Glens Falls has 2 girl golfers, twins, making waves at states

By Ben Westcott, Chronicle Staff Writer

Sophomore twins Maddie and Morgan Oliver, the only girls playing on the Glens Falls golf team, take to the fairways this fall aiming for return trips to the state championships later this month.

Last year, as just freshmen Maddie tied for sixth place in the state; Morgan tied for 17th. They both played high school golf as eighth graders as well. Maddie finished tied for 19th at states and Morgan missed states by one spot.

“Those are two of the best girls in New York State,” Head Coach Steve Zurlo said. “They’re very focused young ladies.”

Maddie’s goal this year is to finish top five at states; Morgan to make the top 10.

Due to a lack of girls golfers, they play with the boys team and have come out firing so far in the young season.

“This year, nobody’s beat Maddie,” Coach Zurlo said. “She’s tough. They’re both going to be tough. In the last couple years they’ve gotten stronger. Only one gal outdrove Maddie in states. They’re long. They can hit it.

“If you watch them hit, you’re going to see that the ball doesn’t go that crooked that often.”

Now 15, the twins started playing golf around the age of 7, competitively at 10. Their siblings — one full brother and three step siblings — and parents all play.

“All six of us will play, and we do all these different fun games,” Maddie said.

Coach Zurlo said, “Being twins and being close, they’re internally competitive to themselves. They’re constantly checking on each other. And it’s raised the level of all the other players too.”

“It’s a lot of fun to compete with each other and push each other to be better,” Morgan said.

“We play together every day, so we definitely just try to beat each other,” Maddie said. “So I think it helps when it gets to tournament play, because you’re kind of used to being under pressure.”

The girls are also driven to improve by another local sophomore girls golf standout, South Glens Falls’ Hayden Knapp, who won the New York State Women’s Amateur this summer.

Coach Zurlo said, “They’re the same age, so they push each other a little bit. They see each other in these tournaments and they’re very competitive.”

“They have what everyone should have deep inside — desire,” he added. “And that desire is a tangible/intangible thing that you don’t give somebody.”

“We get stronger every year, and hit it farther each year, and work on more details each year,” Maddie said.

“When you’re young, you kind of play for fun, and then when you get older you try to get better and better and actually work on certain things at certain times.”

In the summer, they usually play 9 or 18 holes every day.

“And then of course we’re hitting on the putting green and chipping,” Maddie said. “Whenever we need to work on something specific, we’ll go to the range. We probably need to honestly go to the range more.”

They mostly play at Bay Meadows in Queensbury, but also do rounds at other area courses.

Maddie said the best part of her game is her driver, while Morgan pointed to her approach shots. Maddie hits Calloway clubs. Morgan opts for Titleist.

Both know that in golf, the mind is as important a tool as any club in the bag.

“I see myself as a positive player, because you learn pretty quickly that if you’re negative, it’s just not going to work that day,” Maddie said. “So even in my bad shots, I like to see the positives and just try to know what I did wrong so I can not make the same mistake again. Because once you get negative, it’s over.”

“Definitely playing every day, there’s going to be a lot of times when you’re not happy with how you played, but you can’t get stuck up on it,” Morgan said. “You’ve just got to move forward and do better.”

To take their games to the next level, Maddie said she needs to be more accurate with her yardages and irons. “If you can strike it well each time, not much can go wrong,” she notes. “So being able to reduce the amount of errant shots that I hit, I can make my scores consistently better.”

Morgan said she’s trying to take advantage of how far she is off the tee by working on getting the ball close for good opportunities around the green.

Coach Zurlo suggests, “We’ve got to work on their wedge game and get their ball even closer to the pin, give them more birdie chances. They’ve got to make a few more birdies. That’s what’s going to lower their score. They’re going to make a bunch of pars, but they’re also going to make some bogeys, because that’s the game. But it’s got to be balanced out with some birdies….

“This year is going to be about getting their dispersion rate closer, where they have more chances inside of 10 feet. They both putt very well, but when you’re outside of an eight, nine foot range, your percentages go down considerably.”

Despite their prowess, golf isn’t even the twins’ favorite sport to play. Hockey is their top choice. They play for the Adirondack United high school team and travel hockey for the Adirondack Northstars.

“Ice hockey has helped them immensely,” Coach Zurlo said. “Ice hockey players know what makes the puck go straight. I’ve never taught a hockey player that doesn’t know where they’re going with it.”

Maddie said one game translates to the other. “People think with golf you’re just kind of swinging a club, but I think if you’re athletic it definitely makes it a lot easier to do more detailed things like shot shaping and stuff,” she said.

“And being mentally tough and staying in it even when you’re down and even when you’re playing bad — I think playing multiple sports is always going to be good for that.” Both girls hope to play sports in college, either golf or hockey.

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