Lizzy Heath entered the girls golf season with two goals in mind: shoot a round under 90 and earn all-conference honors.

Heath managed to do both this season, but she accomplished an even bigger goal in the process.

Heath became the second female golfer from Alpena to qualify for the state finals last week at regionals and she’ll compete in the Division 2 finals Friday and Saturday at The Meadows at Grand Valley State University.

“I am very prepared for (facing) a lot better golfers than I am that have been golfing for a lot longer than I have been,” Heath said.

Heath is Alpena’s first female qualifier since Maggie Skiba earned back-to-back trips to the finals in 2010-11. What makes Heath’s journey to the finals extra special is that she earned a spot in just her second season of playing competitive golf.

It wasn’t until this summer that Heath decided to seriously focus on golf and it turned out to be a good move for the Alpena senior.

“This is stunning for us. Some of the people they’re golfing with having been playing since they were knee high. They’ve had professional coaches, go to clinics year-round, etc., and have really honed in their art over their lifetime,” Alpena assistant coach Kim Nunneley said. “Then you have someone like Lizzy who comes along and in two years makes state; that’s stunning.”

Last Wednesday, Heath shot a career best 82 during Alpena’s regional in Greenville. It was the third lowest score of the regional and came as a surprise to Heath, who struggled through a few holes and assumed other scores would best hers.

“I was like ‘Ok, don’t get me too worked up’ because when they put the scores up, I had the lowest score for like four teams,” Heath said. “I’m like, ‘Don’t get me too worked up, don’t get me too worked up’ because someone’s going to post better scores than me.”

“After I looked at I was honestly in disbelief. I was like, ‘this isn’t happening, this isn’t real.'”

But disbelief or not, Heath’s score earned her a spot in the finals and this weekend will serve as a culmination of a senior season that’s gone better than she could have hoped for.

She dedicated herself seriously to golf over the summer, participating in River’s Edge Golf Club’s Junior Golf Program, working at home and slipping in a few rounds at Alpena Golf Club. She then established herself as one of the Wildcats’ top golfers and earned second team all-Big North Conference honors along with teammate Courtney Nunneley.

“I didn’t take it seriously last year,” Heath said. “It wasn’t until this summer that I actually was like, ‘Hey I could actually be good at this if I put a little effort into it.'”

Not only has Heath wowed her coaches all season, but her numbers are catching the eyes of in-state colleges and Heath already has one scholarship offer and is currently weighing her options.

“It’s almost overwhelming because I’ve had a set plan to fill out college applications, get accepted and just go,” Heath said. “Now it’s redirecting to a path where I have to get on it right now.”

As for this weekend, Heath is hoping to keep her score under 100 and enjoy the experience. Heath said she talked with Alpena boys golf coach Eric Mitchell about The Meadows and was told the course is challenging and narrow with many out of bounds areas and some different water obstacles.

Since its return last season after a two-year absence, the Alpena girls golf program has afforded players like Heath the chance to flourish in a sport where they might have some natural talent and Heath could serve as a source of inspiration to future members of the program.

“I really really hope that for some people in Alpena that may have never played golf before that they will pick up that club and take it home,” Nunneley said. “Courtney and Lizzy literally went into the high school where they hadn’t had a team in two years and shook the high school tree and some golfers fell out.”

James Andersen can be reached via email at sports@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5694. Follow James on Twitter @ja_alpenanews.