Heartland Freshman Paige Mestl is the HeartlandBeat student of the month nominated by Coach Jon Baehr. It’s not often that an individual golfer, let alone a freshman, qualifies to play in the Class C State Golf Tournament. Paige was on pins and needles after competing at districts a few weeks ago in windy conditions making it a challenging day for golf in Central City. “I was pretty nervous waiting to find out if I made the cut-off,†said Mestl.
“I’ve been playing golf for as long as I can remember,†said Mestl. She credits her father with teaching her how to golf and making sure she was no stranger to tournament play. “I’ve played in several NJGT (Nebraska Junior Golf Tournament) events the past two summers so I feel comfortable in competition,†said Mestl. Her parents are Jim and Gina Mestl and she has grown up in Henderson golfing at Galaway Creek Golf Course.
Coach Baehr attributes Paige’s success to not only her skill level but the positive attitude she brought everyday to practice and at tournaments. “What I really appreciated about Paige was that she was always willing to try new things in her golf game to get better,†said Baehr.
During districts and state competition Coach Baehr said that Paige “really handled the pressure well as a whole remembering to take a deep breath when she was having trouble.†He said that her experience at State helped her realize that she was good enough to be in contention with the top players.
There also were some tough weeks during the season for Paige when the team missed as many as three days of class. She said it was difficult but the flexibility of Heartland teachers really helped her manage her studies and golf schedule.
Coach Baehr said that Paige improved throughout the season and it was no surprise that her hard work landed her 20th place in a field of nearly 100 golfers at the Class C State Girls Golf in Columbus at Quail Run Golf Course. Next year Paige has set her goal to not only make it to State but to place. She was four strokes off of doing that this year and with her work ethic and attitude that should be no problem. Congratulations to Paige for being the HeartlandBeat student of the month!
