By Ken Hansard

Violet Haut, a freshman golfer for the Webb City Cardinals, appears to be a bit of an old soul – wise beyond her years. Even though she has only played the game for a few years, Violet has already learned a lesson that even seasoned pros take years to discern, “I worked hard on maintaining a good, positive attitude. With such a frustrating game like golf, sometimes it’s hard to keep emotions in check.”

That growth and maturity has shown in Haut’s game and in her scores.   Entering her first season of high school play, Violet set some very humble and realistic goals, “Going into the season, I looked forward to meeting my teammates. I was also excited about meeting golfers from other schools at tournaments.  It was nice to meet others who are also interested in golf, since not many girls play.  Golf is considered an individual sport, and I went into my first year just hoping I could contribute to the team as best I could.  As far as what I wanted to accomplish, I just wanted to play well and get to state.”

Haut was able to achieve that goal and more.  She finished in second place, a season-best, at the Nevada tournament, where she also shot a personal best score of 90.  She followed that up by shooting a 93 at districts.  Then, she tied her season best, shooting a 90 the first day at state.  That score, combined with her second day score of 100, was good enough to qualify her for the state tournament, where she recorded a solid finish in the top 50.  Additionally, because of her accomplishments, at one point in the season, Violet was featured as athlete of the week by the Joplin Sports Hub.

Violet got her start when her father, an avid lifetime golfer, put a set of clubs in her hands at a young age, “My dad bought me my first set of clubs, and I have played ever since. It’s a sport that isn’t very popular with my age group or with girls. I am very proud that I get to play with other players that enjoy the sport as much as I do.”

Haut realizes that golf is a tough sport to master, but she is willing to put in the work, and she expects even more from herself next year.  “Last summer my main focus was to concentrate on small things like working on my long game and short game, so I could start to break into the 90’s. This offseason, I want to continue to work on my game and hope to put up scores in the 80’s.  I also hope to go back to state and do better than I did this year.  Long term, I just want to get good grades, finish high school, and hopefully someday play golf collegiately.”