Bowling Green girls golf coach Paige Bulkeley likes to think out of the box, and she has found unique ways to combine golf and other activities.
“One of our unique practices started about nine years ago, includes ‘Driveway Yoga and Meditation’ Fridays,” Bulkeley said.
“Many teams don’t practice on Fridays, and I thought in lieu of a traditional practice, we would come together in my driveway and introduce to them yoga and meditation.
“This practice allows us to work on flexibility, balance, strength, quieting the mind and breathing, all of which are key in the game of golf. This also offers a great way to decompress after an intense week of golf, discuss our week and what’s coming up next week.”
It must be working. BG senior golfer Lily Pollick is off to a solid start, earning second team at Van Buren’s Black Knight Invitational at Fostoria Country Club.
Pollick shot a 91 and she was joined by teammates Brynn Wilhelm (104), Sophie Fruth (109) and Deanna Burt (115) as the Bobcats finished eight out of 14 teams.
Host Van Buren (350), won the tournament, followed by Hopewell-Loudon (373), Fremont St. Joseph (395), Findlay (397), Napoleon (398), Bellevue (409), Sandusky Perkins (409) and BG (419).
Trailing the Bobcats were Norwalk (422), Ayersville (437), Old Fort (442), Woodmore (444), Clyde (481) and Sandusky St. Mary (502).
Bulkeley, in her 15th season, says the tournament was part of a busy week that includes two 18-hole invitationals and two matches for her girls.
However, Bulkeley has been the architect of the program all along and does not mind.
“I started this team in 2009, when my oldest daughter was a freshman in high school and I found out no golf team existed,” Bulkeley said.
“I grew up playing golf my entire life, going to state my senior year, and I wanted the same for my three daughters. This will be my sixth year without one or two of my daughters on the team.”
Bulkeley was voted district coach of the year in 2017 and her BG team won a Northern Lakes League championship in 2019. Last year’s team was 2-5 in the NLL, so Bulkeley says there is “much to improve on.”
This year’s BG team consists of only five players, but all are returning letter winners. They include Pollick and Wilhelm, another senior. Fruth, Burt and Annie Urban are juniors.
Pollick has been playing the team’s No. 1 position since her sophomore year, and she was first team All-NLL in 2021 and 2022 and second team in 2020.
Last year, the Bobcats finished fourth of eight teams at their own Bobcat Invite with Pollick finishing fifth overall, and fifth of 11 teams at the Defiance Invite with Pollick finishing sixth overall.
This year, golfing with Toledo Whitmer at Bedford Hills in Michigan, the Bobcats won 198-234 on August 10, tying their lowest score from last season.
Pollick shot 42 followed by Fruth (48), Urban (52), Wilhelm (56) and Burt (56). Bulkeley is hoping for more of the same.
“Our focus this year is positivity, visualizing and manifesting good, mindful shots and attitudes,” Bulkeley said.
“I believe our strengths are practicing grace, integrity, kindness, humility and happiness. Because of our smaller team, we are an even closer, tighter team, which allows for more trust and cohesiveness.
“The one weakness I would say we possess is confidence and believing in themselves, although that continues to rise with each match and tournament and seeing what is actually acquirable.
“I have seen huge improvements with each of the girls, each in different areas. The expanded NLL, I believe, offers more opportunity to compete and succeed.”
