Kinser stepping into new role

The nerves are still there to some extent, but Munster senior Sarah Kinser has learned to harness them.

Kinser is filling the shoes of departed Mustangs’ No.1 player Kamryn Klawitter this season and doing so admirably. Her secret — aside from lots of practice in the past year — is learning how to better deal with pressure on the course.

“I’ve just tried to concentrate less on the nerves,” said Kinser, Munster’s lone senior who scores on a young-and-talented team that’s 6-2 overall and 4-0 in the Northwest Crossroads Conference. “From my freshman year to my junior year, I was really nervous. I didn’t want my coach watching me and didn’t want other people to know how I was playing. Now, it’s just ... each hole is a new hole. I’ve grown up mentally. I’ve just tried to make it so that (nerves) aren’t as important anymore.”

The Mustangs and coach Bill Smitka are enjoying the result.

Instead of wilting under the pressure to replace Klawitter, Kinser is thriving.

She’s become a solid contributor in every meet and hopes to keep it going in the second half of the season. In just a year’s time, her confidence has gone up while her average score for nine holes (42.3) has dropped by roughly three shots.

After last season, she and other Munster players sought the help of Purdue Calumet coach and instructor Matt Meneghetti — which appears to be paying off.

“She’s worked really hard at it,” Smitka said. “She’s not the biggest girl, but she hits the ball really well. She’s improved her short game and got an instructor, and she’s spent a lot of time working with him.”

How much better has she Kinser gotten?

“She has a legitimate shot at qualifying for the state tournament,” said Smitka, who attributes significant increases in both confidence and leadership for the improvement.

Showing leadership, Kinser routinely rounded up the girls on Munster’s team for summer practice rounds or clinics — not to mention the individual work she put in this summer, even during vacations to southern California and Ireland.

“She’s been kind of the ring leader,” Smitka said. “When it comes right down to it, golf is an individual sport. You don’t have to concern yourself with others, but she has. Sarah has really taken it upon herself to be the team leader.”

She also leads by example, which is where the confidence boost really comes into play.

Smitka pointed to a recent outing against Hobart as evidence. It was a nine-hole conference match and Kinser got off to poor start on a course that shouldn’t have given her many problems.

She carded a seven on the first hole and six on the next for 13 shots before striding to the third tee box. It could’ve been the start to a disastrous outing, but turned out to be a solid 46.

“That takes a special kind of kid to get off to that kind of start and then go 1-under for the next seven holes,” Smitka said. “She’s just really matured. If she gets off to a slow start now, it’s not the end of the world.”

According to Kinser, that’s just what the team leader is supposed to do.

“I like being more of a leader,” said Kinser, who was top medalist of the NCC tournament last season and has plans to repeat this year.  “I also like playing with other girls who are No.1s. Some of them have been playing No.1 for two or three years, but I didn’t worry about it. I just had to suck it up, get over the nerves and try to stay with them.”

So far, so good.

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