Tatjana Andracenko is back.
“It feels great to enjoy golf again,” said the Dixie Heights High School sophomore. “I’m having a lot of fun.”
She couldn’t say that five years ago.
“I golfed all the time when I was a kid and played everywhere,” Andracenko said. “But it was a lot of stress for being so little.”
Now 16, Andracenko is one of a handful of local girls golfers teeing it up Friday at the two-day KHSAA state championship tournament in Bowling Green. In her first season on the Colonels, she qualified for the state event with a second-place tie in the state qualifier in Shelbyville. Andracenko shot 1-over-par 74, just two strokes off the lead. Previously, she finished sixth individually at the Region 7 tournament.
“It’s pretty amazing when you consider she just started back at golf this spring,” Dixie Heights coach Paul Treadway said. “Then she spent the first part of summer visiting family and I don’t think she was golfing. She didn’t play in our first tournament. For her to be playing at state is incredible.”
It’s a big moment, but playing in highly competitive events with large stakes is nothing new for Andracenko. She’s been taking on international competition since she was in grade school.
“I played in hundreds of tournaments when I was a kid,” Andracenko said. “It got to the point I wanted to take some time off. I just didn’t expect it to be for five years.”
Early Years
There was a time when Andracenko was an ascending young prodigy on the national golf landscape. She had a club in her hands at age 2. She competed in her first tournament when she was 5. Andracenko was a winner by age 6. She could drive a golf ball the length of two football fields by the time she was 8. She had one of the best peewee swings in the country, a title she earned at a tournament. Andracenko was recognized by the American Junior Golf Association when she was 11.
From Independence with Serbian ancestry, Andracenko represented Kentucky at the U.S. Kids Golf Tournament. Andracenko, who is bilingual and speaks Serbian, was a U.S. Kids Golf Player of the Year for her section. She competed in the Junior World Team Tournaments, where she won events with scores as low as 8-under-par and 12-under-par individually. She competed in three Junior World Golf Championships.
Andracenko toured the country while playing at many of the prestigious junior events. She traveled abroad, often to Serbia to visit relatives. Serbia is a landlocked country connecting Southeast and Central Europe east of the Adriatic Sea, so these were not short trips. Her father, Ivan Andracenko, is a one-time professional soccer player who aspired to play pro golf. He introduced his daughter to the sport when she was no taller than a driver. She was barely 5 feet tall when she walked away from golf so she could live a normal life.
“I just needed to get away,” she said.
Break From Golf
Andracenko reconnected with friends she could not see as often as she liked because she was golfing so much. She enjoyed down time without the need to compete. Andracenko eventually discovered her athleticism ranged beyond golf. She started playing volleyball. She developed an interest in track and field, especially jumping events.
Andracenko took up hobbies such as photography. She took walks, without a golf club in her hand. That was novel. Almost every time the youngster was out for a long walk, she was golfing. Andracenko saw life from a completely new perspective after living a life few could imagine. She felt . . . normal.
“I’m a completely different person now,” she said.
Now 5-feet-7, Andracenko is a longer and leaner athlete. She has been a member of both the Dixie Heights volleyball team and the track and field squad. Her bigger frame and powerful leg drive propelled her to a regional runner-up finish in the long jump for the Colonels’ track and field team.
Return To Golf
Back on the links after diverting her attention elsewhere, Andracenko is incorporating her budding athleticism into her golf game, but she is leaving volleyball and track and field behind. The golf results have been too good to ignore since her return.
“Her ball just looks different and sounds different coming off the club, and she’s still trying to knock off the rust” Treadway said. “There’s a lot to look forward to.”
After wowing her new teammates during early season golf range visits, the new-look Andracenko began scoring in the mid-30s at Dixie Heights dual matches. Andracenko was playing on a par with Dixie holdovers Addyson St. John and Georgia Albrinck, two very accomplished golfers themselves.
“She was shooting 34, 36, 35 and looking pretty good,” Treadway said. “She just wasn’t translating that to 18-hole tournaments right away. And again, I think that’s only because she’s been away from the game for so long. But you saw what she did at the qualifier, so she has really improved in that regard.”
Andracenko is taking her game to new heights while lowering her scores and it has taken some local observers by surprise. For those around Andracenko, it’s not so much a revelation but more of a realization of young promise that’s been rocket-fueled by a heavy dose of refocus.
“We talk mostly about golf,” Treadway said. “She’s dedicated to this. She wants to play in college and go pro.”
It’s a rebirth. Five years after looking away from golf so she could live the life of a normal teenager, Andracenko has decided to play to her strengths. That means hitting the links, much to the delight of her Dixie coach, but to the consternation of her rivals.
“She’s going to be trouble. I can see her playing for a state title down the line,” Treadway said. “Obviously, we are beyond thrilled to have her at Dixie. We’re a very young team but the arrow is definitely point up for sure.”