By CARTER CHEVES
It’s hard to imagine someone at the age of 12 at a crossroads in their life, but Taelor Rubin was once there. When she was cut from her seventh-grade soccer team, she was initially devastated, but turns out she was also very resilient, albeit in a new direction.
“When I didn’t make the West Lake Middle School soccer team I really didn’t know what I was going to do,” Rubin said. “I just remember my parents telling me I needed to find something else to do and make a commitment to it. They wanted me to find something I could be proud about. Not sure why, but I chose golf.”
Rubin’s venture into golf wasn’t at breakneck speed. She had gone to the golf course when she was much younger and hit golf balls with her dad, Ira, but according to her it was boring and she had virtually no interest. She did however like spending time with dad and being outdoors.
That all changed, again very slowly, when Rubin made up her mind to give golf a shot. For about a year she gave the game just enough time and effort to say she was interested.
Things began to change however, when Rubin, at a new school, Cary Academy, went out for the golf team as an eighth-grader. She made it. It was also about this time that hanging out at Prestonwood Country Club became the thing to do. She began practicing and playing more regularly. Her playing partners became the large group of junior boys that call Prestonwood home, which included Michael Cromie, one of the nation’s top junior players who will play at the University of Georgia next year.
“I enjoy playing with the boys at Prestonwood and on my Cary Academy team,” Rubin said. “That made it a little more fun for me. Boys are so competitive and I really feel that by playing with them it makes me a better player.”
The lure of golf had finally taken hold of Rubin, and she has steadily progressed in the game ever since, becoming one of the top junior players in the state.
“I guess you could say I fell in love with golf,” Rubin said. “I kept getting a little better over time and once you reach a certain level it becomes such a challenge to get even better.”
Rubin, a junior, is the only girl player at Cary Academy. This past year she played No. 1 and just missed – less than a shot in her stroke average – making the NCISAA 3-A State Championship.
