The Goucher Women’s Golf team started this month with a first-place win at Stevenson on October 2nd. The Gophers were led by fellow seniors: Isa Schenk ’26 and Keeli Satterfield ’26, Schenk with a score of 85 and Satterfield with a score of 95. The ladies started the season early, on September 13th, just down the road in Lutherville at the Pride of Maryland Invitational.
(Above: Goucher Women’s Golf team. Isa Schenk ‘26 is in the middle, and Keeli Satterfield ‘26 furthest to the right. Image Source: Goucher Golf via Instagram)
Reflecting on the season, Isa Schenk said her proudest game this season was this past weekend at the Landmark Conference Championship in Delaware, Pennsylvania. Schenk said, “After the first round, I did not have the best round.” Schenk was really proud of how she handled the last round and of getting back up after the previous one. She remained positive throughout.
Keeli Satterfield’s proudest game this season was the first tournament at the Pride of Maryland on September 13. Satterfield explained “it had been over a year for both [her and Schenk] since we played collegiate golf.” By not playing in over a year, Satterfield said, she was “not… used to the pressure.”
Looking back at the most recent tournament, the Landmark Conference Championship, Schenk’s main takeaway was consistency: “This tournament really helped me in having the same meters of putting everything, so you know how fast you have to hit it.”
Both players emphasized that mental resilience is essential in golf. Satterfield tells herself that she “is playing 18 holes and it’s not the end of the world. Golf is very mentally taxing. It’s a lot to be playing the same thing for over 4 hours.”
In terms of getting ready for a tournament, both golfers have different routines that they do for every tournament that they play this season. Isa Schenk mentioned that she is more of a silent type: “I have to get into my hyperfocus, so I tend to listen to music. I have songs that I will play in my head during a tournament, so I’m kind of distracting myself with things that are not hard to think about.” Schenk, who is from the Netherlands, said that most of the music she plays is Dutch music.
Like many athletes, Schenk has a few pre-game rituals. For example, she likes to wear the same thing every time: same socks, same earrings, same necklace, and same hairstyle. Schenk says that she “like[s] to have it in a certain way.” The routine helps keep her focus on the game. She also mentioned that she “always wear[s] my necklace with my grandfather,” because she believes it will give her luck.
Keeli Satterfield has her own ritual of warming up, which is different from Isa’s routines. Satterfield “use[s] an orange whip to warm up my swing”. The orange whip is a golf training tool that, according to their website, can help “coordinate your upper and lower body to develop a consistent, powerful golf swing. Satterfield emphasizes that she has never started a round without spending some time using the orange whip.
Both golfers also agree that confidence is key to practice. Satterfield says, “We hit until we’re confident. There’s no structured number of how many times we hit it. It isn’t until we’re confident.” Schenk says that “having confidence in yourself and every time you swing, being like ‘okay, I can do this. I know what my numbers are. I know I can hit this close.’ is very important.”
Both golfers touched upon individual focus and team support in their interviews. Schenk said, “Golf is an individual sport… [M]ost of the time you don’t have someone to help you out because we only have one coach and are a co-team.” Satterfield says, “Sometimes you’re in the harder rough than your practice beforehand.” To succeed, a golfer has to “be flexible enough to be able to pull the shot off without having practiced it.” According to Schenk, “We basically have to be our own coach.”
Despite golf being an individual sport, both golfers emphasize the value of teamwork. In her interview, Satterfield had a lot to say on that topic: “[Y]ou’re playing with them as team members and not just as competitors”. Schenk also said, “The last couple of years we’re really trying to support each other, motivate each other.” In terms of competing against your friends on the course, Keeli said that she does not see herself competing against other people, and emphasized that “you’re competing against the course.” Meanwhile, Isa says, “I don’t care if Keeli beats me.” For example, in a tournament they played, Schenk explains how she had the worst round, and Satterfield was better than her. Schenk said, “You had a really good day, and I had a terrible day, but it made my day to do it really well.”
As they are preparing for their spring season, both golfers are determined to improve their game. Satterfield said that “I find golf to be mostly mental. It’s physically demanding sometimes, but the one thing that can change how I feel is mental.” Schenk is working on her swing, aiming to become more consistent.
As seniors, Satterfield and Schenk will lead the Gophers back to the course in the spring semester, building on their strong start and looking to continue their successes.
Best of luck and Go Gophers!
By Alana Moore ‘26
