It hasn't happened for a Yorkton Regional High School female student in close to five years.
But two weeks ago, it happened to young Jennifer Hudye.
The multi-talented and intelligent multi-sport athlete at the YRHS unofficially became the first female golfer to represent the YRHS at the provincial golf championship. Lucky for the golf coaching staff, the 17-year-old seems to like golf enough to skip a volleyball tournament in order to play in the provincials.
She made the trip to Humboldt recently where she did not play too badly at all, says her coach Doug Ingham, especially considering that the weather was not much in her favour or in anyone else's."I think she really enjoyed herself out there," insists Ingham.
The wide-eyed, Gr. 12 student was enthusiastic about the experience, and as optimistic about her golf future as her hair is blonde.
In Humboldt, Hudye was the lone YRHS student and found herself in competition with 135 other athletes from Nipawin, Glaslyn, Moosomin, Biggar, Coronach, Swift Current, Whitewood and Estevan to name a few.
"It's lots of fun," she says during a short interview with the paper.
She said she was a little intimidated but got over the nerves quite quickly.
"It was good. It's not as competitive as a team sport."
Hudye qualified for the provincials at the districts tournament where she finished by one stroke over Sacred Heart rival, Kylie Chupa.
Hudye finished that event with 121, Chupa was in at 122. Abbey Ziola of Melville Comprehensive came in third with 126.
Hudye seemed content with the win, as most athletes would be, but was very clear that her numbers from districts was not a very good picture of how good she believes her game really is.
"That's not my best score at all," she said, looking like she was about to break out laughing in disgust."I'm not used to playing that competition," she added.
The districts were held in Yorkton at Deer Park, and Hudye said she was new to the course."I hoped for the best," she said smiling.
When the provincials rolled around, she seemed happy just to have been there; she got more out of the experience just by being there and not so much by the actual golf.
She said it was harder than she thought, and was very up front about just how hard it got especially in the early-going.
"Ah yes," she said while smiling like she was doing a commercial for toothpaste relaxed completely. "Especially on the first day... it's a lot more competitive."
She said she set a goal for herself on day two and she met it; she wanted to cut down her day-one score by 10 strokes.
She said the first day was cold and the winds picked up on day two.
"It's definitely a challenge."
With the golf season now in the books, she says she's looking forward to the opportunity to continue with golf on some level, maybe even in university.
"I think so! Absolutely."
She's got her academic future somewhat nailed down too, hoping to one day become a student at the University of Phoenix.
