Lapel’s Beeson adds to already impressive golf career with IHSAA state title
LAPEL, Ind. (BVM) — Macy Beeson is quickly emerging as the next great high school golf star in the state of Indiana. And as a sophomore at Lapel High School, Beeson has already proved her talent, winning an individual state championship at this month’s IHSAA girls state golf tournament.
Beeson was introduced to the game of golf at a young age by her dad. She tried her best to emulate his swing early on, as both are left-handed players. By the time she was 10, Beeson was regularly competing in junior golf tournaments.
Outside of her father, Beeson has looked up to some stars of women’s golf as role models, including Lexi Thompson and Amelia Lewis — the latter of which Beeson has joined for a practice round and had dinner with.
As Beeson has developed over the years, the best part of her game has become her shots off the tee. She is described as an accurate and consistent golfer, and that is especially noticed off the tee box. But her success has not just happened overnight, as the 15-year-old golf star has put in an immense amount of work to improve her game.
“I practice seven days a week,” Beeson said. “I play every day and while I’m out on the course I don’t really think of it as practice. I think of it as if I’m in a tournament and I just prepare myself for what the tournament is going to be like and the shots I’m going to have.”
Although the golf season in Indiana is shorter than most areas, Beeson keeps her work going in the winter as well, finding heated hitting bays to practice on in order to keep her swing sharp and consistent.
The Lapel sophomore began her competitive golf career by playing in the PGA Junior League, and quickly graduated into the Indiana Golf Association junior tour. She has also played with U.S. Kids Golf, where she twice qualified for the world championship tournament held at Pinehurst. The tournament experience — specifically the world championships — has been very beneficial to Beeson’s game.
“Playing in those events really helped prepare me for the competition and the mental part of the game,” Beeson said. “Playing with girls that are older than me and better than me just makes me work harder and it just strengthens every part of my game because I can learn from them in every way.”
Beeson has also competed in one American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) event so far, and plans to compete in more of those tournaments in the future.
With all of her previous experience and success, Beeson was highly touted coming in as a freshman at Lapel High School. During her first year, the 15-year-old felt very little pressure, and just wanted to get out on the course and show what she could do. Turns out, she did exactly that.
Beeson would have an impressive first season that saw her finish 13th individually at state. The tremendous campaign would earn the star golfer all-county and all-state honors, and she was also named her county’s athlete of the year. In addition, she helped lead Lapel’s girls golf program to their first-ever state appearance.
Coming into her sophomore season this fall, Beeson placed more pressure on herself, with an ultimate goal of winning state.
“I wanted to improve on all of my tournament finishes,” Beeson said. “But my overall goal for this season was to win state. I told my dad and my coach that after I won sectionals I was going to win regionals, and after I won regionals I was going to win state.”
Although Lapel did not replicate their team success from 2019, Beeson delivered again individually. A spectacular sophomore season led Beeson to the state tournament held at Prairie View Golf Club once again, where this time the only thing on her mind was to get a win.
“I just wanted to go into it playing the best I could and playing my game,” Beeson said.
Beeson did just that, shooting a two-over-par 146 over the 36 holes of the tournament. As the first off to play, Beeson took her lead into the club house early on in the final day. However, her nearest competitor — Carmel freshman Michaela Headlee — would not finish until nearly three hours later.
Headlee also closed the gap on Beeson, and needed to make a birdie putt on the 18th to tie the Lapel sophomore, and force a playoff. But Headlee would miss her putt, turning a long wait into a moment of joy for Beeson.
What a ride! Thank you @IHSAA1, @indianahsgolf, & @PrairieViewGC for a great season finale! Congrats to all the players & coaches! Thanks to God, the fans, my coaches, teammates, and family for your love and support! ⛳️🏌🏼♀️@dylancrosley @lapelathletics @LapelHighSchool @TomPatri pic.twitter.com/ka6cAkLzjT
— macy beeson (@BeesonMacy) October 4, 2020
“Those were the longest three hours of my life,” Beeson said about the wait to see if she would win state. “She [Headlee] just kept getting closer to me so I actually went ahead and did my whole warmup routine again just in case I would have been in a playoff.
“My overall goal for the tournament was to just play simple golf and not get myself in trouble. When I saw her miss the putt, it was relief. Just to know that I won and the support with having a lot of friends and family there made it even better.”
With the win, Beeson became the first athlete from Lapel High School to win an individual state title. Beeson takes a lot of pride in being the first to do so, and hopes she is drawing more attention to her school and community.
“I love coming from a small school and a small town because everyone feels like family,” Beeson said. “Just knowing everyone is so proud and that our school is now out there and more people will know our school and community is awesome.”
Beeson’s victory is so big in the Lapel community, that they even held a parade to celebrate her state victory the week following her win.
Town of Lapel declares October 9, 2020, as Macy Beeson Day! Congratulations! pic.twitter.com/yiSQPOP0PA
— Lapel Athletics (@lapelathletics) October 9, 2020
Over her final two seasons of high school golf, Beeson hopes to improve on her scores while also continuing to develop. But ultimately, the thought of winning back-to-back state titles, or even winning three in a row, is what has Beeson’s eye.
“I would love to win the next two years at state,” Beeson said. “And I think I can do it.”
Post high school, Beeson is a lock to play college golf. She is not yet sure where or who she might play for, but does want to play somewhere with warmer weather, perhaps in the south or out west.
Whenever Beeson does commit and begin playing for a college team, she will be one step closer to her ultimate goal of playing professionally. For someone who has been around the game her entire life, playing at the highest level would be a dream come true. And with Beeson’s past success, she is certainly on the right trajectory.
“That’s always been a goal of mine,” Beeson said about playing professional golf. “It’s going to take a lot of work and it’s not easy getting there, but I would love to do that.”
