'A brand new banner': How a Silver Lake native and German brought history home

SILVER LAKE — Golf courses surround the Topeka area.

No matter your budget, there is a golf course that can fit your fancy. In Leipzig, Germany, the options aren’t so plentiful. This was one of the first things that Klara Kleinig noticed when she moved to Silver Lake two months ago for her student exchange opportunity.

She hoped for the warm climate of California or the sandy beaches of Florida, instead her study abroad group sent her to the vast plains of Kansas. Kleinig doesn’t mind anymore, she was full of joy once she realized that Silver Lake’s roster consisted of many different golfers.

“For young people like me, golf is not typical,” Kleinig said. “When I heard that there were over 20 people on the golf team, I was like, ‘this is crazy.’ For me, that has been a huge difference. The entire experience with the team has been amazing.”

Taylor Zordel is a native of Silver Lake. She has grown up in the town her entire life. Zordel started playing competitive golf only a few years ago, but she has grown to appreciate and love the sport.

These two players didn’t even know the other existed less than a year ago. Now, they are etched in Silver Lake history as the school’s first state champions in girls golf.

Kleinig led the Eagles at the Class 3, 2, 1A State Championship and Zordel was right behind her. The German finished in second place overall with two rounds of 80 for 18-over par. Zordel fired a two-day total of 21-over par which placed her fourth.

Kate Osterhaus, Kailyn Hanni, Avri Broxterman and Madeline Fieger all played their part in securing the state title, too. Silver Lake finished with a two-day total of 701 which was 22 shots better than second place Colby.

“I have lived in Silver Lake my whole life so winning the state championship for the school feels really good,” Zordel said. “A brand new banner.”

Throughout the season, the players credited the Silver Lake coaching staff as a massive factor in them winning the state championship. Players from other teams would tell Zordel and Kleinig that they were extremely lucky for having such great coaches. When head coach Kolby Brown heard this, his reaction was genuine.

“That gives me goosebumps just hearing that,” he said. “ That makes me feel like we are doing our job. We understand that this more about developing them as people rather than just winning. If we do the little things right, the winning is going to take care of itself.”

Golf tournaments can be long and arduous. They work the mind just as much as the body. Hot days coupled with five hour long competitions can be monotonous, but Brown shared that conversations with the players that don’t involve golf have brought levity.

He spoke often with Kleinig about her hometown in Germany and with Zordel about her softball career. These types of conversations helped ease the mind of the young golfers during crunch time.

“The coaches were really big on communicating back and forth,” Zordel said. “They aren’t telling us just what to do, they area asking for our input and what we think. It has been just one whole conversation. “

This season has been such a success for Silver Lake that Kleinig and Zordel are already exploring their next steps. Zordel is thinking of playing college golf next year. She has to make the tough decision between softball and golf, but after winning the state title, her love for the sport is growing exponentially.

For Kleinig, she called her family in Germany to discuss college plans in America. She hopes to earn a college scholarship to play golf. She has already heard back from some college coaches in the region. She shared that the game of golf is nowhere near as popular in her home nation describing it as a “rich, old person sport“ with a huge smile on her face. In Silver Lake, she will go down as the first state champion in school history.

“We won every single tournament this season and I was really confident in our team, “ Kleinig said. “After winning state, everything paid off from our hard work."

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Liam Keating covers high school sports for The Topeka Capital-Journal. You can reach him at Lkeating@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Zordel, Kleinig bring Silver Lake their 1st golf state title