I
f the past year has been any indication of future success,
champion high school golfer Lauren Freyvogel will soon
need a bigger trophy shelf.
Lauren, a junior at Pine-Richland High School, has
been tearing up the links and collecting wins since
she was in mid dle school. Now 16 years old, Lauren has
amassed some of her most notable victories yet. This past
April, she claimed victory—and the coveted sponsor
exemption—at the Self Regional Healthcare Foundation
Women’s Health Classic. The Classic is the premier event
on the LPGA Symetra Tour, which took place in May at
the Links at Stoney Point in Greenwood, South Carolina.
Participants earned their spots in the field through a series
of six pre-qualification tournaments contested over two
months, featuring 152 players from 14 states.
“It was super exciting to win that qualifier and know
that I was going to play in my first professional event,” says
Lauren. “I was so grateful for the opportunity to be inside
the ropes and compete with professionals.”
This was the first year that the LPGA Symetra Tour
allowed a junior golfer into the field. Lauren shot 80-79
from 6,500 yards, but unfortunately missed the cut. Even
though she didn’t advance, she says it was an incredibly
welcoming and educational experience. Her father, Brian,
served as her caddy for the event, and her mother, Lauren,
was in the gallery rooting for her. She also had the chance
to interact with Rachel Rohanna, a professional golfer
from Pittsburgh. The supportive environment helped her
overcome her nerves, she says.
“I’m very comfortable playing around 6,200 yards, but
6,500 is the longest yardage that I’ve played,” Lauren notes.
“One of the biggest differences that I noticed was that the
professionals would have a wedge into the green, and I’d
be hitting a hybrid. That would have a much better chance
to stick it close to the pin for a birdie putt with a shorter
iron. My first putts were typically much longer distance
from the hole.”
The week before
Lauren won the Symetra
qualifier, she took first
place—and defended
her title—in the Peggy
Kirk Boar’s Head Inn
Classic at the University
of Virginia Birdwood
Golf Course. Then,
in June, she won the
Tri-State PGA Junior
PGA Championship
at Fox Run Golf
Course. With that
win, she qualified
for the national
Junior PGA
Championship at
The Country Club
of St. Albans in
Missouri, where
she competed in
100-degree temperature. The Junior PGA Championship is
one of the top two junior tournaments in the country.
“This year has been incredible and definitely the best of
my golf career so far,” says Lauren, who began playing the
sport at age 5. “I feel like my game has advanced to another
level over the past few years. If I’m playing my best, I feel
like I can compete with the top-level junior golfers.”
Having played in the No. 1 spot on her varsity team for
her entire high school career, Lauren earned a silver medal
at WPIALs in October, shooting 1 under par at 71. She
went on to win gold at the PIAA AAA Girls’ West Region
Championship at Chestnut Ridge Golf Resort’s Tom’s Run
course on Oct. 16, winning by two shots. With the win, she
advanced to the PIAA AAA Girls’ State Championship at
Heritage Hills Golf Course in York, the results of which
were pending as of press time.
And she’s already planning for her post-high school
career: she’s committed to play for the University of
Virginia, which won back-to-back ACC championships in
2015 and 2016.
“After my win there [at the University of Virginia] in
March, I stayed for a visit and met with the coaches and
the team. That’s when I received the offer to play for UVA,”
Lauren recalls. “Coach Kim Lewellen and Assistant Coach
Calle Nielson are both amazing. UVA offers great golf,
awesome academics and beautiful campus grounds. I’m
very fortunate to have had opportunities to play for other
schools, but I knew that UVA was the best fit for me.”
In addition to athletics and academics, Lauren has
completed more than 50 hours of Catholic church-related
service throughout her high school career, assisting with the
Faith Formation and Produce to People programs, as well
as the church picnic. She maintains a 4.1 GPA and is on the
highest honor roll. She also danced for 11 years and swam
for seven years, but now concentrates solely on golf.
“Golf can be a very difficult game. I love the mental and
physical challenges of it. Each course is different. Each shot
presents a unique challenge,” she says. “After playing the
game for 11 years now, I still love it. It’s my passion!” ■
Pine-Richland | Winter 2017 | icmags.com 15