While it’s true that you need hard work, determination and perseverance to succeed, Madison Spiess might argue that the secret ingredient to success is having fun.
“I’ve definitely gone through phases where I’ve needed more practice, but I’ve always been the most successful at (golf) when I’m having fun,” she says.
Being one of only 29 female golfers in the nation to have received the 2020 American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) Scholastic Junior All-American Award, Spiess says it was the constant support from family and friends that helped her get this far.
Having first started playing golf at age 4, Spiess is now a senior at New Albany High School. The award, which recognizes junior golfers who have excellent academic and athletic records, was particularly special in a year when, due to the pandemic, Spiess was unable to compete as much as in a typical year.
Spiess first started playing golf with her dad and brother. As she became more and more skilled, however, her parents emphasized the importance of having fun, rather than taking home wins. It was that lesson which inspired her love and eventual success.
“I love going out to practice with my dad most nights,” says Spiess. “With him I always get to unwind and play for fun, which is really nice.”
During rough patches with the game and other challenging times, Spiess says that her teammates motivated her to keep going.
“With a sport like golf, you could be in the middle of a really good round, but then one hole can suddenly ruin everything, and that happened to me a few times this season,” she says. “What prevented me from getting demotivated was stopping to think about my teammates, because to us, every shot mattered.”
Spiess says that golf is tough, and she had to make it through multiple bad rounds before succeeding. However, the tough times made her practice harder and appreciate her success more. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, it affected her game a great deal.
“The whole recruitment and committing process was altered for me because of COVID, and we’re still in the dead period for college coaches,” she says. “I felt like there was a lot of pressure on the system which really sped up the whole process, but it also made me appreciate the tournaments in general, because I couldn’t play in those AJGA tournaments for a while, so I missed competing and being around my friends.”
Aside from her AJGA Scholastic Junior All-American Award, Spiess finished the 2020 AJGA Dana Open in Sylvania with scores of 71, 74, 72 for a top 10 finish of sixth place and the AJGA Coca-Cola Junior Open at the Boyne Highlands Golf Club in Michigan with scores of 76, 78, 79 for another top 10 finish.
Plus, Spiess was able to compete in a lot of local tournaments and, always proud to do her best for the NA Eagles, Spiess is a 2020 Division I State Champion with scores of 71 and 70, and led her team to win the State Championship, making the Eagles three-time Ohio High School Athletic Association State Champions in 2018, 2019 and 2020.
All Star Athlete
In addition to playing golf, Spiess was the team captain for the New Albany High School tennis team and qualified for districts this fall in singles tennis.
“She was also a three-year varsity letter winner in tennis and played both tennis and golf during the same fall season,” says Catherine Spiess, Spiess’ mom. “On several occasions she played 18 holes of golf in the morning and then played a tennis match for her team that same afternoon.”
“My team supports me so much. It’s honestly my favorite part of the sport,” adds Spiess. “Both my teams – golf and tennis – play in the same fall season. They’ve always been there for me and so have both of my coaches.”
Following her love for the sport, Spiess is committed to Santa Clara University in California to play golf this fall, where you can bet she’ll continue to succeed in the sport while having fun every step of the way.
Sanaya Attari is an editorial assistant. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.
