Daniel Ochoa is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Xavier College Prep for AZPreps365.com.

Kate Hauptman, the15-year-old sophomore, looks to put a cherry on top of a stellar season with a return to state hoping to dominate for Xavier.

Hauptman came off a phenomenal freshman year with a third-place finish in the girls Division 1 state championships, placing highest amongst Xavier girls and helping Xavier claim its 37th state championship.

As a freshman, Hauptman claimed a spot in the 2020 All-Arizona Girls Golf Team and a nomination for Golfer of the Year. She finished her 2020 season with a 17 putting average and a 37.1 season match average.

Co-head coach “Tui” Selvaratnam highlighted that Hauptman continues to improve all the aspects of her game and she’s hoping to see her perform well at state again after an unexpected deep run.

“Last year I don’t think Kate had any expectations," Selvaratnam said. "She went out there and just played golf."

But now, Hauptman is expected to play in this year’s state championships and has high aspirations after a sensational first appearance.

“This year I’m probably gonna play as a higher spot, so under this pressure, hopefully, I can perform well and get my game improved on all the aspects,” Hauptman said.

Hauptman has finished top five or better in eight tournaments this season and has continued her dominant run with two big tournament finishes boosting her name.

Possibly Hauptman’s biggest accomplishment of her golf career thus far is her co-medaling at the 2021 U.S. Women’s Amateur Fourball Qualifier. Hauptman competed with Xavier teammate Jayden Jevnick and is heading to the Fourball Championships in Puerto Rico next year along with Jevnick, Berlin Long, a BYU verbal commit, and Grace Summerhays, ASU commit.

Hauptman also attended the PING Invitational in July where she tied for second in the girls championship division. She finished with a score of 2-under par and tied with three other players.

This is only Hauptman’s second year of competitive golf play after embarking her golf career in fourth grade. It wasn’t until freshman year that she began to take golf seriously, which presents a challenge for her fellow competitors with Hauptman barely finding her footing.

“I was honestly surprised that I could do all that stuff,” Hauptman said. “But if you put your work in and put your mind to it, you can honestly do as well as you think you can.”

Senior Kate Ryan has taken this work ethic on building herself from a “bottom of the team” player to a top performer for the Xavier golf team.

“I did start out at the bottom of the team, and slowly worked my way up,” Ryan said. “I think I do owe some of that to this team pushing me to my fullest extent. They always keep me on my toes…”

Hauptman’s ability to grow in a short amount of time to Xavier’s top golfer has impacted the team as a whole, but also allowed Ryan to mentally prepare herself to grow into someone ready to play at the collegiate level.

“She’s definitely an example to me,” Ryan said. “Her continuing to improve herself has helped me improve myself and realize, 'Kate's not gonna get any worse, I have to get better.' It helped me realize if Kate is putting in 100%, I need to put in 110%.”

Ryan is expecting to play at the collegiate level and is hoping to attend a California school. Hauptman, however, has other plans as of now.

Although her coach believes she can play at the Division 1 level, Hauptman doesn’t expect herself to play at the collegiate level and is putting school ahead of golf. Hauptman wants to pursue nursing at a school in the Midwest, and although some colleges have reached out to her, Hauptman remains passionate about nursing.

“I’m not expecting to play in the LPGA, so we’re just gonna see where it takes me,” Hauptman laughed.

Hauptman is still far from thinking about colleges, and instead will focus on her team and preparing for the state championships taking place in early November. With well over a month to prepare for state, Hauptman and the Xavier golf team will continue to practice and work on their top five for the tournament.

Hauptman’s last obstacle of this season is another high-level matchup against the reigning state champion, Mattie Frick, and with the growth Hauptman has had, a dethroning is possible.