The nerves pulsed through her body as she stood at the tee in the state finals match.

Countless pairs of eyes fixed on her, waiting for her stroke. This was the moment Ali O’Brien had prepared for. She glanced out at the pin, adjusted the grip on her club, took a deep breath and swung — she striped her ball down the fairway. This was routine for O’Brien. Her father bought her her first pair of clubs for Christmas when she was a child, and over the years, O’Brien fell in love with the game.

“My whole family could golf,” O’Brien said. “I wanted to be able to go on some of those golf trips with them and I was really excited to learn the sport.”

O’Brien began taking lessons in the summertime at a course near her neighborhood, she quickly became more invested in the sport and began playing competitively in junior tournaments when she was in middle school.

“Golf was really fun right away,” O’Brien said. “I played with my family but then as I got older I started moving into the competitive scene pretty quickly.”

O’Brien joined the Skyline Girls Varsity Golf Team during her first year of high school. Although the transition to a team was difficult, O’Brien leaned on the support of her teammates to find her place.

“I had friends who I grew up with playing golf there to calm my nerves and teach me what I needed to know,” O’Brien said. “As much as golf is an individual sport, the team aspect really helps to improve everyone’s game. If you’re in a competitive environment that is also supportive, everyone becomes better players.”

O’Brien found the transition to a team game extremely beneficial. Along with forming bonds with teammates, she found playing together with other players helped her to improve her game.

“It’s fun playing with others, because you build good friendships during that time,” O’Brien said. “But it’s important to realize that you’re also being competitive, so you can learn from the people you play with. It’s a fun sport, but you’re also learning from each other as well.”

During her most recent season, O’Brien shot her personal best at the regional match, helping to lead the Skyline Girls Team to the state finals — a first in the program’s history.

“It wasn’t really expected,” O’Brien said. “It was a little stressful first getting there. But, an advantage is that we played on the state course before and no one else had.”

Throughout her time playing golf, O’Brien has developed a sense of composure that she carries with her through every aspect of her life.

“When playing golf, you play with an audience,” O’Brien said. “It’s quiet, and that gets stressful. I was taught to just breathe. That’s also helped with school because I get nervous when testing or having to stand up in front of an audience. Learning how to breathe and be confident in what I know has become an ability of mine.”

O’Brien aims to lead Skyline to another state appearance next year in her senior season and has hopes to continue playing golf competitively in college; but no matter what her future has in store, she vows to continue to keep golf a part of her life.

“I’m hoping to at least keep [golf] as a recreational thing,” O’Brien said. “Even if I don’t play in college, I want to continue to keep playing for fun. It’s a special memory to have and I want to keep that going.”