The Mason County girls’ golf team qualified for the state tournament in Bowling Green on Tuesday as they finished third in the sub-state round at Winchester Country Club. (Evan Dennison, The Ledger Independent)
HIGH SCHOOL GOLF
Mason County’s Sydney Ullery hits a chip shot on the 12th hole during Tuesday’s sub-state round at Winchester Country Club. (Evan Dennison, The Ledger Independent)
WINCHESTER — All season long, the Mason County girls’ golf team continued to set marks that they hadn’t seen in quite some time.
It continued on Tuesday as the Lady Royals advanced to the state tournament in Bowling Green by placing third at the sub-state round at Winchester Country Club on Tuesday.
Much like Monday in the boys’ sub-state at WCC, windy conditions made things tough for a course with tight fairways and small greens to target. The Lady Royals grinded and found a way in what was an all day back and forth battle with Wayne County for the final spot.
“Not looking past the other teams, the other four coming in, but we kind of thought it would be between us and Wayne County for that third spot. Lex Cath and Madison Central are well known programs every year in, year out, so that third spot was huge. We knew it was going to be nip and tuck,” Lady Royals coach Jason Butler said.
With live scoring, it made for an interesting day. The Lady Royals were down eight shots at one point on the front nine.
“I don’t like all that flip flop. From hole eight on, it just kept going back and forth and we were down eight at one point, Credit our kids, man, they grinded it out. They stayed in the fight. All season long they have preparing themselves for this,” Butler said.
They finished with a 384, six shots clear of Wayne County, Macey Littleton pacing the team with an 88. That’s no secret, Littleton has been at the top of the Lady Royals scoresheet all season and did so again on Tuesday.
But what came next was the story of their season, on any given day, their number two through five golfer could be anyone.
On Tuesday it was Sydney Ullery posting the second best score with a 96, entering as the No. 5 on the day.
“Just took my time and made sure I took deep breaths in between each shot because I would get stressed and nervous but I just needed to keep calm and stay collected,” Ullery said, who made birdie on the par 3, 11th hole. “That made me kind of happy and more excited to finish the round. So I think it put me in a better position.”
Morgan Parker followed with a 97, Maura Hartman a 103 and Bentley Shepherd with a 111.
Lexington Catholic finished as the top team with a 329, Madison Central second with a 333 for two teams that will make a run at the state title.
While the Lady Royals may not be on that level, they’re one of the final nine teams standing.
“It’s been a special year. I’m going to try not to get choked up talking about them because every one of those kids over there means so much to me. God’s good, God’s blessed me to be able to be a positive influence to them for so many years. Climbing the ladder is what we’ve done. We’ve talked about this over the years, in any sport, you know, when you’re building a program, it’s a process. But in order to build that program, you got to have great kids. And I’ve been blessed with that every year,” Butler said.
Now comes a trip to Bowling Green, they’ll get a practice round on October 6, the 36-hole tournament running October 7-8.
It’s their first trip to the state tournament as a team since 2016. The next year they didn’t even know they’d have a full team when Jason Butler took over.
“The first year they actually begged me to play so that we could qualify as a team for regions. And now this year all of us are wanting to play. Our love for the sport has just got bigger every year,” Parker said.
Now they’re strong in numbers and get to experience the big stage.
“Bowling Green is a great town. So happy these kids get to experience this and Macey gets to experience this with her team in her senior year,” Butler said.
Outside of Littleton, none of the team has been there before, Littleton already giving them pointers having gone a few times as an individual.
“She said it would be easier than this course today,” Parker said jokingly.
Tee times will be released by the KHSAA later in the week.
Fleming County’s Sadie Price and Sophia Sims also qualified for the sub-state tournament by making it out of the 12th Region tournament as one of the top 10 individual qualifiers. Price finished with a 96 and tied for 39th, Sims shot a 109 and finished 56th.
Lexington Catholic’s Bella Brooks won the individual medalist on Tuesday with a two-over par 74, edging out 12th Region champion Athena Singh from Rowan County by a stroke.
Outside of Lexington Catholic, Madison Central and Mason County, 15 individuals also qualified for the state tournament.
They were Singh (75), Henry Clay’s Kylah Lunsford (78), Lexington Christian’s Carter Lankford (78), Paintsville’s Izzy Christie (81), Pulaski County’s Anna New (82), Powell County’s Darcy Lawson (82), Woodford County’s Abigail Caine (82), Franklin County’s Savannah Salchli (82) Lafayette’s Ashlynn Prater (82), Boyd County’s Morgan Kennedy (82), Clay County’s Avery Januloto (86), Woodford County’s Sophie Lester (87), Henry Clay’s Channing Hagen (87), East Carter’s Emily Ledford (87) and Madison Southern’s Kasey Cameron (88), who edged out Estill County’s Maddi Jo Benton (88) and LCA’s Christy Ann Carter (88) in a playoff.
TEAM SCORING
1. Lexington Catholic — 329 (Bella Brooks 74, Kariann Campbell 83, Macy Cecil 83, Georgia Scott 89, Mary Claire Harris 96)
2. Madison Central — 332 (Elizabeth Eberle 78, Mollie Neeley 83, Abi Buchanan 85, Lydia Harrel 86, Claira Beth Ramsey 89)
3. Mason County — 384 (Macey Littleton 88, Sydney Ullery 96, Morgan Parker 97, Maura Hartman 103, Bentley Shepherd 111)
4. Wayne County — 390 (Kelsay Collins 90, Malainey Downs 94, Caroline Criswell 99, Abby Reagan 107, Harper Clark 127)
5. Clay County — 397 (Avery Janutolo 86, Hallie Hooker 97, Kara Hensley 103, Alivia Hoskins 111, Hallie Scott 116)
6. Boyd County — 437 (Morgan Kennedy 82, Kristen Ramey 97, Jossy Pack 127, Anna Tague 131)
7. Owsley County — 484 (Addison Terry 104, Aaliyah Lynch 117, Carly Smith 120, Delaney Smith 143, Jessalyn Bishop WD)
8. Floyd Central — 507 (Delilah Rodriguez 105, Chelsea Everidge 122, Mileigh Kilburn 137, Mattie Boyd 143)
Individual Top 20
Par 72
1. Bella Brooks, Lexington Catholic — 74
2. Athena Singh, Rowan Co. — 75
3. Kylah Lunsford, Henry Clay — 78
3. Elizabteh Eberle, Madison Central — 78
5. Carter Lankford, Lexington Christian — 80
6. Izzy Christie, Paintsville — 81
7. Anna New, Pulaski Co. — 82
7. Darcy Lawson, Powell Co. — 82
7. Abigail Caine, Woodford Co. — 82
7. Savannah Salchli, Franklin Co. — 82
7. Ashlynn Prater, Lafayette — 82
7. Morgan Kennedy, Boyd Co. — 82
13. Mollie Neeley, Madison Central — 82
13. Kariann Campbell, Lexington Catholic — 83
13. Macy Cecil, Lexington Catholic — 83
16. Abi Buchanan, Madison Central — 85
17. Avery Januloto, Clay Co. — 86
17. Lydia Harrel, Madison Central — 86
19. Sophie Lester, Woodford Co. — 87
19. Channing Hagen, Henry Clay — 87
19. Emily Ledford, East Carter — 87
