GREAT START

The Williamsburg Lady Jacket golf team is off to a quick start according to coach Jeff Sharpe.

The Lady Jackets won their third straight All A 13^th Region Golf championship, August 3, then won their second straight CJ Ready Mix High School Challenge at London’s Crooked Creek, Tuesday, August 4. They followed that up four days later with a fifth place finish in the Pulaski County Invitational against a strong field.

The fifth place finish may have been as impressive as winning the All A Region after beating the likes of Henry Clay, Greenwood, Central Hardin, Lincoln County, Bowling Green, Madison Central and Lexington Dunbar. They even beat cross-town rival Whitley County, 355-430.

“We finished 27 strokes better than our 7^th place finish of 2008,” said Sharpe. This year’s score of 355 was two strokes behind region foe, Pulaski County (353) and eight strokes behind defending region champion, Russell County (347).

Becky Sharpe was the lowest medalist for the day with an 18-hole 79. She won the top award after defeating Glasgow’s Kylie Foushee in a sudden death playoff.

“It was her first high school invitational golf title,” said Sharpe, who happens to be her father.

The amazing thing about this team is, there are no seniors, no juniors and just one sophomore…Sharpe.

Sharpe anchors the team but gets plenty of help from freshman Deavon Lynch, eighth-graders, Kaylee Akins, Julia Higginbotham and Kacie Cox. Bethany Hamblin, who shot an 86 in the tournament, is just a seventh grader.

Williamsburg started the season with a record-breaking win in the 13^th Region All A Tournament. They won the tournament with a score of 336. “This shattered the previous school record tournament score of 375 by 39 shots,” said Sharpe. The score came on the tough Wasioto Winds Golf Course in Pineville.

Sharpe was the low medalist with a score of 77, Akins followed with a 79 while Hamblin shot 88. Higginbotham rounded out the team scoring with a 92. Cox played came in at 128.

At Crooked Creek, the Lady Jackets won their second straight CJ Ready Mix High School Challenge. The nine-hole scramble format event was part of the Crooked Creek Classic Durmed Tour. “It was played by four members of the Lady Jackets and a Durmed Tour Professional,” said Sharpe. “We played with golf professional and star of the Golf Channel’s Big Break, Gerina Mandoza.

“We have a really young team and we’re off to a very good start,” said Sharpe. “Our oldest player is a sophomore, but they are already pretty experienced golfers. Most of the our girls have been playing in junior golf events this summer and it really shows.”

“I’m really pleased with what these young ladies have done to improve their games on their own,” he added. “I think we can expect some special things from this group over the next few years.”

2009 Schedule

Aug. 15            at Central Hardin Invit.

Aug. 20            at Middlesboro

Aug. 22            at KIT Invitational

Aug. 24            Rockcastle, Lincoln Co.

Aug. 29            at Glasgow Invitational

Aug. 31            Clay Co., Jackson Co.

Sept. 10            at Pulaski Co.

Sept. 12            at All A State

Sept. 14            at McCreary Central

Sept. 19            at Henry Clay Invitational

Sept. 21            at North Laurel, Whitley Co.

Sept. 28            Region 8

Oct. 9-10            KHSAA State

Pulaski County Invitational

1. Green County            343

2. Glasgow                        346

3. Russell County            347

4. Pulaski County            353

5. Williamsburg            355

6. Henry Clay                        356

7. Greenwood                        372

8. Central Hardin            375

9. Lincoln County            396

10. Bowling Green            403

11. Adair County            404

12. Whitley County            430

13. Madison Central            432

14. Garrard Countyt            448

15. Monroe County            469

16. Dunbar                        487