Calm and consistent

    Palmer junior Jamie Zook admits that she used to get frustrated easily in past years on the golf course, but Zook, the 2008 Metro League individual champion, credits her dad and Terrors golf coach Jason Kohl with helping her to keep focused this year and not get hung up on a few mistakes.

    It showed. The two-time 5A girls state qualifier led her team to the state tournament and to the top of the leaderboard in almost every Metro tournament this year.

    With a win at the Marauder Invitational, second-place finish in the Cougar Classic (83) and a personal-best score of 74 at the Spartan Invitational, Zook guided Palmer to team victories and the season title by 17 strokes.

    For her consistent performance during the regular season, Jamie Zook is The Gazette Girls Golf Player of the Year.

What have you learned from golf that you can apply to life?
I've taken my focus from golf and used that in my life and being calm about stuff in my life has helped me in my golf game.

What do you like best about playing golf?
Playing with my family and competing. I like chipping because my dad taught me so many little chip shots and it's just fun to try go out and hit all those different shots.

Do you ever pretend in practice that you need to make a 10-foot putt to win a PGA event?
Sometimes when I'm playing with my dad he'll say stuff like that. It makes it fun and it takes the anxiety away from the game. He'll say to go out and play with two balls with one being a Jack Nicklaus and the other a Phil Mickelson and to make it into a contest.

Who taught you to play the game of golf?
My dad taught me, because it was something he had played his whole life and so it became a family thing. My mom plays, my uncle plays and my sister plays, too. She helps a lot because it's somebody to go out and play with and she challenges me.

How competitive are you with your sister?
If she needs help with something, I'll see what I can do to help, and I don't think I've held anything back. I've helped her with the mental part of the game, because I used to be bad at that and get all mad. Sometimes when she needs help with that I have to show her how to stay calm and don't get so upset about the game.

Do you have any hobbies other than golf?
I like to go places like vacations and hang out with my family and my cousins in Kansas. I'm a big KU fan so we watch all the KU football and basketball games. Also, shopping, movies and hanging out with my friends.

Wackiest childhood memory?
When my cousin was 10, he had found a toad that had died and he thought he could use those things on television that shock people to help bring them back to life. He plugged it into an outlet in the wall and he thought that it would do the same thing. That was kind of mean.