It is a perfect match for Aidan Knipfel.

The Mexico senior signed on Thursday at the Mexico Sports Complex to play golf for Columbia College. Knipfel’s ceremony was two days removed from him earning all-conference honors with Jacob Stephens at the North Central Missouri Conference tournament in Fulton.

“I’m happy and extremely more happy it is at the college I want to go to,” Knipfel said. “Before I decided to golf, I decided I was going to this college.”

Knipfel said it was a perfect match since he decided he wanted to study marketing at Columbia College a few months ago and then the golf program offered him a spot about a month ago. His sister, Lillian, is a junior in the women’s program and his parents, while they didn’t play, attended the school.

Ever since he was five years old, Knipfel has been golfing, and his father and sister enjoy the sport as well. However, it wasn’t clear whether Knipfel would be golfing in college, despite him qualifying for state his first two years. In his junior season, he missed qualifying for state by two strokes and all-conference by one stroke.

“I probably had one of my worst high school seasons, and this year, I’m having one of my best,” Knipfel said. “I adjusted my attitude and my emotions — how mad I get when I’m playing bad. I just calm myself to make sure I can play good the rest of the round, even if I start off bad.”

Knipfel said he has struggled with composure “his whole life” and is not letting that hold him back this season and nullify all of the work he has done on the course. As a result, his scores have dropped and he has been placing in more tournaments this season, including his seventh-place finish at conference to return to the all-NCMC honors he had as a sophomore.

Head coach Becca Bates has been coaching Knipfel all throughout high school — one as an assistant and three as a head coach. Bates said the ability was always there since Knipfel was a freshman, but the want and calm mindset needed to be there.

“Last year, his junior year, he struggled and was a little discouraged,” Bates said. “This year, he just relaxed and had fun. His senior year has been a great year as in he’s actually working to do what he needs to go to college. There is a direct correlation with having fun and shooting well.”

The former Truman State University golfer Bates said he is proud to have Knipfel be her first college signing and believes Knipfel was convinced he had what it takes after his results this season. Columbia College golf has been led by Hall of Fame coach Barry Doty since his hire in August 2022 after his longtime stint with William Woods University in Fulton. Doty has led 31 teams to NAIA National Championship appearances and has coached two NAIA Individual National runner-ups.

“It’s been a really cool journey to watch him practice and get better,” Bates said. “I didn’t know whether he was going to play or not so it was good to help him work through that and talk through what it was like to be a college athlete.”

Knipfel is looking forward to forging new bonds at Columbia College and seeing where the sport takes him. He said golf has already provided him with fond moments while spending time on the course with his family. His father played in high school and still does in his free time.

“It’s a way we bond and spend time together and have fun,” Knipfel said. “It’s one of the main ways we bond.”