While the talk of El Dorado’s athletic 2021-2022 school year will probably be the Wildcats’ run to the state football championship, the girls’ golf team was easily the most dominant.
As usual, the girls’ team gets overshadowed by the boys.
Well, not, really.
Led by senior Aubrey Marx, the Lady Wildcats crushed the competition and claimed back-to-back 5A State Golf titles. El Dorado won state by 17 strokes.
“I’m very proud of it,” Marx said. “We haven’t had a team like this, like a two-time state champion in a row, since the football team won back-to-backs in the old days. I think it’s pretty cool to do that and, it being a girls’ team, you know, sometimes we get the short end of the stick.
“But, I think it’s pretty cool. It gives little girls in the community something to look up to.”
The Wildcats would win the football state championship a few weeks later. Marx said, this time, the boys didn’t take all of the spotlight.
“We went up to the capitol, the girls’ golf team and the boys’ football team, together. We kind of shared that experience together. It was pretty cool being with a different team getting the same recognition.”
The Lady Wildcats earned it. And, so did Marx, whose marks on the course were as low as her classroom scores were high.
A finalist for News-Times Female Scholar Athlete of the Year, Marx finished with a 4.16 grade point average, earning Top 5% in her class. On the course, she shot 80 to finish third individually in the state tournament after taking runner-up honors with a 76 in conference.
Marx earned a scholarship to play golf at Southern Arkansas University.
“Aubrey’s focus in the classroom translated to the golf course,” said El Dorado golf coach Chris Ezell. “She balanced her time well and grew as a golfer. Aubrey lowered her golf handicap over 40 strokes during her high school career. I am looking forward to watching her continue to improve during her collegiate career.”
Marx gave up softball and focused on golf her last two years. She lowered her scoring average by eight strokes.
“I’ve always loved softball. My dad convinced me to play golf,” she said. “Softball was a spring sport and golf was a fall sport. I wanted to play a sport all year around. I just fell in love with golf and used that and decided to quit softball.
“I felt like I had a future in golf. I had the potential to be better in golf than in softball. I took that opportunity and got a scholarship out of it.”
Marx said quitting softball was a sacrifice. She still enjoyed playing the sport. She was a pitcher and first baseman as a sophomore.
“It was a big decision for me,” she said. “It was going from what I grew up doing to something completely new because I hadn’t really played golf. My dad always wanted me to play golf but I didn’t decide to focus on it until high school.
“I love the sport of softball. I just decided softball was not for me. It’s not like I didn’t love the sport. I guess you could say I didn’t love softball as much as I did love golf.”
Marx said earning a golf scholarship wasn’t necessarily on her mind when she made the decision. Few could’ve predicted her dramatic improvement as a junior and a senior.
In one of those twists of fate, the scholarship Marx didn’t know she wanted, almost slipped right out her hands while playing in front of SAU golf coach Neriah Brown.
“I got really nervous and started, basically, chucking the ball. I was not hitting the ball good,” she said. “I just thought I’d ruined it right then because he had watched for two holes. After those two holes, I made two birdies. I was like, ‘he could’ve watched those.’ But, he didn’t. Sometimes my nerves get the best of me when I’m playing golf. That night I was talking to my assistant coach Natalie Bolick. She played at SAU. I texted her and said, ‘I ruined it.’ She said, just email him to make sure. I emailed Coach Brown and he emailed me back. After that, we’ve been talking ever since and he finally gave me a scholarship.”
On the course, Marx admitted nerves could be her Achilles heel. There isn’t a machine in the weight room to strengthen an athlete’s psyche.
“Sometimes my nerves will get the best of me. I won’t be hitting my drive straight or I’ll be slicing my drive. I’ll get out on the course and my first two holes I have to get into the swing of things, get in the groove,” said Marx.
“It’s a big deal playing golf. It’s very hard to overcome those because once you get into your head, it’s hard to get out of it. You have to learn how to get out of your head. It also comes back in real life. Sometimes you get into your head and you’re stuck. Once you learn how to get out of your head, you can move forward and do greater things.”
At SAU, Marx said she’s considering her course of study.
“I’m leaning towards business. About two months ago I was wanting to study marine biology. I’m leaning towards business and a minor in finance,” she said. “I honestly like architecture. I’ve been thinking about that. When I was in fifth or sixth grade, that’s what I wanted to be. But, I’m going to lean towards business.”
Paralysis by analysis? Marx is a thinker. She thinks about her choices - a lot.
“It’s just a big decision to make because that’s what you’re going to be doing the rest of your life,” she said. “I don’t want to be bored. I want to have some excitement, something new every day when I’m working.”
Marx usually finds a way to get out of her own head. Also a member of the Steering Committee, she proudly talked about how the Student Council helped raise $10,000 for cancer research at Mister EHS.
“Can I say something about my art?” she asked.
“I had this (art) teacher. Her name was Miss (Helene) Lambert. She inspired me to do a lot of things and made me realize I’m a determined kid and I can do anything I put my mind to. She kind of shaped me, I guess, made me realize these things. And, you know, it’s not just your parents telling you. It’s different coming from a person outside of your parents. She helped me realize I can do things when I put my mind to it. I was in her class seventh and eighth grade. I’d win multiple art contests. One time I won a thousand dollar art contest and got to go to Little Rock and got recognized. That was really cool. She taught us, like, life lessons and not just how to draw. I thought that was pretty cool.”
After Marx spoke so fondly about a person who inspired her, she was asked, “Why don’t you be a teacher?”
She laughed out loud.
“I don’t know if I want to be a teacher. Well, O.K. I could. I could be a teacher. I haven’t ever thought about it. But … yeah.”