GREENE COUNTY
The Lake Oconee Academy girls’ golf team traveled to Thomson to play at the Belle Meade Golf Club for the GHSA Class A Division II state championship earlier this week.
The Lady Titans came into the two-day event as the reigning two-time state champions and defended their title as such. All four golfers individually finished in the top five, and the team combined to score 80 strokes lower than the next-best team.
After they walked off the 18th green, Lady Titans’ head coach Chris Ingle told the Lake Oconee News that the results his team displayed were nothing short of outstanding.
“It is extremely impressive to coach Dodds and me that all four of the girls placed in the top five in the state,” Ingle said. “It just shows the depth of the hard work and talent of the Lake Oconee Academy golf program, and the girls deserve every bit of the credit that they will receive for this championship.”
Not only were the Lady Titans able to defend last year’s state title, but this year’s victory marked the program’s fifth-straight state championship in the Class A division. There was no tournament held in 2020 due to the pandemic, but the girls have finished on top since 2018.
Freshman Kallyn Black continued to prove that trend to be correct after absolutely dominating the rest of the field.
It ended up raining most of day one, but that didn’t seem to bother Black as she finished her first round at one under par. As the weather cleared up on day two, she was able to capitalize on the improving course conditions and shot three under to end the tournament with an impressive four under par. Black would eventually go on to win the low medalist of the tournament.
She was followed closely by fellow freshman Kensley Windham, who finished the tournament strong with a final score of 81 on day two. With two solid rounds, Windham ended up individually finishing third overall.
Senior Willa Kent and junior Georgia Bosart also played competitive golf and rounded out the top five, giving the Lady Titans a massive advantage over their competition.
In total, the girls shot a total of 305 strokes over 36 holes, and comfortably defeated the Hawkinsville Red Devils, who shot a 385.
Ingle acknowledged that the bad weather to begin the tournament wasn’t ideal but that his girls locked in when they needed to.
“The girls were playing in a downpour the first morning, and the course was already extremely wet from the night before. It had standing water over most of the course, and it was a big challenge for our girls to play in those conditions,” Ingle said. “But they still performed very well. Once the weather improved on the second day, all the girls were really able to show their skills.”
Ultimately, there is no end in sight for the dominance of the Lady Titans’ golf program. Lake Oconee Academy’s fifth-straight state title ties the Lambert Longhorns of Class 7A for the longest active consecutive state championship run, and it will return with more firepower next season.
Kent was the Lady Titans’ team captain this past year and will be the only golfer graduating at the end of May. Bosart, Black and Windham all return with tons of course experience and will be joined by a few middle-school girls who will be freshmen next year.