Grace Leber just finished her senior season with the Trevians with an All-State finish (fourth) in the IHSA Class 2A championships. Leber will compete with Boston College starting next year.
1. Do you have any preround or preshot rituals?
I’m not too particular; though, when I putt I touch the face of my putter twice. When I line up for my practice putts, I wipe it and when I line up to the ball, I wipe it again. Usually players will wipe it to clean the face … but I just kind of made it a habit. And throughout the round I always use a quarter as my ball mark, instead of a particular ball mark.
2. Why Boston College?
I love the school and my mom went to Boston College and my dad went to College of the Holy Cross, which is near it. So our family loves that area, so I’ve grown up knowing the school. The campus is beautiful, the academics are incredible. They definitely set you up for a very bright future. Golf-wise, I was trying to play as good and competitive golf as I could in college and with this team and coach, I definitely think I’m going to be pushed my full potential there. I’m excited to see how far I can get in the game.
3. What your favorite club in your bag?
Probably my driver. I can hit it pretty far and most of the time I’m able to control it. It’s always been a fun club for me to hit and always been a good asset to me.
4. When did you know golf was the sport for you?
Probably my sophomore year of high school. I played ice hockey and continued that through last year, so I played for around a decade. And I always played it at a medium level skill-wise, but for golf, I was always so competitive and noticed my game was getting better each year and I was never plateauing like I did in ice hockey. I could see myself going really far and loving it for a long time.
5. What is your favorite golf memory or moment?
I’d probably say the 50-foot putt (to birdie the 18th hole in the state finals), just because the whole team was watching and my parents were there and for the last hole, there’s a huge hill behind the green and we were the last group out so all my friends from other teams were there to watch. And the first, second and third teams — obviously ours was third — stormed the green. So we got to celebrate together.
6. What’s your favorite thing to do off the course?
I like just hanging out. Some hobbies I enjoy doing are baking and cooking, but most of the time I like to just hang out around the house. I also just love athletics in general. I like just picking up a sport and playing with some friends.
7. What would your dream job?
Right now, I want to try to go into accounting and see how far I can get on that career path. I really enjoy math and enjoy repetitive math, which is good for that career path. It’s also stable. I feel like I can go a long ways there while still being interested in the topic.
8. If you’re in Walgreens with a couple bucks, what are you buying?
I’d probably buy like a Hershey’s chocolate bar.
9. If you could travel anywhere, where would you go?
I’d love to go to Italy one day. I’ve taken Latin since fifth grade, so you learn a lot about the history of Rome, so I’d like to use that knowledge and just travel around that area.
10. What does New Trier golf mean to you?
It was great. It’s definitely a fun change of pace from summer tournaments. Summer tournaments you’re almost always alone even if you’re kind of seeing friends. You’re always your own team. Right after stress of that season ends, you go into high school season and you’re around the same people every day and all these different support systems. You get to joke around and have this outlet and have fun at the end of your day and just laugh. This team this year has probably been my favorite of all the years. I feel like we really got along and had a lot of laughs, especially toward the end.
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