All-Empire Girls Golf: Analy’s Madison Beckett named Player of the Year

Once Analy senior Madison Beckett steps on to the golf green, it doesn’t take long for her to show what she is made of. Beckett, the 2015 girls’ golf All-Empire Player of the Year, prospers from her relentless intensity and drive - trademarks that her competitors, opposing coaches and even her teammates became well familiar with.

While most players are interacting with each other during prematch warmups, Beckett goes into a solitary state with headphones on blocking out all noise as she practices her swings.

“Madison is pretty intense around the golf course,” Petaluma coach Chris Jones said. “She is very focused.”

Beckett admits that she can be single-minded and in her own world on the course but said it serves her well and puts her in the proper mindset for competition.

“I have to put myself under pressure,” Beckett said of her prematch ritual. “I try and put myself in a zone and that can get very intense.”

Analy coach Joseph Heil said Beckett’s relentlessness to improve and her dedication to the game set her apart from other golfers.

“Maddie is the most focused athlete I have ever coached in 35 years in any sport,” Heil said. “She breathes, eats and sleeps golf. She is very passionate and dedicated to her sport.”

Beckett, who started playing golf in the ninth grade, overcame a relatively slow start and nagging injuries in the first half of the season before rallying in the last five SCL matches with sterling scores to lead Analy to a Sonoma County League championship and berth in the postseason Tournament of Champions at Boundary Oaks golf course in Walnut Creek. The season came to a sudden end for both Analy and Beckett, who did not advance beyond the TOC after finishing with a 10-over 82 (she was 21st out of 144 golfers).

“I didn’t have my long game that day. My driver was not going where I wanted it to,” Beckett said of her TOC performance. “I could have played better, but that’s golf.”

Even though Beckett did not move on to the NorCal tournament, her Analy career was marked by distinguished accomplishments, including her winning tear in SCL matches. Not including postseason 18-hole tournaments, Beckett lost only once in the past three years in nine-hole league play. She finished the 2015 season with a 4.3 strokes-above-par average, the top mark in the Redwood Empire by more than a stroke.

Beckett has verbally committed to Dominican College in San Rafael on a scholarship that is both academically and athletically based. She said she plans to play on the Dominican golf team for four years and will major in business management.

“I’m really excited to be going on and playing at the next level,” Beckett said.

Beckett added she wants to teach golf lessons eventually and work in the golf industry in some capacity. She currently volunteers with the Northern California Golf Association’s Youth on Course program to mentor young golfers and works part time at the Santa Rosa Golf and Country Club.

In short, Beckett can’t get enough golf.

“I love the technicality of the game of golf. The physics of the swing completely fascinate me,” Beckett said. “

In addition to her work ethic, Beckett attributes much of her success to a combination of her dedication to fitness, her development under swing coach Jessica Reese Quayle, and inspiration garnered from her older sister Grace, who has autism and cerebral palsy.

“Through the years Beckett has worked very, very hard to get where she is at,” Healdsburg coach Jane Wann said. “She has set high standards and goals for herself.”

Beckett said she almost quit the Tigers after her freshman year due to team rancor and instability. Beckett stuck with the team for her sophomore year, and before her junior year she led the effort to recruit Heil to coach the team.

“I knew (Heil) would be a good coach,” Beckett said. “He has helped me with my mental game. I couldn’t have asked for a better coach.”

Heil was the Tigers soccer coach for many years before taking the helm of the golf team the past two years. He said he took the golf job because of Beckett’s request. His admiration for Beckett is unequivocal.

“Madison is a complete player. Her short game is fantastic. She is solid all around. There is not a weak part of her game,” Heil said. “Her work ethic is her biggest strength - that is where she shines. She works harder than anyone I have ever coached.”