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The St. Louis high school golf scene will look and feel a lot different starting this fall.

Carol Fromuth, one of the most recognizable and vibrant figures in the area high school golf community, died in February at the age of 88.

Fromuth, who began her area coaching career at Lafayette before moving on to build a powerhouse program at St. Joseph’s the last 27 years, coached right up until her death, including the 2024 season.

Beyond that, she touched the lives of so many area golfers — both girls and boys — through offseason programs like the Gateway Junior PGA and the Accelerated Golf Tour.

“At her celebration of life, there were high school kids and there were 90-year-olds. It was very cool,� said Fromuth’s daughter, Susan Bachowski. “I would go into Best Buy and the guy would say, ‘Is your mom Carol Fromuth?’ I said yeah, and he was like, ‘Your mom was amazing to me when I was at the Gateway.’ And then a member came up to me at St. Louis Country Club, and they were at an all-men's business meeting. As an icebreaker, all these grown men were going around the table telling someone that influenced their lives or changed their life. And this one businessman said Carol Fromuth. He said, ‘She taught me to be detail-oriented and she actually disqualified me at my first tournament because I signed the incorrect scorecard, but it taught me a lot.’ That's awesome.�

Never was Fromuth’s stature in the golf community more evident than when she was in the hospital.

“It went really fast (after she got sick), but when she was in the ICU, there was literally a waiting line out there. I would kick two people out and let two in. And she was having the time of her life. It was like a party,� Bachowski said. “I'm like, ‘Mom, look who I found out in the waiting room.’ And she was with the AGT people. She was telling them to call this golf course and call that one. She was still barking orders. Still working.�

Bachowski said Fromuth began feeling ill during the season last fall, as the Angels were finishing as the Class 5 runner-up.

“She was experiencing extreme tiredness, so she started doing tests and she was anemic, but they couldn't figure out why. ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ were trying to figure out where she was losing blood, which was causing her anemia. The last test we did was a bone marrow biopsy, which discovered the leukemia. And it was the worst leukemia that you could have,â€� Bachowski said. “She was diagnosed in January, and the prognosis was not good at all, like weeks to months, maybe two years, if she did the chemo. So, I took her to the hospital on February 3 to start her chemo. She couldn't do it because her blood pressure was so low. And then from that point, they admitted her into the ER. Before I knew it, she was in the ICU. Before I knew that, we were bringing her home to die.â€�

When the time came to fill Fromuth’s sizable shoes, Bachowski recalled the many conversations they had about if she would ever want to replace her mother at St. Joe’s.

After the application process, what looked to be a potential coaching hire fell through and Bachowski was approached again.

And why not? She is a full-time LPGA golf instructor who has been at St. Louis Country Club for 26 years.

Bachowski finally said yes, harkening back to a conversation with the woman affectionately known in golf circles as “Fro,� who won a record 10 state championships, including a record seven straight from 2016-2022.

“When she was diagnosed and we were in the doctor's office, she told me, ‘I hope I live long enough to win one more state title.’ Her goal was to win one more state title,� Bachowski said. “So, our mantra this year is, ‘For Fro.’ We're going to hopefully try to win a state championship for my mom. That's our goal. That would be the coolest thing for me selfishly and for the girls.�

Bachowski said she hopes to work two more years at St. Louis Country Club and had a similar timeline of a year or two in mind for her tenure at St. Joe’s.

That is, until she got to fall practice and had a revelation.

“I kind of, sort of like it. It's kind of fun,� Bachowski said. “So, I could see me doing this for a while. And the odd thing is my mom started at St. Joe at the same age as me.�

The coaching continuation of mother to daughter has provided a fairly seamless transition for the returning Angels golfers.

“It's weird and different, but also Susan is almost just like her and brings the same energy,� St. Joe’s junior Tess Guignon said. “You feel like she's still there.�

Guignon somewhat unexpectedly won the Class 5 individual championship to give Fromuth a fitting final present as a coach — her first and only individual state champion.

“Yeah, it means a lot because she hadn't had an individual state champion in her whole career,� Guignon said. “And so, I think, especially having it her last year was kind of cool.�

And now, Guignon will team with returning state golfers Cammi Yelton and Maggie Drozda, along with an influx of several talented youngsters, to try to fulfill one of their legendary coach’s final wishes of one more state title.

“We have five pretty darn good girls, a person sitting at six that's pretty good and seven and eight could do it, so this year is kind of like our time, if we're going to do it,� Bachowski said. “But I feel like we'll be OK. I think we have a pretty good chance. That's our goal.�