Keser has another sport driving her

GOLFERS TO WATCH

Maddy Alamillo, sr., Battle Ground — Two-time 4A district champion.

Chloe Bartek, so., Columbia River — Finished 15th at state as freshman.

Yun Belex Cheng, so., Union — 2010 Class 3A player of the year.

Amelia Dale, Mountain View — Took third at district, leading team to title.

Delaney Keser, jr., Skyview — Finished second at district in first year of golf.

Nicole Sallee, sr., Woodland — One of three Beavers who made state last year.

Maddy Ward, sr., Prairie — Runner-up at district, two-time state qualifier.

They call her “Man Clubs.”

While that might not seem flattering, Delaney Keser loves the nickname.

“I’m the only one who uses men’s clubs out there,” she said. “They always ask me, ‘How do you hit it so far?’ I don’t know. It’s just how it works.”

Using her longer sticks, Keser, a junior from Skyview, can boom the drives. She also is not bad with the short game.

A year ago, she finished second in the Class 4A Greater St. Helens League’s district tournament. She has had a decent start to this season, too.

More impressive is what she has done with her golf game between last spring and this spring.

Practically nothing.

“I pretty much shut it down,” Keser said. “I think I only went golfing two or three times from the end of last season to the start of this season.”

Keser is known more in Clark County athletics for her ability on the basketball court with the Skyview Storm. Competitive golf was almost an accident, a Sure!-I’ll-give-it-a-try proposition.

In a testament to her athletic ability, she played as Skyview’s No. 1 in her first match — last season. By the end of the season, she earned a trip to the Class 4A state tournament.

As soon as that ended, it was time for summer basketball, which led to fall workouts, and then the high school hoops season with the Storm.

While basketball is a priority, she also says she loves golf.

“Golf is all about being humble and enjoying the game with people,” Keser said. “Basketball is more of a competitive sport for me. Golf is something I do to enjoy for the spring season. I loved being able to meet new people through golf. That was really cool.”

Until her sophomore year, Keser’s golf experience was once in a while with her dad, Sean. Delaney participated in youth clinics a few years back but never played junior golf tournaments.

“It was just recreational, something to have fun with my dad,” she said. “It was two or three times a year — whenever.”

Delaney told an assistant coach with the basketball team that she enjoyed her time on the course. That assistant, Devon Cooper, was the Skyview golf coach at the time. Brown convinced Keser to join the team in the spring.

Keser had to adjust to tournament scoring. There are no gimme putts in matches. She had to keep track of her score, as well as her opponent’s. She had figure out rulings.

Before long, she was amazing her new teammates with her talents, talents that until then were unrecognized, even by Keser.

“Toward the end of the season, I felt there was a good chance of (going to state). Definitely not what I was thinking the first day out at golf practice,” she said.

Expectations are higher this season, now that she has a taste for tournaments and matches.

“A chance to play on Day 2 (at state) is something I’d like to be able to accomplish,” Keser said.

Becoming a success so soon ultimately led to questions.

“What if I golfed every day?” she asked herself. “What could I do? Is there a chance I could play college golf?”

For now, those questions will be left unanswered. She still has basketball in her blood. She wants to see how far she can go on the court first.

That’s not a knock on golf. In fact, because golf is patient, she will have plenty of opportunities on the course.

“Golf is a lifelong game,” she said. “It’s just something to always improve on. Golf is about memories, good times with good people.”