Accuracy, Short Game Helping Redovich Become Top Area Golfer

By Jeff Steers
JTV Sports

(September 12, 2021 8:00 AM) Western High School golfer Sydnie Redovich has discovered that hitting a golf ball in the fairway and being good from 100 yards and in are the most important aspects of golf.

And her recent accomplishments have proved those two theories.

The WHS senior recently broke both of the school records for lowest nine-hole score with a 34 and lowest 18-hole score tallying a 75.

Both records were previously held by Alexa Marston. 

Redovich has come a long way in the last four years in the game of golf. She birdied a hole by herself when playing a “short course” with her parents on vacation.

“I was scrambling with my mom and birdied a hole by myself,” Redovich said. “My dad said I should try playing golf in high school.”

Redovich did and shot 126 in her first 18-hole tournament for Western as a freshman. More than three years – and 51 strokes later – Redovich is the top scorer in the Interstate-8 Conference after two jamborees.

Her game has progressed over the summer due to a change in practice habits.

“I used to just hit balls every day,” Redovich said. “Eventually I figured out that I don’t need to hit the golf ball as far … just be accurate.

“I have also worked on shots 100-yards and in.”

It appears to be paying off as Redovich shot a 2-under-par round at the Legacy of Hastings, setting a new school record in the process.

“I knew I was 1-under-par and just wanted to at least tie the record,” Redovich said. “My second shot nearly went in the hole, and I made an 8-foot putt for birdie.”

She set the school record with a 75 at the Panther Invitational earlier in the season – an 18-hole event.

Redovich played both volleyball and golf the first two years of high school. But later in her freshman year, she started working with Tom Kang of Forest Akers Golf Course.

She didn’t discover her love for the game until her junior year.

“That is when I decided I really wanted to concentrate on golf,” Redovich said. “I put a lot of pressure on myself to play better.

“It is good for me to put pressure on myself.”

Redovich said she didn’t have any outside pressure from coaches, parents, or other players … and that was a good thing. She qualified for the Michigan High School Athletic Association Division 3 state golf finals last fall with an 88.

She hopes to get the Panthers to the state golf finals as a team and place in the top 10. Western is currently tied with Coldwater and Lumen Christi high schools after the first two I-8 jamborees. 

“Tom Kang has helped me with my confidence on the golf course,” Redovich said. “Golf is such a mental game. 

“When you have a bad hole, get that score out of the way and move on.”

Redovich has signed to play golf at Spring Arbor University next fall. She expects to graduate from WHS with a grade point average of nearly 3.9 on a 4.0 scale. 

The senior has learned a lot of valuable lessons through playing golf.

“Golf teaches you a lot about being honest,” Redovich said. “You can learn a lot about a person by playing golf with them.

“It also teaches you perseverance as the game can really get you down sometimes.”

Right now, the WHS golfer is on an upswing.