West Holmes girls golf finding success with fun, competition
The West Holmes girls golf team started the season by winning the opening conference tournament. Led by seniors Jevin Zheng and Kaylee Gingerich, along with standout performances from Sophie Robb, Aubrey Burchfield, pictured, Mattie Shankel and Payton Hudson, the close-knit Lady Knights are thriving on both camaraderie and competition.
Josh McWilliams
With a 5-1 start and strong leadership from seniors, the Lady Knights are building confidence through close competition and team chemistry on the course.
The smiles say more than words ever could.
Just spend a round of golf with the West Holmes girls golf
team and you will walk away smiling. It could be related to the youth on the
team, with two freshmen, a sophomore, a junior and two seniors, or it could
just be this is a fun group of ladies.
“Mattie (Shankel), Payton (Hudson) or Aubrey (Burchfield)
are the funniest,” freshman Sophie Robb said. “I mean they are all pretty
spunky.”
Burchfield didn't hesitate to add in with Hudson as her pick
for funniest.
It’s part of the reason why Robb described the team as "tight-knit" when asked to use one word.
“We get along really well,” she said. “We’re a pretty close
team. We have a lot of fun and have a solid top four.”
With nine-hole averages ranging within 10 strokes of each
other entering Monday, Aug. 18, it’s clear the top four feed off each
other. Robb currently leads the way with a 45.3, Burchfield has a 46.5, Shankel
is at 47.7 and Hudson rounds it out at 54.9.
“We practice well against each other,” Robb said. “Everyone
is in the same region in shooting scores, so it’s always pretty good
competition.”
One of those helping to raise that bar is Burchfield, who
qualified for districts a year ago and is hungry to get back. Burchfield
described the team as motivated.
“For me, it kind of sets a bar that I need to try and meet
again, and I am working back to that level,” she said. “It’s also been nice for
the team. We’ve been doing a lot better than we did last year, especially this
year.”
When it comes to leadership, Burchfield tipped her visor to
the two seniors, Jevin Zheng and Kaylee Gingerich, who continue to lead the
way.
“We’ve got two seniors who are leading us, and I try my
best,” she said. “As a team we’re really coming together well.”
To start the year, the Lady Knights are 5-1 overall and 1-1
in the Ohio Cardinal Conference. They won the opening OCC tournament at
Riceland Golf Course on Aug. 7.
“It really helped to motivate us because then we won our
next few matches after that,” Burchfield said. “It was a big boost for all of
us and showed us our true potential.”
“That was a pretty fun day,” Robb said. “I know we didn’t
do too well last year there, so it was pretty exciting to win it.”
