The Lake Oconee Academy girls’ golf team continued a remarkable run of success last week at the state match.
The Lady Titans dominated the field at Hawkinsville’s Southern Hills Golf Club to clinch their sixth straight Georgia High School Association Class A Division II state championship. They shot a two-over-par 290 total, winning the competition by an impressive 85 strokes.
LOA girls’ coach Alan Dodds was proud of how his golfers competed. He noted that while only the top two scorers counted toward the total, the entire team should be recognized for its hard work.
“I’m mostly just proud of them. We challenged the girls to play their very best. We set some goals based on school records and what we believed was the state record for our class with four girls competing,” Dodds said. “Taking the score of all four girls, we just blew those records out of the water. Everybody just had a great tournament on both days. I couldn’t be happier with the end result.”
Lake Oconee Academy sophomore Lili Nelson had a fantastic two days on the course, shooting seven-under-par for a 137 total. Nelson had one of the best performances at the state competition, across any classification, and won the Class A Division II girls’ low-medalist award.
Senior Georgia Bosart also had a solid outing at Southern Hills, shooting a 153 and finishing 16 strokes behind Nelson as the girls’ second-place low-medalist. Sophomore Kensley Windham was the girls’ third-place low medalist with 157 total, just four strokes behind Bosart. Finally, freshman Lily Dorminy shot a two-day total of 166, trailing Windham by only nine strokes.
Nelson scored 67 on day one and concluded the tournament with a 70. Also, on the opening day of the competition, Bosart and Windham both shot rounds of 77, with Dorminy posting an 83 on the scorecard.
LOA’s girls put themselves far ahead on day one and finished the tournament strong on day two. The Lady Titans’ opponents just couldn’t catch up in the final round.
Dodds highlighted how young his team is, but emphasized how well all the girls get along and support one another.
“Our team was almost entirely freshmen and sophomores. Georgia was our senior leader and had such a relaxed demeanor. She was encouraging to our younger players and set the tone,” Dodds said. “I don’t think I’ve ever been around a group of high school athletes that got along better.”
He also stressed the great culture surrounding the LOA girls’ golf program. Last week, the Lady Titans’ coach observed his golfers supporting and encouraging each other on and off the course.
According to Dodd, the Lady Titans’ camaraderie was unmatched. He said he never saw a dull moment.
“I’ve coached teams where there were good players and other teams that had a good culture, but it’s rare when you get both, and that’s what we had this year,” Dodds said. “That really made my heart full.”
Lake Oconee Academy’s girls’ team will return Nelson, Windham, and Dorminy, among several other golfers, next year when the Lady Titans look to repeat as champions for a seventh consecutive time – minus the COVID season.