Girls that play together, stay together

Published 12:00 pm Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Katie Saucier is ‘team mommy’ for a group that builds teamwork, friendship.

On most teams, the person who is named the captain is usually referred to as “the captain.”

For the Bainbridge girls golf team, the captain is usually referred to as the “team mommy” or the “mother hen.”

Katie Saucier even does it herself.

“Last year Rachel Frease was captain and she was definitely the ‘team mommy,’ so she would do the notes and snacks,” the senior said. “I thought I wasn’t going to enjoy doing that because I’m not exactly a ‘kid’ person, but after this year I feel like I’ve grown and matured into that role a lot.

“So I’ve stepped up to it and I’m definitely happy with that.”

Saucier’s embrace of matronhood has helped the girls golf team come together and perform exceptionally well on the course this season.

The girls took the regular season Metro title thanks to their dominant victory over Lakeside and Blanchet on Thursday.

The Spartans scored 163 points – their highest total this year – as Saucier shot her best score of the season, carding a three under par 34 that was good for 48 Stableford points.

Freshman Anna Borland and junior Melanie Trygg scored 39 points each, while sophomore Ryan Nottingham scored 36 and freshman Rebecca Sharar scored 24.

The win puts the Spartans at 19-0 with a total of 1,063 points on the season.

Saucier, Anna Bourland, Melanie Trygg, Ryan Nottingham, Sharar and Peyton Lunzer also qualified for the Metro League tournament.

The success of the team wasn’t set in stone coming into the season.

While Saucier and Trygg were the number one and two golfers coming into the season, head coach Steve Nielsen was a bit concerned about who would fill in behind her.

But when several turned out, including future varsity starters Borland and Sharar, the worry subsided.

“I was pleasantly surprised to have so many turn out,” he said. “They’ve come along really well, and the older players have a lot to do with that. But they’ve blended in really well. They pull for each other.”

It did take some time for the freshmen to get comfortable with Saucier, however.

“They think I’m so good that it intimidated them,” she said. “They hardly said anything. But when I first played with each of them (on the course) they said ‘You’re so nice!’ I was like, ‘well what were you expecting? I don’t bite, I promise!’”

Nielsen agreed.

“The freshmen were in awe of her,” he said. “Katie thought they didn’t like her, but they were just shy around her. They found out that she’s a good person.”

They soon felt right at home.

“I was really afraid of her,” Sharar said. “But she and everyone else were really nice. I was a little intimidated, but I got over it quickly.”

It’s hard to feel uncomfortable when Saucier, blessed with an easygoing personality and a bright laugh, brings snacks to matches – even offering goodies to opponents.

She also writes positive notes to the girls during away matches, and dubbed Lil’ Jon’s “Snap Your Fingers” the squad’s anthem, getting the rest of the team to sync it up on their iPods and dance to it when they’re in the car.

Saucier even takes time to give them golf lessons – not just on how to play the hole and figure out a shot, but the mental game of golf as well.

“They’re not afraid to ask, which is nice,” Saucier said. “Mentally, it’s tough to focus on the golf course for four or five hours.

“Mainly, I try to keep them from getting upset (when they make a bad shot) because they feel like they’re letting down the team. It’s just one shot at a time, and hopefully they’re getting that.”

Nielsen thinks they’re getting it just fine.

“I can truthfully say in my three years on the team that there are some days where I have to kick them off the course, because they wouldn’t go home,” he said. “Katie’s always been that way, but I’ve had other kids who like golf, but when it was 5 or 5:15 p.m., they’re anxious to get away.

“When it was warm in August I had a lot of the freshmen go, ‘Can I go another nine holes?’ That’s the way (Mercer Island) won the boys title last year. You just couldn’t get them to go away.”

Nielsen also said that all but one person has a junior membership at Meadowmeer or Wing Point.

Playing with Saucier has definitely helped, as she has been the medalist in all but two matches this season and won 11 medals in a row.

Nielsen said the key is her ability to remain even-tempered under any circumstance.

“She’s got a calm about her when she plays,” he said. “I’ve told several people that she’s improved my game just by watching her. I watch her and she just gets the ball back in play (after a bad shot) and gets it close enough and then makes a good shot and pulls out a par.

“She’s played an awful lot of golf and she has a temperament for it. She’s got an old head on her shoulders.”

The “old head” – “I definitely feel older this year,” Saucier said – is still coming up with different ways to display team solidarity.

She’ll have yellow ribbons for the rest of the girls for the Metro League tournament – a signature of hers in every tournament she plays in and back in preschool, having watched LPGA pro Kelly Keeney play with one in her hair.

After graduation, Saucier will move on to the University of Washington, but she’ll leave a strong foundation for the others to follow.

Nottingham said she wants to be like Saucier when she becomes a senior.

“Katie’s really brought us together,” she said. “I’m excited. It’s given me a lot of ideas on how I can treat the little ‘chicks’ out there.”

Saucier is glad she could give back.

“They’re getting better so fast,” she said. “They’re growing by leaps and bounds.”

She’s also happy she got to be in the team photo this year, as she missed the last two while being out at tournaments.

“I’m glad I got that,” she said. “I want (a memento of) my little babies.

Saucier laughed.

“My little chickadees and the mother hen,” she said.