Early start propelled Ariel Chang to success
All parents should be as fortunate as Hou Chang was when he had to entertain his young daughter while his wife completed her nursing degree.
Ariel Chang was 8 when her dad bought her first set of golf clubs. Wednesday, the Eisenhower senior solidified her claim as the best female high school golfer in Macomb County when she shot a six-under66 at Cherry Creek Golf Club to win medalist honors for the fourth straight year at the Macomb County Invitational.
“I started golfing when I was eight and when I was nine I started competitive golf,” she said. “My dad had to take care of me because my mom was in school getting her nursing degree. He always went golfing and he took me with him. He got me a golf set and got me started hitting.
“He was able to make me hit the ball very soon. I was little and as soon as I saw I could hit the ball, I said, ‘I can do this.’ It got me going. My dad is a very good golf coach. He’d stay up really late, researching how to improvemy game.”
Hou’s research and Ariel’s hard work have won her a scholarship to Detroit Mercy where she plans to study dentistry.
“She made an verbal commitment to a five-year scholarship,” said Eisenhower coach Jerry Griesbeck. “The coach said he probably wouldn’t redshirt her as a freshman, but he plans to make her an assistant coach when she finishes her eligibility
so she can keep that fifth year.”
Chang should be a perfect fit as a coach.
“The thing I like about her the most is that she’s 100 percent a team player,” Griesbeck said. “If some of the girls are getting down on themselves, she’s one of the first to notice. She takes them aside and coaches them through the dark spot. She’s done that for four years.
“Coaches can talk to the girls and they might nod, but you don’t know if you’re getting through to them. When it’s from Ariel, you know they listen. Ariel’s work ethic is phenomenal. The girls have noticed that and they’ve practiced harder.”
Although the weather conditions at the county meet weren’t ideal, Chang
“If some of the girls are getting down on themselves, she’s one of the first to notice. She takes them aside and coaches them through thedark spot. She’sdone that for four years.”
Jerry Griesbeck, Eisenhower coach
made the best of them.
“(The wind) picked up later, but I used it tomy advantage,” she said. “I would throwsome grass in the air, see which way the wind is blowing and would just go with the wind and how it would affect my ball.
“I just played my game, took it stroke by stroke. I didn’t want to rush anything. If I have a birdie chance, try and take it. It not, OK, just take it one play at a time.”
Chang got off to a fast start with a birdie on the third hole and a 120-yard chip for an eagle on No. 5.
“That got me rolling,” she said. “Being three under through five made me feel better about my score. It’s been an honor to play this event and win it all four times.”
Chang has also done well in the state finals. She tied for sixth as a freshman, finished third the following year and last season took fourth with a 73-78— 151.
“She’s a tremendous golfer,” Griesbeck said. “Last year, on the back nine at Cherry Creek she shot a 29, seven birdies and a par. She’s a spectacular girl. She’s done a lot of great things, but you wouldn’t know it because she’s so low key.”