Minnesota Golfer - Travel 2023 - 40

BACKSPIN
In the Zone
A Mahtomedi sophomore cards a front-nine 30
last spring-we've all been there, right?
T
homas Meader's boundless ability as a golfer still has a lifetime
of memories to shape, but the 16-year-old lefty swears
he'll never forget the magical, uncluttered-between-the-ears
putting stroke he found-or better yet, found him-while he was
shooting 6-under 30 on the front side of Oak Glen Golf Course in
Stillwater back on May 4.
" I think the easiest way to describe what I felt-what I think we've
all felt at some point playing the game-is you're kind of mindless, "
Meader says of the day he won the Metro East Mid-Conference meet
as a sophomore at Mahtomedi High School. " There's no thinking.
You just go up there and do it. And the ball keeps going in. "
Meader reached Oak Glen's 488-yard, par-5 second hole in two. A
sturdy lad standing 6-foot-2, Meader whipped his driver 328 yards
and then hit wedge to 60 feet of a back pin.
" Should have hit the 9-iron, " he says.
No biggie.
" I just kind of walked up and bombed the putt, " Meader shrugs.
" Ten feet before the hole, it's tracking and I'm saying, 'Oh, here we
go!' I'll be seeing that one go in the rest of my life. "
The eagle and four pars got Meader to the sixth tee at 2 under. He
would eyeball four more birdie putts before the turn.
First, a 20-footer.
" Made it, " Thomas says.
Then, another 20-footer.
" Drained it again, " Thomas says.
Then a two-putt tap-in birdie followed by a tricky 10-footer for a
career-low for nine holes.
" The 10-footer did a little 360, ring-around-the-rosie and hung
there, " says Thomas. " Then fell in. "
Thomas shot 67, two shy of the career-low he notched as a 15-yearold.
But mementos from the best putting performance of his young
life now join the keepsakes from that day nine years ago when 7-yearold
Thomas, playing with his dad, also named Thomas, carded his
first birdie with a chip-in on the 118-yard, par-3 third hole at White
Bear Yacht Club.
" When I was 3, my dad put a plastic golf club in my hand, " Meader
says. " And I was hooked. I'd swing that club all day in the yard. "
And now, 13 years later, the kid who's still growing is making the
turn in ... 30?!
" And the funny part is it could have been 28, " Meader says. " I
missed two 6-foot sliders on 1 and 4. But I guess I can't be too upset
about a 30. "
Uh, no.
Thomas Meader
* BY MARK CRAIG *
Meader wasn't ranked among the state's top 100 scholastic golfers
that day. Heck, he wasn't even Mahtomedi's best sophomore. The
Zephyrs had three Super Sophs, all sporting plus-handicaps.
Meader did go on to finish 20th at the state high school tournament
at Bunker Hills in June. Fellow Super Sophs Jacob Wilson, who
also finished top 20, and Riley McGrane helped Mahtomedi place
fourth as a team.
In the midst of such a good year of golf, Meader was asked if he
somehow knew the secret to sustaining that feeling of being " kind
of mindless " and just knowing the ball is going in before a stroke is
even initiated.
" No, " he said with a laugh.
Fair enough. Then how about avoiding the flip side when those
gosh-darn negative thoughts scream, " There's no way this ball is
going in! "
" Funny you say that, " he said in July. " I just played a junior tournament
at Edinburgh. I was 5 over after five and my thinking couldn't
have been worse. I got it turned around, but... "
There was a pause before this wise young man added...
" Golf's still hard. Trust me. "
We will, Thomas. We will.
Mark Craig is the NFL/Vikings columnist and a golf writer for the
Star Tribune.
40
MINNESOTAGOLFER Travel 2023
mngolf.org
PHOTO: COURTESY OF THOMAS MEADER
http://www.mngolf.org
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