‘My best high school decision’

Sutton’s Mia Ochsner helps build Fillies golf program as it’s first ever 4-year player, sets new standards

Life lessons at times can be a true test of how best to build up character. In the four years since the Sutton athletic department, and girls golf coach Sam Newmyer launched the Fillies golf program, a laundry list of young women have played huge rolls in building the program and ultimately seeing the program finish in the top six of each of the past two Class C state tournaments.

In building the Sutton program, players like Inga Andersen, Chloe Bergen, Avery Robinson, Laurel Moore, Tori Peterson, Shepleigh Ohrt, and many others come to mind, sharing a big part in building the Sutton program to what it has become today, in just four short years.

But through it all, there’s one young lady who has endured through the ups and downs of the game of golf through all four seasons since the program began in 2022, that would be, Mia Ochsner.

Ochsner truly is the epitome of what dedication, hard work, perseverance, and the will to improve in the game that has left the now Sutton senior with her own legacy, a legacy that will be chased for years to come by future Fillies in Newmyer’s program.

Ochsner’s first-ever team competition came in early September 2022 at the Doniphan-Trumbull Invite, where she carded an 18-hole 143 with scores of 75 and 68 during play on the front nine holes and back nine holes in Grand Island that day.

Fast forward to Sept. 23, 2025, and it will prove that Ochsner has worked her tail off to improve, and become a force to be reckoned with on the golf course.

The Fullerton Invite, played at Galaway Creek in Henderson, Ochsner proved that dynamite does indeed come in small packages.

The petite Ochsner carded a career-best 18-hole score of 80 strokes to place second overall in the tournament, and set herself up with a personal best record of her very own.

Two week’s ago, speaking of setting new standards, Ochsner set a new standard at the Class C state tournament in North Platte, shooting a two-day, 36-hole 177, breaking the state meet best Sutton mark set in 2024 by Bergen, who in 2024, walked off of the Lake Maloney Golf Course in North Platte with a then team best state tournament score of 186.

WHY GOLF?

Ochsner was candid when asked why she chose golf: “when I was a freshman, there were a lot of girls out for volleyball, and when we started girls golf, I just told myself to step out of my comfort zone and try something different, and as I look back at the past four years, going out for golf was the best decision I’ve made in my high school career, it literally was my best decision ever.”

She was quick to point out that even though she’s the only person who was on the roster each of the past four seasons, the successes that the program has had, especially the past two seasons, she humbly shared, “it comes down to so many girls that have left a lasting legacy on this program.”

Sharing, “I just feel so lucky to have been a part of helping to build this program, and to be a part of setting the standards of Sutton girls golf, but it certainly goes far beyond just me.”

Ochsner added, “Coach Newmyer is certainly a saint of sorts. When we started that first year, none of us knew the game of golf, or at least very little. He had to start with teaching us the basics, I mean the very simple basics like how to properly even hold a club, so his patience first and foremost is the biggest factor in where Sutton golf has come in just four years.”

Ochsner admitted that she was extremely nervous going into her first-ever golf practice, but even more so, her nerves flared big time during the first meet of the 2022 season in Grand Island, at the Doniphan-Trumbull tournament.

“All I could think about is how am I going to make it 18 holes, just two or three weeks, not long after picking up a golf club the first time in my life.”

The Sutton leader, as she looks back, remembers what Coach Newmyer talked with that first team about the fact that golf is a mental game, saying “coach said we have to play this game with a next shot mentality. He’s said that to us each and every day during the past four seasons. If you have a bad shot, you need to get over it and move on to that next shot and get better.”

PROUD MOMENTS

Ochsner, who opened her freshman season with that 143 at the Doniphan- Trumbull meet, when asked what her biggest memory of golf is, was quick to share, “When I scored at 80 at Henderson this year, setting a personal-record, and of course, right up there is being a part of two straight district championships.”

“I remember thinking after I shot the 80 in Henderson, my mom shared my first ever competitive score and reminded me I shot that 143 and that with my PR, I cut 63 strokes off of that very first score. I’m really proud of that.”

As Ochsner continued to share her feelings about her own career, and the successes of the team as a whole, she kept going back to coach Newmyer and the fact that he never gave up on any of us on each of the four teams that she played on.

“Coach kept the game in front of us at all times, even when he was coaching basketball in the winter, or spending time with his family. It’s almost like he welcomed all of us girls into his family, because as I see it, golf really has a family feel about it.”

Ochsner added, “Golf, they say, is an individual sport. You are out there during each competitive tournament on your own against three other girls playing with you, but in the end, I think golf is a team sport, and you can let your teammates down if you don’t play well individually.”

“Coach took us to other courses to help prepare for districts and state, taking him away from his family a lot, but never once did he complain. He always has been positive, he was always coaching us up, and keeping us looking forward. I just feel so lucky to have been able to learn the game from him, and to have him keep me motivated enough to keep practicing hard, working on my game. I owe my personal success to coach Sam, and I have a feeling all of the girls that have played for him would say the same thing.”

WHAT ISYOUR LEGACY?

Ochsner is proud of the fact that she’s the first-ever four-year player in the Sutton program, she is emotional because of the support she got from her parents Pat and Sara, and certainly the growth she made thanks to Newmyer, but when asked about what she thinks her legacy is, or will be, she paused.... “you know, records are cool, but in reality, within my ownself, I hope people will remember most, I hope the girls that come in after me, that they will remember how positive I was, and am. I hope that is what they take away from how Mia Ochsner played golf for the Fillies. Not scores, not records, but how positive I am, and maybe even how I focused in on the game, and getting better each week, and each year.”

“The mental side of golf was harder to learn for me than the physical side. I worked hard on both, but I really worked hard on being positive.”

Ochsner added, “I made a lot of friends that I’d have never made had I not gone out for golf four years ago, people like Mia Hiebner of Heartland (H&H) and Abby Klooz of EMF.

“Sure, we competed almost every week on a course somewhere, but at the end of the day, so many, including Mia and Abby, became really good friends of mine.”

Ochsner closed by sharing how greatful she is for all of the support she and her teammates have received over the course of her fouryear career at Sutton.

“Our administrators were great supporters, so many teachers here at Sutton reached out to all of us to congratulate us after each meet, but of all the people that I’m so grateful for are of course my mom and dad, my grandparents, and coach Newmyer.”

Ochsner noted, “I can’t believe how what seemed like a little decision four years ago to step out of my comfort zone and go out for golf, honestly, changed me for the better.”

“As I said earlier, it truly was the best decision I’ve made during my high school years. I never would have guessed that golf would bring me so much personal pride in myself, and put me on the teams that I was so lucky to be on, and the girls I played with, and even played against from other schools.”