conditions. The winds were really strong and it made it hard to have a low score.” Momo’s career in golf is far from over and she hopes to get a scholarship with it. She explained, “I’ve talked about it with a few coaches but at this point I’m not sure.” Momo also placed 14th out of 90 in the lowest eighteen hole score at the state competition. Overall, Momo and her golfing career has only just begun, and we hope to continue to hear her name in news stories.