Tomah Golf keeps raising expectations with third-straight State trip

Tomah girls golf continues to be a powerhouse in our area, and they’re once again sending the whole team to State for a program-record third consecutive year.

This year’s top five features senior Sophie Pokela and juniors Amelia Zingler, Brin Neumann, Madeline Ewers, and Peyton Foster.

They’ve been climbing since 2019: that year they finished seventh at State with Neumann and Pokela finishing in the top 30 individuals. Last fall, Tomah took fifth as a group with Neumann tying for sixth individually and Pokela tying for ninth.

But this year has just been another level, because for the first time they took first in conference, regionals and sectional meets. So this year, getting back to State isn’t just a goal: it’s an expectation.

“Our season doesn’t start in the fall. It starts in the spring,” said Zingler. “We practice all throughout the spring and summer, we play in summer tournaments.”

“Those two years [at State] were like for the experience. We wanted to place well, but this year we realize we are as good as a lot of those [Division 1 Madison-area] teams. I think it does have a lot to do with confidence.”

“We’re always there for each other on the course,” said Neumann. “I’m not even worried if I have a bad hole, because I know my team’s there to pick me up. The energy we carry, the team bonding, that just happens during the season, just makes us such an unbeatable team.”

The trust in each other is something they lean on each match, and it’s also helped them handle that expectation, because while they might make it seem easy, reaching State 3 years running is anything but.

“It’s a lot of pressure going into that third year, thinking, hey, now people have seen us, they know our skill level,” Neumann said. “And we’ve just been being it all season. We’ve been conference champs, regionals champs, and we just knew we had to go for that third sectional champ in a row. I just think all that work, especially that the top three put in all summer, made us so prepared for the season that I think we all have that confidence going in–we’ve got this in the bag.”

Day 1 of the State meet is Monday in Madison.

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