Danielson carries on a family tradition

Wisconsin produces more cheese than golfers.

But Liz and Craig Danielson have done their best to change the dairy label.

Their youngest of three children, Casey, has done quite a job of upholding a family tradition.

Casey, who is competing in this week's AJGA Rolex Girls Junior Championship at Dalhousie Golf Club, duplicated the feat of her older sister, Lindsay, this past school year by becoming a four-time high school state champion in Wisconsin.

Casey will take her bubbly personality and golf skills to Stanford this fall, unlike her sister who played golf at the University of Wisconsin.

Oh, and Casey has a brother.

Charlie is a two-time state champion who recently completed his freshman golf season at the Unversity of Illinois, which fell to Alabama in the NCAA championship match.

Casey was a freshman the year after Lindsay completed her four-year run of Division II titles at Osceola High School.

"The first year it wasn't as bad, because nobody would be [expecting it]," Casey said about the pressure of extending the family reign. "But as the years go on, it's like, 'Oh, you've got to get another one.' But it kind of made it fun, though. It's the one tournament everybody in my community watches just because they know high school sports. They don't really know about my summer tournaments, which don't have anything to do with our school."

She didn't have to sweat things out her senior year, shooting a 66 on the first day and winning the two-day tournament by 12 strokes.

In an AJGA field with heavy representation from Florida, Texas and California, and even two from Hawaii, Casey's frigid origin and hometown stands out like a snowman in the desert.

Wisconsin endured a lot of late-winter snow this year, and that included Osceola, a town with a population of about 2,500 in the northwest portion of the state.

"We didn't start golfing until May, and usually we get out in the beginning of April," Casey said.

The late thaw did not prevent the Wisconsin girl from shooting a 1-under-par 71 in Tuesday's first round. That left her just two strokes off the lead.

"I think sometimes it helps to have a break in the winter, just because you kind of get re-juiced and ready to go in the summer," Casey said. "I kind of like the break, being from Wisconsin. It makes me a little different."

Casey, ranked eighth in the Polo golf rankings, does keep her game sharp in the winter months by spending a lot of time in the kitchen.

"We have a putting green in our kitchen, so they putt all winter in the kitchen," said Liz, who was watching Tuesday's round. "We bought it online. It's a big, 15-20 foot putting green. I'm cooking dinner, and they're putting. They have contests and stuff."

Casey said she takes a lesson sometimes on the weekend during the winter, but it requires an hour trek.

And it wasn't exactly Florida-like weather when she arrived at the range. She would hit from a heated bay out into the snow.

"It's actually pretty cool," Casey said. "If it's windy, it's kind of rough."

Her future college coach, Anne Walker, was on hand Tuesday watching some of the world's top junior golfers.

"It keeps her fresh and she loves the game," said Walker, who just finished her first season as Stanford's women's golf coach, about Danielson's annual forced hibernation. "She's not overused.

"She is just a wonderful young lady, and we're looking forward to having her in the program. She's team-oriented and has a great heart. She's an intelligent kid. I think she's going to be a very good leader for our program. She works hard. We're just excited to have her energy around."

And Casey is thankful for the AJGA, which opened doors for a girl that might have otherwise gone unnoticed in the frozen tundra.

"I feel so fortunate," Casey said. "If it wasn't for the AJGA, I would never have dreamed of going to Stanford."

And Walker will be getting much more than a golfer. Casey has raised money for the Empty Bowls program at her high school, helping both her hometown and internationally by getting donations for birdies during her summer play the last three years.

"She wanted to raise $500 the first year so she sent out e-mails to family and friends saying, 'If you want to pledge money for every birdie I make this summer,' and she wrote out her schedule and estimated how many birdies she'd make," Liz said.

Casey continued the fundraiser for three years and raised about $8,500 total.

"That was a big passion for her," Liz said. "Her golf game changed, because she would make a birdie, and the minute she did she would look at me and we'd clap, because it wasn't just a birdie. It meant something."

Because technically she is no longer is affiliated to her high school and the program, she has put her fundraising on hold this summer.

"It makes things interesting and helped me give back," Casey said. "It kept some people in the community interested in my golf because they were donating. It was a lot of fun, and I hope to do it in the future, maybe when I'm playing in college."

As for this week, she's not hoping for snow to give her an advantage to gain her first major AJGA title, which is good because temperatures are forecasted for the 90s today.

"I like the heat, but I don't mind cold weather either," Casey said.