By ALLYSON COOK
Sports Reporter

(WARRENSBURG, Mo., digitalBURG) — Olivia Sobaski captured the first individual title for Jennies golf and was named MIAA player of the week two weeks in a row all in her first semester of college.

“That was a great honor, but I’m going to keep doing the same thing, practice every day, work hard and give it my best,” Sobaski said.

Sobaski’s hard work has shown in just the few weeks she’s been competing as a Jennie. She tied for first at the MIAA Fall Preview that was held at Mules National Golf Club Sept. 26, shooting a pair of 72s and finishing two-over par. She then shot a final round of 79, seven-over par at the Bearcat Fall Classic Oct. 10, coming in eight-over par for the tournament and tying for a team-high fifth place.

“As a team I think it’s really important that we build off of each other and work together,” Sobaski said. “Even though you’re out there playing by yourself, building each other up just helps create a good environment and I think by doing that we’re going to become even better.”

Sobaski may have just started her golf career here at Central, but the Sedalia, Missouri, native has been around the game for most of her life.

She follows in her father’s footsteps, who also played in high school and college. Sobaski said her father has been taking her golfing since she was a little girl. She got involved with the Sedalia Country Club junior golf league around the age of 10.

“I would take lessons from the pros there and we would have a little tournament at the end and I thought that was just so much fun that we just started building on that,” Sobaski said.

Sobaski describes herself as being very competitive. She said competitiveness is a positive trait that can turn negative if you’re not careful.

“You don’t want to overdo it,” Sobaski said. “But I am very competitive and like to win. There is definitely more competitive sense within the team, but if we use that in the right way to build each other up and keep our momentum it’s going to be a really good, positive thing.”

Sobaski holds the lowest team average at 76.5 for the season. She said at fall practices coaches could only spend so many hours with players so time is mostly spent on their own.

Sobaski said her weakest aspect is her chipping, but it has gotten better since she’s been at college and practicing every day.

“After each round I address my weaknesses from the round and where my scoring went wrong,” Sobaski said. “And then I re-evaluate my practice schedule based on that.”

Sobaski said golf is 90 percent mental and only 10 percent physical. She said her worst days are when she is indecisive with her shots.

“My best days are when I can trust (my shot) and I have decided what shot I’m going to hit and I need to trust it over the ball,” Sobaski said. “So if I can’t convince myself I can do it then I can’t convince anyone else with my score.”

Sobaski isn’t satisfied resting on her laurels. She said the main goal for her college career is to help her team qualify for the national championship for the first time.

“(The individual title) is the first of many great things this program is going to have,” she said. “It’s on the rise and we’re definitely going in great directions.”

Sobaski said her focus is to just keep golfing to the best to her ability and take this journey day by day.

“As long as I’m doing my best and trying my hardest I’m just going to let my game take me where it leads me,” she said.