On September 15, 2025, one of their last matches before heading into the Pocket Athletic Conference tournament, the Gibson Southern girls golf team matched up with North Posey, with both teams having their senior night and recognizing the seniors from both teams.
This was not an average match, a little more unusual than all the others from the season.
“Monday’s match was different from any other match of the season, and I think a large part of that was because the girls weren’t able to warm up on the range before,” said Gibson Southern’s varsity girls golf coach Kristen Harpenau.
Construction at Cambridge Golf Course was what kept the girls from hitting the driving range before the match.
Because of not being able to warm up before, this got into the girls’ heads a little, and they did not perform like they usually do with higher scores than usual.
“Golf is a hugely mental game, and this put a lot of doubt in their heads and lowered their confidence throughout the round,” Harpenau said.
There were even more challenges than just not being able to practice beforehand, as it was one of the hottest matches they had to play all year, yet they were still able to compete. These two factors made it one of the hardest matches of the entire season.
“We played in the upper 90s before, and the practice has been hot as well, so the team was kind of used to the heat,” junior Audrey Spindler said.
The team was not ready to give up just because of these challenges, and still fought through and stayed mentally locked in by using different tactics.
“I like to do box breathing whenever I start to think too much,” senior Olivia Alston said.
Along with the unusual aspects of the match, the final scores from North Posey were never shared with the Titans, so it is unknown which team actually won the match.
Gibson Southern has a relatively young team this year, and Alston has been the number one player and the leader of the team, showing the younger players what to do and how to prepare for a round to play better as a team.
“Olivia is the heart and strength of the team,” Harpenau said.
Alston also just shot a 97 at the Sectional while finishing second to qualify for the Regional.
