Schuckman: By keeping the faith and trusting his game, Thompson guides QND golfers back to state stage

QUINCY — Golf can humble you. Infuriate you. Exasperate you. Baffle you.

And if you let it, the game can break your spirit.

Ross Thompson wouldn’t allow that to happen.

A freshman when he made the six-man lineup in 2019 and was part of the Quincy Notre Dame boys golf team’s second-place state finish, Thompson came into his senior season as the grizzled veteran and expected leader of a team with postseason aspirations.

His early-season play didn’t mirror that.

“Definitely not,” said Thompson, who opened the season as the No. 5 golfer in QND’s lineup. “The year started out good for most of us, but I didn’t start out that great. I was shooting right around the 80 mark, and that will do, but it’s definitely not where I was throughout the summer and where I needed to be during the season.

“I was just like, ‘All right, this isn’t how I want to finish.’ I worked hard, stayed late after practices and grinded it out. I said, ‘This is what I’m going to do,’ and I did it.”

That was becoming a factor.

The persistence and patience he showed with his game enabled Thompson to make steady strides. By the West Central Conference Tournament, which took place at Westview Golf Course five weeks removed from the season-opening D.A. Weibring Invitational, Thompson played himself back to No. 2 in the Raiders’ pecking order.

He shot a 6-over 77 in the WCC outing, tying for fifth individually and setting the stage for what was to come.

In the Class 2A Maroa-Forsyth Regional, which was dubbed the “regional of death” by QND coach Brian Hendrian, Thompson shot a 76, finished ninth individually and led the Raiders to a third-place finish.

At Monday’s Class 2A Bartonville Limestone Sectional, Thompson shot a 1-over 37 over his final nine holes, pushing a triple bogey on the second hole to the wayside and topping the QND lineup with a 75 which led to another top-10 finish individually.

“I went into the day knowing I’m going to have a bad hole or I’m going to have a couple of bad shots,” Thompson said. “You just have to face it. You’re not going to play a perfect round. To be realistic, you just have to know you’re going to have a couple of bad shots.

“That really helped me. It was knowing, ‘Hey, I’m going to have a bad shot, but the next shot is going to be great.’ Your next shot is going to be your best shot of the day. That’s how you have to look at it.”

It’s all about belief, faith and trust.

Thompson believed in himself, never lost faith and trusted his game.

Now, he and the Raiders are back on the state stage where anything is possible.

“I’m so proud of this group,” Thompson said. “We’ve worked so hard. There have been so many ups and downs through the years, emotionally, mentally and physically. The COVID year threw everything off. Now, we finally have this and we can all go to state together.”