The first time Reiley Waldo every qualified for the state tournament, it took four playoff holes at the regional tournament at River Valley Ranch in Carbondale to secure her spot.
Now, in her final high school tournament, Waldo is set to return to River Valley Ranch for the Colorado High School Activities Association Class 4A girls golf state championship.
When she selects a club on the No. 10 tee box at 9:06 a.m. Monday morning, she hopes this time it will be a little warmer outside.
“That was the coldest I’ve ever been in my life,” Waldo said Thursday afternoon during a practice round at Dalton Ranch Golf Club.
Since that regional tournament her sophomore year, Waldo has transformed from a player who was happy to break 100 to a player who has threatened to break 80 several times this season.
She finished seventh in the Class 4A Western Regional tournament two weeks ago and earned an at-large bid into the state tournament. It is the third consecutive year she has reached the biggest stage in Colorado high school girls golf.
“The first year, the goal was top 50, then top 25 last year and top 10 this year. That’s the goal,” Waldo said.
What does she really want to accomplish more than anything else?
“Shoot in the 70s,” she said.
And if she accomplishes that during the first of two rounds scheduled to be played Monday and Tuesday?
“Then I’ll go back out the next day and do it again,” the feisty Waldo replied.
Waldo is as laid back of a golfer as you will see between the ropes, but her competitive nature shines through despite her relaxed persona.
It’s clear she wants to perform at a high level, but she doesn’t let a bad shot here or there bring her down. Instead, she calmly sets herself up to not compound any mistakes.
It’s players who take the opposite approach and let mistakes affect their state of mind that irritates Waldo the most on the course.
“Bad attitudes,” Waldo said when asked what her biggest pet peeve is on the course. “When a girl has a blowup hole and then starts being rude or snaps at you, it’s obnoxious. I’m not the most social person on the golf course, but I don’t let a bad shot get to me or take it out on the rest of the group.”
The golf course might be the last place Waldo expected to spend much of her time in high school. She didn’t start playing competitively until she was a freshman and didn’t care much for the sport at a young age, when she would follow her grandparents Dale and Sandra Elliott around the course.
“I kind of thought golf was an old-person sport. My grandparents got me into it. They were really into golf and would bring me with them,” said the daughter of Allisa Oliger and Kurt Waldo. “I’d hit a few balls here and there, but I mostly liked driving the cart.
“Most of the activities I do I probably wouldn’t have picked for myself when I was younger.”
Waldo is a musician at heart. She plays a wide array of instruments – everything from drums to tambourines and xylophones – and hopes to become a music teacher someday, though she admits she doesn’t like kids.
She plans to attend Southern Utah University, where she has a full academic scholarship, and she and DHS golf head coach Kirk Rawles have been in communication with the coach there about Waldo possibly walking on to the Division I golf team.
“Reiley’s golf life is really just beginning,” Rawles said. “The coach asked me if she can swing it. I told him she isn’t afraid of hitting the ball hard. Her swing speed is good, and she’s not afraid to hit the golf ball. She doesn’t baby it.”
Like most players Rawles coaches, he and Waldo have formed a unique bond. Rawles, a master of handling different personalities, has fostered Waldo’s competitive nature. When they play side-by-side, Rawles usually gets the best of Waldo, but she lets him have it whenever he misses a putt or misplays a shot.
“She’s been like that since she was a freshman, giving me a hard time,” Rawles said with a smile.
Whether Waldo can get in the top 10 or break 80 in Carbondale this week is uncertain, but her and Rawles certainly will have fun trying. That’s just Waldo’s way.
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
