Despite early success Trinity Beth, 14, still has lofty aspirations

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Trinity Beth, left, had already helped Marshall County win two state high school championships and been named Kentucky Ms. Golf twice — and she's just in the eighth grade. (Marshall County Athletics Photo)

She’s still not in high school, but Marshall County’s Trinity Beth already has played on two high school state championship teams, placed in the top five twice at the state tourney and been named Kentucky Ms. Golf twice.

Beth, a 14-year-old eighth-grader, has also won numerous individual tournaments and proved nationally that she can play with the elite players in her age division and above.

Recently I had a chance to talk with Beth about her career, future and more.

Question: Is there an off-season for golf?
“Not really. We have a simulator that I hit in when it is cold. I go to the golf course if it is warm. After the (high school) state tournament, the very next day we had to go to Oregon for an AJGA (American Junior Golf Association) event. When we came back I took two or three weeks off and then got right back at it.”

Question: Since you have twice been Miss Golf, twice your team has won state high school championships and twice you have been in the top five individually at the state, what is on your to-do-list now?
 “Obviously I want to win the state as an individual. I also have a lot of goals with AJGA stuff being on the first team all-American list and Rolex Player and going to the end of the year Rolex Tournament of Champions for AJGA.”

Question: What about international play?
“I would like to be on the Junior Ryder Cup team. I think that would be a really fun opportunity to be on a team at that high a level.”

Question: Do you ever wake up one day not wanting to play golf that day?
“I want to play every day. Especially in the off-season, you have to focus but it is not nearly as stressful as the middle of the summer when you have five more tournaments coming up in five weeks.”

Question: If you do feel stressed out and don’t want to talk to your father, who is also your high school coach, who do you talk to?
“Nobody really. I just calm myself down and focus on something else if I am stressed about golf. I like to listen to music a lot.”

Question: Are you ever stressed on the golf course because it does not look that way?
“I definitely get stressed. I try to keep my composure, focus on the shot and stay in the present moment.”

Question: What gave you such a love for golf?
“Obviously my whole family is basketball. I think I liked having golf to myself and that being my thing. Everyone expects me to play basketball and go to this huge basketball school, but I just like golf and that being my thing.”

Question: What age did you figure out you could be really good at golf?
“I started when I was about 5 in our yard. I won my first tournament at 6. It was still like a joke I was playing because everyone thought, including my parents, that I would play basketball. I started going to bigger events and it just advanced from there. I just continued to get better.”

Question: Do you watch professional golf?
“Yes. Some people I know do not like watching golf on TV and think it is awful. But I love watching the PGA and LPGA and this fall we watched some of the college golf to see what that was like. We watched the U.S. Amateur when Jensen Castle of UK won. That was fun. That is definitely a goal of mine. I really want to win that but also be in Augusta the final day for that tournament. That is one of my huge goals.”

Question: Are you hearing from colleges yet?
“We have heard from some but all they are allowed to do is send me an original letter or questionnaire and then they can’t talk to me until after my sophomore year. I have several SEC and ACC schools I like. Almost any SEC school or a few ACC schools I would like to go to. I want to go where it is warm to play golf.”

Question: Did you talk to LPGA Tour player Emma Talley of Princeton?
“Sometimes yes. We have gone and watched her a few times. I talk to her some but she is so busy with her career and she does not get back home a lot. That is a huge role model for me and a huge goal because I want to get to where she is one day. She played at Alabama and won a national championship. That’s what I want to do.”

Question:  Was winning a second straight team state championship better than the first one or just more of a relief because your team was favored all year to win?
“It was more special. We had to overcome so much and the pressure was so much more since we won last year and everyone was expecting us to repeat and other teams were coming at us even more. After we won the all-state (tournament) by only two strokes, to win state the way we did was a huge stress reliever.”

Question: Is it possible to three-peat knowing you lose two seniors who both are going to play Division I golf?
“We are getting Skylar Waller from Calloway who also plays basketball. We have some younger ones coming up. It can possibly be done.”

Question: Since you are only 14, what is your definition of younger players?
“We still have an eighth-grader and one of our players has a sister who will be in seventh-grade and I have heard of a few more that may try out. We have three older ones and then me and at least just one younger one. We do want to win again.”

Question: Are you a lot more comfortable now in the spotlight because of your success?
“I try to not be nervous during interviews. I get a lot more nervous when it is a (TV) camera. I have gotten used to doing interviews. When my dad coached (basketball) at Graves County and a team was running late, I got to talk on the radio for like 30 minutes. That was good to do and learn how to talk and interview. With all the stuff I do in golf, I can’t let interviews and stuff like that bother me. I just try to enjoy it.

“When I was little I remember the first interview I tried to do after some golf tournament. They gave me a microphone and I literally threw it down on the stage and ran off crying. As I have gotten older, it has become a lot easier.”

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