‘Cool as a cucumber’: Olentangy’s Meadow Tian prepares for final season
Monday, July 28, 2025
By Michael Rich
mrichnotwealthy@gmail.com
Olentangy senior Meadow Tian will be one of the players to watch in Central Ohio this golf season, which begins Monday. The Illinois commit just won the Ohio Junior Girls Championship at Marion Country Club. Photos courtesy of the Olentangy girls golf team
Meadow Tian is not averse to coming up big in pressure situations. The Olentangy senior has proved it time and time again, whether it’s competing at the Division I state tournament three years in a row or winning tournaments like the Ohio Junior Girls Championship, which took place July 13-15 at the Marion Country Club.
Tian played big in those moments. She shot a 66 as a freshman to set a record at the state tournament and her 66 at Marion tied a tournament record.
But even when Tian is not posting record-setting numbers, she has an inclination for blocking out the noise and doing what needs to be done.
A case in point happened at last year’s district tournament at the Links at Echo Springs. Tian needed birdies on the final two holes to get locked in a three-way tie with Olentangy Liberty’s Olivia Aronhalt and Worthington Kilbourne’s Bella Anderson, who all finished with an even-par 72.
Tian’s personal best round of 64 came at Echo Springs just a couple of months earlier than district. So, it was no surprise that she came through in the end, making par in the playoff to advance to state.
“Everyone was kind of surprised that she didn’t really have a great round at the district round,” Olentangy coach Micah Conley said. “And so, we’re walking to the tee box – two spots for state (with) three players, and she was just cool as a cucumber, like joking as we were walking …”
Aronholt birdied the playoff hole to win medalist honors, but Tian advanced to her third state tournament where she finished tied for second, leading all central Ohio representatives.
“I think just because she’s played in so many elite national (tournaments), like I mean, completing against girls globally, that has just been kind of like refinement by fire,” Conley said. “Essentially, she’s just done it so much and she’s risen to the occasion time after time after time.”
Pressure comes with the territory for Tian. She’s shot par or better in 31 of 41 regular season tournaments over the course of her career, including 14 rounds where she posted scores in the 60s, according to Conley. She’s finished in the top five 38 of those rounds with 12 wins and was first-team all-district three times, second-team all-state twice and first-team all-state.
“There’s definitely pressure,” Tian said. “But I play in a lot of tournaments so there’s kind of pressure around it. It’s just how you – not ignore it – but how you put it aside when you play and you just focus on every shot rather than thinking about the consequences that could happen.”
Tian has been playing since she was nine years old, picking it up after trying out a few other sports. She said she wasn’t big enough to play some of the team-oriented sports like soccer, volleyball, or basketball.
Mainly, she was a concert violinist. So, it was on a whim when she first picked up a club.
“Nobody in my family played golf,” Tian said. “But my dad had friends who always invited him out to go play. So, he ended up just taking me along and that’s kind of how it started.”
Tian found out she was quite suited for the sport. As a violinist, she was used to performing in front of crowds and she had to do her part to help the success of the symphony just like an individual player has to shoot well to help the team in golf.
“For violin it is mostly a very solo – not sport – but solo art,” Tian said. “You’re always on stage by yourself and you perform by yourself. So, I feel like that really helped me get into golf where I had to rely on myself as well.
“Playing in front of the crowd was always really my weakness when I was a violin player. But it definitely did help me adjust a lot more when I got into golf. (I) got to play in bigger tournaments (and) bigger venues with college coaches (and) bigger crowds watching, in general.”
Tian hadn’t played team golf before joining Olentangy as a freshman where she helped the Braves qualify for state for the first time in program history. She was the youngster on a team that included a senior in Olivia Drankwalter and three juniors – Kimmy Archer, Elizabeth Yang and Navisha Soni.
“Yeah, I didn’t have any expectations going into it because I had no idea what (playing with a team) was going to be like,” Tian said. “Everyone is so much closer than I thought. The girls that I’ve met all through my four years are amazing and I think I prefer team golf because of the social aspect of it and we all can rely on each other, and we all support each other in that way.”
Now, it’s full circle. Tian is the elder statesman on a team that features sophomore Jodie Han and juniors Sophia Dreischarf, Aubrey Davis and Kaylee Keys. Han, who was district Player of the Year, set the school record with a 62 last Sept.
“She just had a really, really solid group around her (her freshman and sophomore years) and once it kinda opened her eyes to everything that the sport has to offer to her from a team standpoint,” Conley said. “And she just she really bought in.”
Tian has finished in the top six at state each of her three years and she might be poised to win the individual title this time around. Committed to play at Illinois, Tian says that not winning the title won’t mean the season is a bust.
“Meadow isn’t really one who would necessarily state like, ‘My goal this year is to win state’ because she’s accomplished so much and she’s never really hung her hat on those specific things,” Conley said. “But I know for her just being a competitor – she wants to win it. So, obviously (that’s a) goal for (her) this year. But honestly, it’s the team. Like she wants the team to make it to state.”
