Excellence was par for the course for Summit standout Eisenreich
Moments after crushing the field at the Missouri Class 2 sectional girls golf tournament, Lindsey Eisenreich was on the Aberdeen Golf Course putting green.
"She shot a 71, and she's out there putting since she got off the golf course," marveled Ursuline coach Bridget Gilbert, who used that moment as a teaching tool for her team. "I said to the girls, 'OK, that's the difference right there.'"
It's that kind of work ethic that produced amazing results for Eisenreich. The Summit senior shot either 1-under par or 1-over par at the conference, district, sectional and state tournaments. And she won each of those events by at least 8 strokes.
That showing earns Eisenreich notice as the Post-Dispatch All-Metro golfer of the year.
"I feel great about everything I've done in high school golf," Eisenreich said. "(Winning state) was a good ending point. It gives me a lot of confidence. I'm looking forward to college golf."
Eisenreich will play at Missouri State. She heads there on the heels of one of the better seasons by an area player in recent memory.
"It was just an awesome season," Summit coach Corey Choate said. "She had put a lot of pressure on herself coming into (the state tournament), and we tried to downplay it as much as possible and just focus on the golf. I know it meant a lot to her, so to see her play her best golf was really fun."
Eisenreich's postseason run began with a 10-stroke victory at the Suburban South Conference meet, continued with an 11-stroke win at the district tournament and stretched into a 10-stroke victory at the sectional.
"I try to stay calm because I've had a lot of experience with golf," she said. "I've played since I was 6, so I just try to maintain my composure throughout the course."
The magical run came to a successful conclusion at the state tournament at Sedalia Country Club.
Eisenreich came out blazing on Day 1, when she was 1-under par through six holes, but rains washed out the opening round.
Undaunted, Eisenreich did the same thing on Day 2. The leader board was filling up with scores in the 80s until Eisenreich turned in her card. Her 72 caused many a jaw drop.
"I played awesome considering the pressure and the weather and all the extra factors that went into only playing one day," she said. "I felt like I couldn't even miss a fairway. I was hitting them pretty straight. It's about time. It was a really cool experience. I almost don't have words."
Even though Eisenreich is headed to Springfield next year, Eisenreich's coach said her impact on the program will linger.
"She's impossible to replace," Choate said. "She's a great kid, too. The girls on my team absolutely love her.
"She's in a position where she's so much better than the rest of our team that it could easily be Lindsey and then the rest of the team. But it's not like that at all," he said. "She is a really good kid, and the other girls respond to that. We're gonna miss her a lot for many reasons other than just the scores she shoots."
