Washington State freshman Kaitlyn Helm has already learned that a college golf season can turn fast, and it can turn loud in your own head.
Helm came into the year knowing she would be in the lineup for the Cougars’ first tournament, but that didn’t make the nerves any smaller. She opened with a 53rd-place finish and a 14-over-par score.
Then, after shaking off those first-tournament jitters, she found herself in a much different spot at the next event: first place after two days. The final round brought the pressure back in a hurry.
“I think I lost focus on the last couple holes,” Helm said. “I was kind of thinking about what these holes mean. I didn’t know I was winning during that time, so I was just played normally and I kind of put too much stress on those shots.”
By the end, Helm finished third. Even with the late slip, she said the experience gave her something to build on.
“In the moment it was a little hard,” Helm said. “But I have definitely built off that as more courage and more momentum just to play better and just to stick it all the way through the end no matter what.”
That kind of growth has mattered because Helm has been asked to carry a steady load from the start. She has started every tournament this season for Washington State and finished with a 73.88 stroke average, the best mark on the team.
Part of what has helped her settle in is the place itself. On her first visit to Pullman, Helm noticed how close everything felt compared with Phoenix, where she is from.
Pullman seemed much smaller to her, and she liked that she could walk down the street and get to a baseball game. That sense of proximity has opened the door to a lot more than golf.
Helm has taken in hockey and baseball games even though those weren’t sports she had followed before. One day she saw an Instagram post about a WSU club hockey game and went with a teammate.
She ended up enjoying it more than she expected. A similar thing happened in the spring when she found herself at a baseball game.
The athlete community around her has been just as important. Helm has built friendships with athletes on the golf, rowing and volleyball teams, and she expects those connections to stay with her through the rest of her time at WSU.
“It's really nice to have a community around you, like supporting you because the athletes always know each other, and I think that has really helped me transition into college life,” Helm said. “Just the support around each sport is absolutely amazing.”
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