Madison Butler remembers the day vividly, when only one thought popped to mind after she shot 77 for “technically” the second time in her life.
“I was like, ‘Wow, I shot that for nine holes a few years ago.”’ she recalled with a laugh.
Highland’s Madison Butler is the 2015 Gazette girls golf MVP. RON SCHWANE/GAZETTE PHOTO ILLUSTRATION
Now a Highland junior, Butler’s growth on the golf course has been swift and striking. She’s been playing for a little less than seven years, having gotten the bug after being encouraged by a ballet friend’s mother to try the game.
A lot has changed since the then-10-year-old went to a clinic hosted by local teacher Pam Stefanik.
Stefanik is still her swing coach, but ballet is ancient history — at least in a teenager’s mind — and Butler’s life revolves around her golf bag with the can’t-miss Minnie Mouse driver cover.
The proof came this fall with another stellar high school season, as she earned Suburban League American Division MVP honors and qualified as an individual for the Division I state tournament, where she tied for 26th.
The icing on the cake came this week, as Butler became the seventh Hornet in the last eight years to be named Gazette MVP.
“I read an article about the word ‘grit,’ and that’s a good word to describe her,” Highland coach Mary Becker said. “She is very focused. Lack of success doesn’t get her down. It just makes her more intense and determined. When things go wrong, she buckles down.
“You don’t see it that often. There are kids that are more talented than her, but she’s a better golfer because of her focus and ability to forget a bad shot and go on.”
A 5-foot-6 right-hander with a 3.98 grade-point average, Butler’s family moved from North Carolina to Medina when her father Pete got a job transfer. The Butlers soon thereafter built a house in Hinckley Township, thus bouncing Madison to Highland at the start of second grade.
Golf emerged on Butler’s radar after Becker had founded the Highland program — making Butler arguably the first star player to have a childhood goal of playing for the Hornets — and her dedication in middle school was unquestionable, as she tagged along to attend some of the first state tournaments Highland competed in.
A visible presence around the program for years, everyone knew Butler was driven to succeed.
“Ever since the program started, I remember going and watching states when it was Stephanie (Horvath) and Lauren (McKinzie) there,” said Butler, who also was in attendance when Jessica Porvasnik won the 2012 D-I state title. “I knew I always wanted to be like them. That was always my goal, to be a Highland golfer like them.”
Butler paid her dues for two years, so to speak, with very solid 40.6 and 39.3 averages in the No. 2 spot behind ace Chloe McKinzie, the 2014 Gazette MVP who now plays for Ohio University. This year was Butler’s chance to shine, and she manned No. 1 for most of the year save for a few exceptions when fellow standout Alicia Porvasnik took over.
While the increased pressure was noticeable playing with the best players in Northeast Ohio, it also pushed Butler to improve. She managed to shave 1.2 strokes off her nine-hole average, and her 38.1 mark tied her with 2012 second-team Highland All-Ohioan Jessica McRae for fifth lowest in Medina County history. The top four belong to Jessica Porvasnik (35.6, 36.1, 36.7) and Chloe McKinzie (38.0).
Along the way, Butler shot in the 70s 13 times in 16 events, fired a 3-under-par 69 at the Suburban League Preseason Tournament and tied for medalist honors at the historically deep Legends of Massillon District.
While the 16-year-old fell shy of her All-Ohio goal by six strokes, beating or matching players who did — mainly fellow Northeast Ohio stars Jacinta Pikunas (Boardman), Hannah Lemons (Massillon Jackson), Kory Nielsen (Kent Roosevelt) and Abbie Pearce (Green) — has reassured her she belongs.
“She makes a lot of clutch putts and she makes these great chips,” Becker said. “The way she recovers is becoming more mentally focused and more determined. With her, two bad things aren’t going to happen in a row.”
Even with an aggressive downswing that often causes her heels to lift off the ground like PGA professionals — “(Fellow players say), ‘Wow, you’re off the ground. How is that possible?’ I don’t know, I just do it,” she said — Butler still isn’t long off the tee, but a brilliant short game is why she’s being recruited by colleges.
That decision is a ways off, but there is no mistaking she’ll play somewhere. Butler has put too much effort into her success at this point, and she still completely embraces the grind needed to improve.
Butler will continue to dream big in the meantime, and 2016 goals already are in place: Shoot in the 70s every round, get Highland back to state as a team and, the grand daddy of ’em all, earn first-team All-Ohio.
“(The season) was great. I had a lot of support from many people and definitely improved in ways that I wanted to improve,” she said. “It was definitely my best season yet, and I’m exciting for next year to see if I can top this season.”
Gazette MVPs
- Madison Butler (H) 2015
- Chloe McKinzie (H) 2014
- Alice Ho (W) 2013
- Jessica Porvasnik (H) 2012
- Jessica Porvasnik (H) 2011
- Jessica Porvasnik (H) 2010
- Jessica Porvasnik (H) 2009
- Lauren McKinzie (H) 2008
- Tegan Skirpstas (M) 2007
- Ashley O’Reilly (M) 2006
- Misti Joseph (M) 2005
- Misti Joseph (M) 2004
- Amy Boulton (Buc) 2003
- Megan Bricker (M) 2002
- Megan Bricker (M) 2001
- Kelly Moskal (Bru) 1996