'A natural kind of swing'

When Kelcey Tate is out on the golf course she never checks to see where she stands on the leader board.

She doesn't want to know her score or that of her competitors, she just wants to play golf.

"The reason I don't like to know is because it puts too much pressure on me," she said.

Her father, Mike Tate, is an avid golfer. Originally from Page, Ariz., the family moved to Albuquerque nine years ago and that's when Kelcey, now 16, started to pick up golf.

"I started at age 13 and it kind of happened by accident," she said. "My dad plays golf and he just took me out a couple times. He used to bring me out on the course and he wanted to teach me."

Kelcey played just about every day in 8th grade as her father signed her up for tournaments. When she started high school at Cibola, she joined the boys' golf team because there wasn't a girls' team.

In her first year she made it to the state tournament as an individual player and placed second overall.

"I really had no idea I had that potential," she said. "I was just going in there kind of blind. I really can't explain it. It was just kind of a fun thing, I wasn't even trying to win."

After that first state tournament she decided to take things up a notch and work harder. She practiced everyday the summer after.

"Everyone was really surprised because I was only playing for a really short time," she said. "Everyone as wondering who was I, where did I come from, everyone was just, like, 'Wow, who is this girl?'"

Cibola coach Ron McMath said when Kelcey joined the team there wasn't much for him to do because she already knew so much about the game.

"She really has a tremendous work ethic and she has a great passion for the game," he said. "She does everything you want an athlete to do. She's probably one of the hardest working athletes I've coached in any sport.

"Her dad teachers her everything she needs to know," he said, "I just kind of manage her and keep her calm and she does the rest."

Last year as a sophomore, Kelcey said she improved a lot in her game even if the leader board didn't show it. She took second at state for the second year in a row.

"You never know what's going to happen," she said. "No matter how hard you work things will happen."

This year as a junior, Kelcey won the Class 5A state championship for the first time and made history at her school as the first girl to do so.

On the first day of the state tournament she scored a 77. The next day she finished early and remembers waiting almost an hour and a half before hearing that she might have to prepare for a playoff. Then her coach came over and told her she won by one stroke with a score of 80.

"I was just really happy," she said. "It feels really good. I really couldn't believe it because I didn't know if I'd win or not, there some really good golfers here."

Mike Tate said he and his wife Toni have enjoyed watching their daughter become a success story. He said he gave her a chance to play just about every sport and she chose golf in the end.

"She had a natural kind of swing," he said, "she adapted to it from the beginning.

"It was exciting (to see her win)," he said. "It's, like, wow that's really good. We try to keep Kelcey grounded and not get too sucked into popular culture and society."

So far Kelcey has done a good job staying away from the limelight.

Aside from golf she said she is a very "artsy" person. She enjoys sewing, she recently put on a fashion show at her school, she loves to draw and sketch, read, camp, and spend time with friends and family.

"I absolutely love golf," she said. "I fell in love with it a couple years ago and I'm going to be playing it the rest of my life.

"I have hopes of getting into college for golf," she said. "Playing on a college team and just to be like a role model for other young golfers, especially young Native golfers, just so they know they can have that success in golf."

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