By all accounts, Kelsey Jensen has been a great golfer since her days at Plant City High School.
So, it wasn’t a huge surprise that she’s barely two months at a new school and has already made her mark in the record books.
Jensen, a junior at the University of Illinois at Chicago, got off to a red-hot start in September at the Green Bay Fall Invitational with a 226 — beating the school’s previous 54-hole record by 17 strokes. On top of that, she placed second overall in the tournament.
In doing so, she also broke the two-day record during the tournament, shooting a 149 before the final day. Her Monday round, a 74, was the second-lowest in program history, and the 75 she shot on that Sunday was the third-lowest total.
That performance also netted her Horizon League Women’s Golfer of the Week honors — an achievement no one from the UIC golf team had ever received.
“It was awesome,” Jensen says. “My coach called me Friday night and told me. It was really cool. We didn’t celebrate — we had a tournament (the next) weekend.”
They did celebrate the second-place finish, though, in classic sports fashion.
“We went out for ice cream after I placed second,” she says.
RAIDER DAYS
If Plant City golf coach Meg Jordan was surprised to hear that Jensen broke records so quickly, she didn’t exactly show it. Jensen, after all, is the only golfer in program history to match Jordan’s own school record — shooting a 34 in nine holes.
“A lot of people have shot 35s and 36s, but no one else has shot a 34,” Jordan says. “She was a great young lady, and she still is.”
Jensen, along with Belinda George, Shelby Johnson and Kellyanne Hurst, were the core of a Plant City team that went all the way to the state tournament in 2011.
Jordan attributes Jensen’s success to her attitude on the course.
“It’s mainly her demeanor, which is wonderful,” Jordan says. “It’s nice when you can watch a player on the golf course and you don’t know if they’re doing well or doing poorly, because they have such an evenly-balanced attitude throughout.”
That’s the kind of outlook Jordan likes to instill in her golfers. “Their attitude is half the battle,” she says. “Everyone can hit the ball, but your attitude — where is that? Are you stomping your club on the ground? I don’t know that I ever saw (Jensen) stomp her club on the ground once, in the four years that I coached her.”
BEYOND PLANT CITY
Jensen’s performances as a Lady Raider drew the interest of Seminole State College, in Sanford, and she played well for the Lady Trojans for two years.
In her freshman year, she ranked 11th in the NCJAA National Tournament and improved to sixth in her sophomore year. In both years, she was also named a second-team All-American player.
“She had a lot of success at Seminole State, and I attribute that to her mental capacity and work ethic,” Jordan says. “Never one to complain. Never any excuses.”
This year, though, Jensen felt that it was time for a change. She has aspirations to become a chemical engineer after college, and the strength of UIC’s Engineering program drew her up north.
She began her career with the Flames by shooting six consecutive rounds in the 70s — including those three record-breaking scores — and recorded a scoring average of 77.7.
As of press time, Jensen is tied for sixth place with a 164 in the Loyola Fall Invitational, leading the team, which currently sits in third place.
Her torrid start to the 2014-15 golf season is worth keeping an eye on, even if some find it unsurprising.
Contact Justin Kline at jkline@plantcityobserver.com.