By Mike Beas
It seems more time might be expended trying to unearth things Demi Bolin isn’t good at rather than ones she is.
When asked, Bolin, the No. 1 player on Plainfield’s girls golf team, ponders this for a few seconds before settling on tennis.
She wishes she was better with a racquet in hand, but it is what it is.
As for Bolin’s wide range of other interests, the junior tends to excel, most impressively in the classroom where her 4.68 grade-point average ranks her 21st academically in a class of 468 students.
Bolin’s athletic past already includes seven years as a competitive baton twirler, nine years of basketball and nine more of golf – each testing her in ways that have proven integral in her involvement as a person.
Though she loved using her quickness and ferocity to be a nuisance to opposing teams on the hardwood, Bolin eventually stopped playing basketball to shift her attention to golf.
Bolin feels her time as a baton twirler (grades 1-7) benefits her on tees and greens alike because of the grip strength and coordination required to excel in both.
At last year’s state golf tournament, Bolin helped Plainfield to a third-place performance at the Brownsburg Sectional with a team-best score of 74. The following week, the Quakers took fifth at the Lafayette Jeff Regional with Bolin carding an 80.
“I first knew Demi as a basketball player. Then she started getting into golf,” said Curt Benge, who coaches the Quakers varsity girls teams in both sports.
“She was a middle school golfer, and was successful. I would say she surprised us as a freshman, and was pretty much fearless. She’s picked it up fairly quick. It’s the versatility of who Demi is as a person.”
Bolin did a Q&A with ICON:
Q: With all that you do academically and musically, what drew you to the sport of golf?
A: I started when I was 7, and I’ve loved it ever since. On the course, it’s so peaceful, and the atmosphere is amazing. I’m very math-based, so trying to figure out the distance … that challenge to me is so much fun. I think that correlates with it.
Q: What musical instruments can you play, and what sports have you played while growing up?
A: I play piano, and then I play upright bass for our orchestra at school. In sports, I did competitive baton twirling for seven years, basketball, softball. I tried tennis and soccer. This isn’t really a sport, but I’ve always been big into chess.
Q: Ten years from now, what career path would you like to be taking?
A: Maybe grad school if I go the medical route. I could do something with mathematics, but I also love chemistry. Probably something math- or science-related.
