If you ask Taylor Tevis, it’s never too late to start playing golf.
“I’m currently a junior, and I have been playing competitively for a little over 3 years,” Bixby High School’s top varsity golfer said. “My dad, he’s been a competitive golfer his whole life. I always loved going out to the range with him when I was a little kid and would hit my Barbie clubs.”
Tevis has been a competitive dancer since she was 6 years old. She enjoyed playing golf when she was young but admitted she, “like most kids, found it too frustrating and boring,” despite her father’s tries to get her to take the game seriously.
“My parents didn’t want me to lose interest in golf by forcing me to play, so they let me gain interest naturally,” Tevis said. “It’s unfortunate it took ‘till middle school for that to happen, but on the other hand, I think being more mature helped because I was able to comprehend things clearly and have a more strenuous approach to my practice sessions.”
Tevis admits she found the environment intimidating early.
“My eighth-grade summer, going into my freshman year, I played in my first summer tournament and quickly learned that I had a lot of work to do,” Tevis said.
She shot 121 the first day and a 111 the second day of the tournament. She cried on the way home, to which her dad offered his wisdom: “You have two roads to go down. You can either play golf for fun, to which your score doesn’t matter, or use this as a learning experience and work your butt off to make varsity as a freshman.”
Tevis wanted to be like her dad, who was a 4-year letterman in high school and an outstanding player.
“Aside from my mom, he is my No. 1 supporter,” Tevis said.
In the months that followed, Tevis’s dad would drop her off at Indian Springs at 7:30 a.m. and wouldn’t pick her up for nearly 12 hours daily. “I did that for six weeks straight and, in my next tournament, shot an 88,” Tevis said.
Tevis would go onto make No. 3 bag as a freshman.
“I continued that strong work ethic and have since become a believer in ‘iron sharpens iron,’ so playing with better players has helped me learn and become better myself,” Tevis said.
After high school, Tevis wants to further her athletic career in college while majoring in business with a minor in marketing. “My ultimate dream job would be working at the PGA Headquarters in Frisco or to be a Titlist sales representative,” Tevis said.
