Short game in high school girls golf determines placement

Oregon's Addison Sabel chips onto the ninth green during the WIAA Division 1 state championship on Oct. 12, 2021, at University Ridge Golf Course.

Waunakee girls golf coach Paul Miller was struck by the level of calm confidence Izzi Stricker showed on each shot while winning the WIAA Division 1 state championship last year.

Stricker’s length off the tee combined with accurate approach shots, sharp iron work and steady putting won her the title — and those abilities again make her one of the state’s top high school golfers this season.

In a meet this season at Old Hickory Golf Club in Beaver Dam, the Warriors senior showed off her skill set with an eagle on her final hole — the par-5 No. 4.

After her drive, Stricker was in the center of the fairway, about 184 yards from the pin.

The ball was below her feet, which meant she needed to account for the ball potentially traveling right to left, Miller said.

Stricker, who’s verbally committed to University of Wisconsin women’s golf, hit a high-arcing shot that landed about 8 feet to the right of the pin, Miller said.

Waunakee’s Izzi Stricker putts on the 18th green during the second day of the WIAA state tournament last year at University Ridge Golf Course.

From there, the putting portion of her short game came into focus because Stricker didn’t want all of her work to unravel on the green. She sank the eagle putt for a nine-hole 33 and earned low score that day.

In the long and short of it, all of a player’s shot-making is significant. But just how important is the short game in high school girls golf?

How much does putting, chipping and hitting pitch shots and bunker shots matter?

“I would say what separates the top players in the state, those who are competing in the summer, is on and around the green, for sure,” Stricker said. “At this level, everyone is hitting it the same (length).”

Certainly for top-flight players that aspect of the game can be pivotal, with several strokes possibly determining a state champion.

“One hundred yards and in, this is where the scoring is at,” said Middleton coach Becky Halverson, whose team finished second in Division 1 at state last season. “If they can get dialed in on their short game, that brings them from a mid- to upper-70s player to a low-70s player. Just by getting that short game dialed in.”

Middleton’s Vivian Cressman hits the ball out of a sand trap on the ninth hole during the second day of last year's WIAA state tournament at University Ridge Golf Course.

But working on the short game also is important for younger players and newcomers to the sport.

“I would say getting off the tee and chipping and putting are the most important pieces of the game to work on when you are starting out,” Oregon coach Casey Johnson said. “However, putting is the easiest way to drop strokes for young players.”

Johnson said his team — which has joined Middleton and Waunakee as a top-10 state-ranked Division 1 team this season — spends 60% to 75% of practice time chipping and putting because “it’s that important.”

Oregon’s Drew Hoffer watches her putt on the ninth hole during the second day of the WIAA state girls golf tournament on Oct. 11, 2022 at University Ridge Golf Course in Madison.

Tim Chase, coach of the Beaver Dam/Wayland girls golf team, said his team spends practice time equally on driving (at the range), chipping and putting.

“When kids first start playing, they want to hit the driving range,” Chase said. “That’s what they want to do.

“But the truth is the way you are going to get better is your chipping and putting need to improve. It’s your game inside 100 yards. If you hit a bad shot and then can hit a good wedge and save par or save bogey even, it can be great.”

Those saves can be crucial.

Waunakee senior Georgia Volley discusses various topics, including her start in golf and favorite music to get ready for a tournament, during the 2023 season at a practice at the driving range at TPC Wisconsin.

Halverson said Middleton senior Vivian Cressman — who has verbally committed to the U.S. Naval Academy where she plans to play golf — might occasionally hit an errant shot but “she can recover better than anyone I’ve seen.”

Cressman, who credited Derek Schnarr for her primary golf instruction and development through the years, said she went to get short-game instruction from James Sieckmann in July in Omaha, Nebraska, and learned some different techniques.

“The small changes that I have made have really helped me improve,” said Cressman, who tied for fifth individually in Division 1 at last year’s state tournament.

Cressman said the part of the game that separates “the top 10 versus the leader of the tournament is the short game. Everybody that’s atop the leaderboard can hit it far and is pretty accurate. It really comes down to who can hit it close and, at the end of the day, who can make those putts, I feel like.”

Keep short game on poin

McKenna Nelson, a freshman at Beaver Dam High School who’s the top player in Chase’s lineup, said she’s had to adjust to high school competition after playing longer yardages during summer tournaments.

That has led her to practice even more on shots around the green and on her putting.

“In high school, you definitely have to have your short game and wedge game on point,” said the 14-year-old Nelson, who won the Wisconsin women’s state match play championship this past summer. “In the summer, I’m just so used to playing from 5,800 yards to almost 6,000 yards. That’s what I practice because it challenges me.

“Going down to playing almost 5,000 yards was crazy. I really didn’t know what to think about it at first. I didn’t know how to hit some shots because it was so short. I definitely think that your short game is very key. I have been working on that more than anything else because I know it’s so key in high school.”

Nelson has had an up-close view of that part of the game playing against Stricker this season.

“She has an amazing short game,” Nelson said.

Johnson said Oregon uses a threefold plan for improving putting with a goal of no three-putts.

“We work on 15-, 20-, 25-, 30-foot lag putts,” Johnson said. “If we’re good at 3-foot putts, we know we just need to hit it inside that 3-foot ring with our lag putts. We work on them from downhill, uphill and both sides.”

Johnson also said the golfers work on reading the greens for the green’s slope and how putts break.

They practice their chipping with the goal of hitting it inside the 3-foot ring, said Johnson, who described Panthers junior Delainey Halverson as “an amazing chipper and putter.”

Waunakee’s Izzi Stricker hits from the fairway on the 18th hole during the second day of the WIAA state girls golf tournament on Oct. 11, 2022…

Beginning golfers typically use the same club for chipping, such as a pitching wedge or 56-degree wedge, prior to adding more shots to their game, he said.

Oregon golfers work in practice on bunker shots at The Legend at Bergamont in Oregon.

“However, occasionally we play at courses like Pleasant View (Golf Course in Middleton), where there are some wall bunkers,” Johnson said. “In these cases, we review what the best options are (for) getting out and that includes hitting to the side out of the bunker or taking a one-stroke penalty to take two club lengths back from the wall. I’ve seen players blow up in one bunker and we want to take the easy path out to save a blow-up hole.”

Halverson said her team will use the par-3 course at Pleasant View and the short-game area, which is 25 yards to 75 yards, at Pleasant View for practice. The Cardinals’ golfers sometimes play various games, such as “Around the World,” to make the practice a competition.

Waunakee also includes competitive games during practice, which Miller said Stricker particularly enjoys.

Stricker said the Warriors work on the short game every day at practice.

Waunakee’s Jordan Shipshock hits from the fairway on the 18th hole during the second day of the WIAA state girls golf tournament on Oct. 11, 2022 at University Ridge Golf Course in Madison.

“Where you are going to save most of your strokes is getting yourself on the green from that distance — 100, 90, 80, 70, 60 yards into the green — and then putting,” said Miller, whose team finished fifth at state last year. “You will save yourself so many strokes.”

The hope is it will make a difference once the WIAA postseason begins with regionals Sept. 25-28.

“We’ve worked on a lot of our short game stuff,” said Waunakee senior Jordan Shipshock, who tied for 22nd at last year’s state meet. “That’s where strokes are lost or gained on the golf course. … I think that’s been a big help. Within the next few weeks, I hope that helps when we go into playoffs.”

Middleton players huddle around their coach Becky Halverson after finishing up on the 18th hole during the WIAA state girls golf tournament at University Ridge Golf Course in Madison, Wis., Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2022. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL

Waunakee’s Izzi Stricker hits from the fairway on the 18th hole during the second day of the WIAA state girls golf tournament at University Ridge Golf Course in Madison, Wis., Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2022. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL

Waunakee’s Izzi Stricker putts on the 18th green during the second day of the WIAA state girls golf tournament at University Ridge Golf Course in Madison, Wis., Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2022. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL

Waunakee’s Izzi Stricker tees off on the 9th hole during the second day of the WIAA state girls golf tournament at University Ridge Golf Course in Madison, Wis., Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2022. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL

Middleton’s Maddy Wilcox hits from the fairway on the 9th hole during the second day of the WIAA state girls golf tournament at University Ridge Golf Course in Madison, Wis., Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2022. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL

Middleton’s Amanda Beckman hits toward the green on the 9th hole during the second day of the WIAA state girls golf tournament at University Ridge Golf Course in Madison, Wis., Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2022. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL

Middleton’s Vivian Cressman hits from the fairway on the 9th hole during the second day of the WIAA state girls golf tournament at University Ridge Golf Course in Madison, Wis., Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2022. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL

Middleton’s Vivian Cressman hits the ball out of a sand trap on the 9th hole during the second day of the WIAA state girls golf tournament at University Ridge Golf Course in Madison, Wis., Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2022. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL

Waunakee’s Jordan Shipshock hits from the fairway on the 18th hole during the second day of the WIAA state girls golf tournament at University Ridge Golf Course in Madison, Wis., Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2022. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL

Edgewood’s Naomi Clayton watches her putt on the 9th green during the second day of the WIAA state girls golf tournament at University Ridge Golf Course in Madison, Wis., Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2022. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL

Waunakee’s Izzi Stricker hugs her dad, professional golfer Steve Stricker, after learning she took first place in the WIAA state girls golf tournament at University Ridge Golf Course in Madison, Wis., Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2022. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL

Waunakee’s Emma Gilding hits from the fairway on the 9th hole during the second day of the WIAA state girls golf tournament at University Ridge Golf Course in Madison, Wis., Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2022. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL

Oregon’s Drew Hoffer watches her putt on the 9th hole during the second day of the WIAA state girls golf tournament at University Ridge Golf Course in Madison, Wis., Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2022. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL

Reedsburg’s Ashleigh Johnson competes on the 9th hole during the second day of the WIAA state girls golf tournament at University Ridge Golf Course in Madison, Wis., Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2022. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL

Reedsburg’s Ashleigh Johnson putts on the 9th green during the second day of the WIAA state girls golf tournament at University Ridge Golf Course in Madison, Wis., Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2022. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL

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