By Emmy Trivette, Staff Writer
At Augusta National, preparing to be filmed on the Golf Channel, the girls each wait behind a pyramid of golf balls. Katherine Schuster doesn’t stand out from the 10 other players because of the scars on her legs; rather, it’s the air of confidence and focus she holds on the field that sets her apart.
The scars are evidence of numerous surgeries from Multiple Hereditary Exostoses. MHE is a rare non-cancerous, tumor-causing disease, which returns over and over again. For Schuster, a 14-year-old freshman golfer at First Flight, there has been both pain and patience in order to arrive at the level of excellence she’s at today.
At age 11, Schuster was whisked away after several painful experiences to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. This is when she was diagnosed with MHE. She recalled the pain as “unimaginable.”
“Before, I was walking about 18 to 36 holes a day. Some mornings, it was so terrible that I couldn’t even get up out of bed and walk downstairs. It was so painful,” Schuster said. “When I went out to the CHOP again, a year later, the doctors said one leg was longer than the other by three-fourths of an inch, but they said they could stunt the growth. So, they went in, performed the surgery and stopped the growth plate from developing.”
Even with that bump in the road, Schuster has gotten up and gone on with her game. She’s made golf one of the most important things in her life.
As the only student who came out for the women’s golf team, Schuster has to compete the ol’ fashioned way: every woman for herself.
“I like representing First Flight on the women’s golf team. Hopefully I can help grow the game and other people will become interested, because it really is a lot of fun and challenging,” Schuster said.
Golf has come naturally to Schuster. She is already ranked ninth in the state and 444th nationally, and just won the 1A/2A East Regional with a 2-under-par round of 69 (check out the scoreboard here). Believe it or not, she has only been playing golf for four years.
“I practice every day I can with my coach, Corey Schneider, and if I’m not practicing with him, I’m practicing with my dad,” Schuster said. “My dad is the one who put a golf club in my hand and pushed me the most at what I do.”
Every year, Schuster plays several different golf tours ranging from Maryland to Florida, sometimes competing against 90 other girls. Her primary tours are the American Junior Golf Association, Peggy Kirk Bell Golf Tour, Carolina Golf Association and the Hurricane Junior Golf Tour.
“I play a lot of tournaments, about two every month during the school year,” Schuster said.
One of the greatest experiences she has ever gone through in golf would be the Drive, Chip and Putt competition. It’s a national tournament for kids 18 and under.
“If you qualify for local, sub-regional, and regional, you get to go to Augusta National,” Schuster said of the home course of the world-famous Masters in Georgia. “It’s the most beautiful course. There’s not a blade of grass or pine needle out of place.”
Augusta National is one of the biggest tournaments Schuster has played in. Throughout the competition, Schuster was filmed and interviewed by a camera crew for a week. The clip was played on the Golf Channel during the competition.
“When I was playing in the tournament, there was a camera directly away from me – that’s what my mom said – but I was in my own little world, I didn’t even notice. I couldn’t hear anything, I just wanted to focus on getting the ball in the hole,” Schuster said. “Watching myself in the clips brings back the thoughts that went through my head while I was playing.”
This year, Schuster will get to compete at Augusta National again, after ranking first overall in all three qualifying categories: local, sub-regional and regional.
As good as she’s been on the putting green – her putter carried her to the victory in the NCHSAA regional, where she carded five birdies and just two bogeys – there is one set of greens where Schuster does not stand out.
Ones that include neon-colored balls, pirate ships, mine carts and aliens.
“I’m terrible at mini golf,” Schuster said with a laugh.
Luckily, she’s at her best with a Titleist, a bag full of clubs, tree-lined fairways and closely mown greens.
Sophomore Emmy Trivette can be reached at trivetteem0626@daretolearn.org.
