RISING STAR: Elly Bertholf

WINFIELD, Kan. (Catch it Kansas) - Standout Winfield golfer Elly Bertholf grew up on the golf course.

“Both my siblings played college golf and they’re five and seven years older than me so I grew up with them playing,” said Elly.

Her dad, Dave Bertholf, has been the golf coach at Winfield high school for 20 years. He’s the reason she started playing golf.

“Mainly I took the kids out for something for us to do as a family and they were good at it so at a young age I could see they would be good golfers,” said Dave. “It’s something we do and have always done as a family.”

And a good golfer is exactly what Elly turned out to be, as she’s one of the best high school players in the area. In her junior season, she was the 4A regional champions and finished sixth at state. This season, she already broke Winfield’s 9-hole record, previously held by her older sister, shooting a 36.

“It was really cool because she’s always been someone I look up to,” Elly said.

In her senior season, she said she’s not focused on winning titles.

“I’m just focusing on one shot at a time and not being too upset if I hit a bad shot,” she said.

Part of what’s helping her mentality on the course, is cross country, which she decided to do for the first time this season. Elly runs track, but with the 2020 season being canceled due to COVID-19 and the future of spring sports uncertain, she didn’t want to miss out on a season of running.

“I wake up before school pretty early and go out and do my cross-country work out,” Elly said.

So far, Elly finished third in the Wellington Invitational and eighth in the Clearwater invitational. She said cross country gives her a tougher mentality on the golf course.

“If I can run three miles in pain I can go out and play 18 holes,” she said.

Elly’s hard work earned her a chance to continue her golf career at Newman.

“She works extremely hard at everything she does, her day consists of getting up at 5 in the morning and she runs for cross country practice,” her dad said. “Then she goes to school and then comes out here and practices golf.”

Elly said while she can’t wait to continue her career at Newman, she’s going to miss playing for her favorite coach and she’s thankful for all he’s done for her over the years.

“He’s worked so much with me, there’s been nights where I’ve had a bad day on the golf course it could be 9 at night and he will go out on the range with me and get it figured out.”

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