It was inevitable Seymour’s Bridget Marshall was going to play golf.

Her father, her brother and her cousin all played, and it was almost a certainty that Marshall was going to tap into the sport. 

All of those years of competing with her family finally paid off this season as Marshall made state for the first time in her career. 

The honor helped secure her The Tribune’s 2019 Girls Golfer of the Year.

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It’s the second time she has earned the honor, joining her brother, Brady, who won The Tribune’s Boys Golfer of the Year in 2015 and 2016. 

"Having my older brother play golf when I was little, it kind of has just led me down this path," Marshall said. "Coming from a family that plays golf, having a cousin that plays golf, I was just always around golf."

This season, Marshall had a nine-hole average of 41 and an 18-hole average of 82, both team bests. In addition to qualifying for state, she was third in the Hoosier Hills Conference, first-team all-conference, fourth overall at sectional and was a medalist four times at dual matches this year.

She also was named to the Indiana High School Golf Coaches Association’s academic all-state honorable mention team. 

When Marshall looks back on her senior campaign, she points to several things she’ll remember about the season, but making state will always be at the top of the list.

Part of the postseason grind that doesn’t get mentioned as much is the wait to see if they’ve advanced after they’ve wrapped up 18 holes, especially at the regional level.

At Country Oaks earlier this year, Marshall had to play the waiting game before she knew she was moving on to state. It was a stressful, nerve-racking time for the senior, who was waiting for another team to finish its round before she could finish doing the math in her head to see if she had made it.

"There was one other team that we were waiting on to see if they would make it out or if another team would, and depending on how their players did, it factored into whether I would make it or if their players would make it," Marshall explained. "It was one of the times where I was really nervous waiting."

By her own admission, it could have been a less stressful wait if she had made a putt on the final hole.

"Instead, I missed, and I was kind of nervous about that," she said. "But it was kind of exciting making it and a good feeling."

Besides immediate family and friends, and obviously herself, there were few people more proud of Marshall’s state accomplishment than coach Jim Hoffman.

Hoffman, who is just in his second year at the helm of the girls program, knew about Marshall through her older brother and her cousin. On the surface, he just knew her as a person long before he ever saw her pick up a club. 

There have been some ups and downs during their two-year stint together, as both would admit, but the respect for one another never wavered, and the willingness to learn from one another was key to Marshall’s success.

"She’s a very fierce competitor, highly competitive and a hard worker," Hoffman said of his first impressions of Marshall. "She works really hard, and that’s what it takes. It’s a self-motivating game because you’re not coming out here with 20 of your friends out here. You’re coming out here by yourself, and she has done an outstanding job of getting better.

"She listens really well, she took my advice, we understood where each other was coming from and it was great watching the strides she has made these last two years," he concluded.

Moving immediately forward, Marshall will return her focus to FFA and training her dogs for 4-H.

Looking back over the last four years, Marshall said she’ll never forget the friends she has made from other teams and the relationships she has built over her career. Coming off the heels of making state, she hopes next year’s team, which stands to be full of underclassmen, realizes that a lot can come from hard work and dedication. 

"I hope now they realize how hard people work and how the work they put in, there’s something to get out of it," she said. "It’s just that they’re practicing. They can get something out of it."

Hoffman agrees.

"I hope it builds enthusiasm for the program," he said. "If they could all experience that like we did, it’s such an outstanding accomplishment to be one of the top 95 girls golfers in the state."

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2019 Jackson County Girls Golfer of the Year

Bridget Marshall, Seymour High School, senior

Accolades: All-Hoosier Hills Conference, state qualifier, led Seymour in 9- and 18-hole averages, four medalist finishes, academic all-state honorable mention

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Laken Waskom, Seymour, senior

Accolades: First team academic all-state, four-time dual match medalist, Hoosier Hills Conference honorable mention, Seymour mental attitude award winner

Ashlyn Fox, Brownstown Central, junior

Accolades: First team Mid-Southern Conference, Brownstown Central most valuable player

Payton Ault, Brownstown Central, sophomore

Accolades: First team Mid-Southern Conference, Brownstown Central mental attitude award winner

Lexi Satterthwaite, Brownstown Central, sophomore

Accolades: First team Mid-Southern Conference

Lainey Jackson, Seymour, freshman

Accolades: Freshman varsity letter winner, regional qualifier

Phoebe Skidmore, Seymour, freshman

Accolades: Freshman varsity letter winner, regional qualifier 

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