Athletes of the Week: Maria Lee & Harry Saunders

After placing first out of 23 teams at the Kingswood Oxford Tournament last season, the varsity golf team is starting its 2018 campaign in search of a repeat championship. Heading the charge are co-captains and seniors Maria Lee and Harry Saunders. The two experienced and skilled leaders will be guiding the relatively young golf team in the coming weeks.

Lee has four years of experience with Exeter’s golf team, during which she has “showed great improvement each year,” according to head coach Robert Bailey. Lee was first persuaded by her father to pick up a golf club when she was eight years old. “I initially found it hard to acclimate to the sport because I thought that practicing on the driving range was so tedious, but after I started playing on the courses, golf has really grown on me,” she said. “It helped me to practice mindfulness and patience.”

For Saunders, it is a more long-winded story. Though he picked up the sport at a young age, he did not take it seriously until the summer after his prep year when he worked at a golf course. Saunders was surprised upon learning about his captainship, since he had only been playing golf since lower year.

“When I joined [Exeter’s golf team], there were a lot of strong seniors who helped me, though I wasn’t very good,” he recalled. “The summer before upper year, though, I got a lot better and had a great season last year.” Saunders placed sixth at the Kingswood-Oxford tournament for 23 New England schools, helping Big Red win the championship. “Harry was electric factory, shot 72 and saved the game for everyone,” said lower Kennedy Moore. “It’s something he’d never say, but he was amazing.”

Saunders hopes that the team will renew their championship title this year, but says that his main focus is to acclimate everyone to the team dynamic, especially considering the many young players. “Though all of them have some kind of prior experience with golf, even our best prep players have never played in a team match before,” he said. “Just being able to play golf doesn’t mean you know the rules and etiquettes and how to work as a team.”

His priority for training the new players is to have them practice on the turf as much as possible. “We need to get out on the course more; it’s a different situation out there with the distance, the wind blowing and everything,” Saunders said.

Making the new players feel welcome has been a priority for both captains. “That’s what the captains did when I was a lower and I really learned a lot from them that way,” he said. Team bonding is also an important component; Saunders organized a Master’s betting pool at the beginning of the season, while Lee has been taking the team out to dinner together once every week. “People with different levels of expertise have joined our team, but there’s no division,” she said, expressing gratitude for the inclusive dynamic.

“Harry and Maria are amazing captains who always bring a positive attitude to practice,” lower Arman Tang said. “This is my first year on the team and I already feel at home on the team.”

The positive team spirit is also recognizable to those who had previously played for Exeter before. Senior Grace Pan described this team as “the most inclusive, most supportive team we’ve had,” during her three years with golf. According to her, the team has nicknamed Lee “Smiley” because of her optimism and encouragement. “I always play better when I play with Maria because she makes the day brighter, as she is a delight to talk to and is always incredibly encouraging,” she said.

Pan also made some positive comments about Saunders. “Even on days when I’m not playing in the same group as Harry, I will still inevitably hear him yell ‘Good shot, Grace!’ from a hole behind or ahead of me,” she said.

This stands in contrast with her experience the first year on the team, when she was “always intimidated by the more skilled players—afraid of playing with them and slowing them down.”

She appreciated how Saunders always emphasizes the importance of playing with better people to push one’s standards. “He has effectively created a team that is unafraid of messing up and asking for advice,” Pan said. “Harry’s encouragement of friendly competition in our daily practices has really helped me improve my skills and also become more comfortable with the competitive pressure of our official matches.”

Prep Eunice Kim recalled a distinct memory when Saunders was encouraging towards the new players despite a loss in their first tournament of the season. “[Saunders] talked about his own mistakes, but laughed it off, saying that we’ll all do better next time,” Kim said. “His positive attitude brought the mood of the whole car’s atmosphere.” Such moments define the image of the senior golf captains in the minds of team members, old and new.

Bailey echoed these sentiments, saying, “Harry and Maria are both very good players and great captains. Each bring different qualities to the team and are very respected by their teammates.”