The 2023-24 Girls Golf Team. Coach Sam Beckman pictured middle. Photo courtesy of Zofia Olszewski and VIP Photos.

After a very successful ten-year career with former Head Girls’ Golf Coach Steve Johnson, a new face has been added to the program. 

The Girls’ Golf team owes a lot of their success this season to their new head coach, Sam Beckman. Beckman helped the team hit many milestones in their season, including an early season quad victory and helping the players break personal records. 

This year, the intensity of the program was brought to a new level. Rather than practicing four days a week, the team was required to practice six days a week. This included Saturday practices, where the girls used new technology such as swing sticks, weights, and other techniques to improve their game. 

“Comparing this year to previous years, it’s a big change. The new equipment and technology has been really great especially for the newer players on the team,” said sophomore Evelyn Marshall. 

The girls season started off very successful, taking first place at the Warren Quad Invite, third at the Lake County Invite, and second at the Libertyville invite. From the beginning, the season looked bright for the athletes. 

Beckman was the backbone of all this victory, bringing his experience and knowledge every day to practice. 

“He has already made some big improvements in the way we practice and how to prepare for matches,”  said junior Carys Kelly, “We can already see how much he cares about this program and growing it to its full potential.” 

The girls describe the team environment as “fun, but competitive.” With only six girls playing in a match, it got competitive because of the eight girls rostered on varsity. 

Even with a competitive atmosphere, the girls have made sure to have fun as a team aside from their serious practices. The girls had many team bonding activities through their team dinners and volunteer events. 

“The team itself has such a strong bond. Everyone is so supportive of one another and we all make sure to bring a positive attitude every day to practice. We all want to succeed and help each other do so,” said sophomore Sophia Maffioli

Beckman wants every player to understand the game. “The game is chess, not checkers. To play golf is to understand the strategy and what’s laid out in front of you, and what you do with that,” said Beckman.  

Even after a disappointing run at Regionals this year, the future of this program looks very bright. Beckman is planning on creating a feeder program for girls golf and continuing to build on the success of the season during the off season. 

“For the future, I would really love to see more girls coming out and trying out for the team. It would be great to see the program expand and become more competitive,” said Beckman.