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Young Missouri golfer already preparing for LPGA
Having already qualified and played in the U.S. Women‘s Open, Reagan Zibilski has become one of the top prep golfers in the nation, and further proved that after her dominant performance at state this fall. (Courtesy: Angela Zibilski)

Young Missouri golfer already preparing for LPGA

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (BVM) — Reagan Zibilski loves spending time with her friends and family, going to the lake and shopping on the weekends. While activities like these are what keep most people busy, they’re more of a stress reliever for the amateur golfer.

The 16-year-old Zibilski is a junior at Springfield Catholic High School in Missouri. She has played for the girls varsity golf team since entering her freshman year. Her talent for the sport was evident from her young interest in golf.

“I started when I was pretty young, probably like 5 or 6 years old,” Zibilski said. “I didn’t really play in many tournaments but as I got older, that’s when I started playing in local tournaments and then got into bigger events, and now I’m here.”

Zibilski said that it was easy for her to get into because she was instantly passionate about becoming a golfer.

“Honestly, I just fell in love with golf and I think that’s how it is for most people when they start playing a sport, it’s just really special. I really liked how it was mainly an individual sport but then as I got older, it became a team sport as well.” 

The Springfield Catholic girls golf team has been no stranger to success, earning two consecutive state titles since 2019. The results are because of players like Zibilski.

Not only did she lead the Lady Irish to a team score that was 36 strokes better than the runner-up this October, but Zibilski finished with a two-round total of 139, earning herself the Missouri state individual title.

“The past two years, I didn’t really play that well in state so it felt really good to kind of have that redemption,” Zibilski said. “I played well and I got it done, so it was really cool.”

The high school golf season starts at the end of August and wraps up towards the end of October, but there is no such thing as an offseason for the amateur golfer.

“Once state season is over for me, I usually play in individual events like USGA events, AJGA, and some other amateur events,” Zibilski said.

Last summer, her offseason training qualified her for the U.S. Women’s Open. She remembers it as a defining moment in her golf career.

“That was probably one of the best experiences of my life, honestly,” the golfer said.

The U.S. Women’s Open attracts players throughout the world, with many at the amateur level competing with pro golfers in the LPGA. Zibilski was the first alternate in the tournament and one of the youngest people there. 

“Usually if you are just starting, you start qualifying for USGA events when you’re 14 or 15 and that’s when I started.” Zibilski said. “This was my second USGA qualifier that I was playing in so I was still fresh to those types of events.”

The amateur golfer said the youngest qualifiers were 14 years old, and she was one of them.

“There were four of us that were my age,” Zibilski said. “A couple of them I was friends with, so that was really cool.” 

The tournament consists of four rounds with a cut of players after the first two rounds. Even though Zibilski didn’t end up making Friday’s cut, she said her time competing in the U.S. Women’s Open was unforgettable. 

“I think it was a bit of everything for me,” the golfer said. “It was a really big step in the right direction. I had never really done anything even close to that before, so it was a big confidence booster for me. It allowed me to play better in my events after that. It was really fun to see how my hard work was finally paying off.”

Zibilski continued to work even harder after playing with the pros. This past summer, she played in the U.S. Women’s Amateur, DYE Invitational and many other amateur junior events. She notes the more tournaments she can play in, the more practice it is for her future career.

“They really give me my rankings to get into other events and for college recruitment,” Zibilski said.

Most high school juniors are just entering the process of looking at colleges, but Zibilski is leaps ahead of her classmates. In August, she committed to the University of Arkansas for golf.

“I just think that honestly it was a perfect fit for me,” Zibilski said. “I had been looking at other schools mainly in the SEC but whenever I went down there and visited the campus, met the coaches and saw the facilities, I just fell in love.” 

She said she began to consider colleges towards the end of her sophomore year, talking to 10 to 15 different schools before narrowing it down to her final decision.

While it may seem early in the typical timeline for high school students to select a college, Zibilksi’s skills have been closely monitored by college recruiters since the start of her freshman year. 

“It was nerve-wracking at first but I got used to it,” she said. “Whenever I had tournaments and they would come and watch me, it made me play better and it motivated me. I think that was really important going into sophomore and junior year that I was used to that and I was able to make my college decision easier.”

In terms of signing to a college two years before going away to school, the golfer said it is a huge relief to have the big decision already made.

“It feels pretty good,” Zibilksi explained. “It honestly takes a big weight off my shoulders because you have school you have to worry about, you have all these outside things that you’re trying to worry about and it honestly feels great having my decision made of where I’m gonna go.”

Despite her decision being made, the teenager still has the academic responsibilities of any high school student, something she says can be a tricky balancing act that is made easy by the teachers at Springfield Catholic.

“My teachers are really, really nice and flexible about everything I need to do because there are other people at my school who are committed to sports like this. It can be stressful at times but if you have good time management and stay organized, it’s totally doable and I have been doing really good with it for the past three years.”

The work her courses bring her, whether academic or golf, is a challenging balance. However, her education is just as important as her sport, which is something that Zibilski is focusing on finding during her college experience as well. According to the golfer, this balance was the second biggest attraction for her to the University of Arkansas, behind their impressive golf program, of course.

“As I learned more about the college, they told me that I would know my professors very well and they would be flexible with me and my schedule so I think that’ll be good, having had it in high school and having it in college.”

Whether she is hard at work with assignments for school or her golf swings, Zibilski said it can be easy for her to get in her own head and feel stressed.

“I put a little pressure on myself sometimes,” the golfer explained. “But I just have to tell myself to follow the process, stick to my routine and stuff like that. If you aren’t playing good, it’s easy to put extra pressure on yourself but you kind of just have to let it go and let yourself play golf. That’s pretty much all you can do.”

A great deal of Zibilski’s time is dedicated to playing golf, but her hard work is nothing short of enjoyable. When asked if she sees golf as a hobby, sport, or a lifestyle, her simple answer was, “all three.”

Like any athlete, she also finds herself caught between being stressed with a bad day on the course, and truly having fun with her sport. 

“All the time,” Zibilski said about how often she finds herself balancing stress with fun on the course. “There’s ups and downs the whole time so if you focus on the ups rather than the downs, then it will all go good. That’s what I have to focus on at least.”

As for her aspirations for a professional golf career, she said that she would like to attend qualifying school after she graduates college in hopes of getting into the LPGA.

“I would really like to play pro golf. I would love to play in the LPGA, that’s probably my biggest goal.”