It is all about having fun for Megan Cahill. As The Citizen Player of the Year for girls golf she finishes teeing off her junior year for the Auburn Maroons.

“I put more practice and effort into this year,” Cahill said. “This is the first year I have really buckled down and played, but I still had a lot of fun especially with competing.”

Cahill spent three years trying to qualify for the state championships and found that her hard work payed off this year as she made her first visit.

“To finally qualify was a relief,” Cahill said. “Three years of trying and it finally happened.”

Placing sixth in the sectional tournament Cahill knew she was finally on her way to states where she played well and earned 19th position out of 72 golfers.

“I knew that I could do well,” Cahill said. “I felt really good about competing after all the practice I put in.”

Cahill keeps herself well tuned by playing constantly. During the summer Cahill plays the Central New York Junior Tour to help her game during the season, and in the winter practices indoors. It is not all about just getting good at golf though, but also about a little friendly family competition.

“My dad and I always go out and get competitive,” Cahill said. “I try to beat him and I am getting close. We play together all the time and my mom plays as well.”

Her interest in the sport comes from that family competition and her parents' love of the game.

“It is really a family thing that I got into after awhile, I look up to my dad somewhat because we always go out and play together and compete together,” Cahill said.

She also enjoys playing with her teammates, a team that she will be playing her last season with next year.

“It will be bittersweet being a senior,” Cahill said. “I will have fun being a senior and possibly a leader on the team, but I will miss playing with the girls and it will be hard to let go. I know that I will have college to look forward to and I will definitely be playing in college no matter where I decide to go.”

The team spirit is something that can be seen in Cahill who is looking forward to seeing what the Maroons can accomplish on the greens as a team next season. With hopes of more girls going to states including Cahill next year, she is optimistic about the possibilities ahead for Auburn.

“I am hoping that we keep improving as a team next season,” Cahill said. “We will miss our seniors but it is fun having a young team. Young teams can keep improving together and that is what we will do.”

After her first taste of state competition Cahill cannot wait to get back to it and is modestly hoping to do better when she does. She was the first Auburn girl golfer to qualify for state championships in three years, finally reaching the goal that the Maroons had been working hard to accomplish.

“I want to make states again for sure,” Cahill said. “I hopefully will be at least in the top 15 this time, I just want to improve though and that is all that matters.”

Cahill will be playing all summer to prepare herself for her senior golf season with the Maroons in the sport she loves and just cannot stop playing.

“You can't ever beat golf,” Cahill said. “You can keep playing and get better and better, but you can't beat it. That is why I love to play it so much, I know I will never get bored, I will never have it beat.”