Kaiserslautern's Asia Andrews hits the ball on the No. 12 fairway during the final round of the DODEA European golf championships on Oct. 10, 2024, at Woodlawn Golf Course on Ramstein Air Base, Germany. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)

Coming Saturday: Athletes of the Year in tennis.

Asia Andrews struggled with motivation heading into her senior golf season, but it was not because she was tired of her winning ways.

The Kaiserslautern ace’s friends and longtime teammates Reigen Pezel and Shaelee Moneymaker-Donachie graduated the previous spring. Andrews credited the duo from keeping her from self-isolating when she first arrived in Germany, getting her to come out for the team and helping her rediscover her love of golf.

With them gone, a rigorous courseload that includes five AP courses and the knowledge that she wasn’t pursuing collegiate golf, the daughter of Valerie and Tye Davis admitted she found it difficult to continue.

Yet her teammates this fall – Sofia Johnson, Mackenzie Dager, Sophie Pezel and Lola Wesseler – pulled her back into the sport.

“When (Reigen Pezel and Moneymaker-Donachie) left, it was kind of difficult to find the motivation to keep going with the team,” Andrews said. “I kind of put it on the backburner. But the team, they all have great spirit, and they are fun and uplifting, and they just make a great atmosphere on the course.

“So, I’m really thankful for them.”

The Raiders are thankful as well.

Stars and Stripes’ 2024 girls golf Athlete of the Year continued Kaiserslautern’s dominance by winning her third-straight title – and the program’s fourth consecutive individual crown – and helping the Raiders tie rival Ramstein for the team title.

With the win at the DODEA European golf championships on Oct. 9-10 at Woodlawn Golf Course on Ramstein Air Base, Germany, Andrews became the second Raider in the past decade to win three individual titles. The other was Kaiserslautern alumnae Jasmin Acker from 2015-2017.

Her victory wasn’t as comfortable as in years’ past, though. Andrews defeated Ramstein’s Mya Boynton 56-50, while Ramstein’s Nora Hacker and Naples’ Morgan Johnson tied for third with 46 points in the Modified Stableford scoring system.

In her previous two championships, Andrews won by 16 and 14 points.

Andrews pointed to her month-and-a-half hiatus without practicing over the summer when she visited family in the States as putting her behind. Meanwhile, players like Boynton and Hacker put in the work, and it showed.

“I kind of regressed, and they were always getting better,” Andrews said. “I wasn’t too shocked to see how much they had improved.

“Although I didn’t love the added pressure to my usually easily secured win, I’m really excited that there are girls at the more competitive level playing golf. It’s bittersweet, but more sweet than bitter.”

Andrews still entered the European championships as the top seed with an average of 25.67 points. Hacker and Boynton were right behind at 22 and 20.33 points, respectively.

She said she was nervous, but her coach, Andrew Dager, was her playing group’s marshal the first day. With a level of comfort, Andrews posted a 30 – her best round since the team qualifiers the week of Sept. 3.

Andrews had held a five-point advantage, but the team race was close, with Kaiserslautern leading by one after the first round. The Raiders needed another good performance during the final round to retain the championship.

The Royals erased that one-point deficit to tie it at 110, after Boynton outscored Andrews 27-26 on the day. The teams elected to share the title, meaning Kaiserslautern extended its streak of at least a share of a European title to four years.

“Ramstein has two extremely strong players, but I think we had stronger and more consistent players,” Andrews said. “So, by all playing our part, we were able to pull it off in the way that we were.”

The double title ended Andrews’ competitive golfing career.

She mentioned it was difficult to tell her parents that she wasn’t going to play in college, but it’s not as though she’s going to give the sport up. The Kaiserslautern senior said she will continue to hit the links for leisure.

And she always will remember the mark the past four years have left on her.

“When I look back through yearbooks, through pictures or even my own articles, I see the person that I’ve progressed into from being timid freshman year to now, winning and having fun and building team camaraderie, which I think I would have never done had I not joined the golf team,” Andrews said.