Women's Golf Sends Pair to Regional Tournament

The Avery women's golf team embarked on the two-day conference tournament last Monday, October 12^th at Black Mountain Golf Course. Combating the rain and wet course conditions, the girls battled hard all day against fellow conference foes Mountain Heritage, Owen, Polk County, and Hendersonville.

The original 18-hole round was shortened to only nine holes due to inclement weather. Avery girls participating in the opening day of the tournament (scores in parentheses) were: Catalina Lehmann (52), Mary Chesnut Smith (56), Nikki Wright (56), Noelle Henline (62), Kelli Burleson (62).

The Owen Warlassies finished in first place after day one of competition, while Mountain Heritage sat in second, Hendersonville third, and Avery sat only two strokes back in fourth place.

The next day the teams completed the 2009 tournament with 18 holes of play at Mountain Glen Golf Club in Newland. The lowest three individual scores from Monday's nine holes at Black Mountain Golf Course were added to the best three individual low scores in Tuesday's 18-hole round to tabulate team totals.

When the day's competition was complete, the Owen Warhorses took the overall team championship with a total score of 433. Mountain Heritage captured second place with a combined score of 458. Hendersonville finished third with a score of 486, followed in fourth place by the Lady Vikings with a team score of 505. Rounding out the team totals was Polk County with a team score of 541.

Avery's Catalina Lehmann finished tied for sixth overall in individual performances with a total of 162, which earned her a berth on the All-Conference team and entry into the Regional tournament. Avery freshman Arden Stanley qualified for Regional competition by virtue of scoring under 55 for nine holes.

"I think it's great for our team. Most of the girls we competed against have had long established programs. We took it slow and practiced twice a week just to get the girls interested in playing. In our first year to have two girls qualify for regionals is just outstanding," Avery golf coach Boe Barinowski said after the tournament.

The ladies traveled to regional competition in Asheville on Monday. Monday’s tournament was delayed 90 minutes due to frost on the course. Avery’s duo of Lehmann and Stanley played hard, but the short game proved to be a difficult obstacle as the tandem finished the 18 holes with scores of 128 and 130, respectively which landed them in the 25^th percentile.

Although the girls were unable to qualify for the state tournament, but the experience and milestones gained by the Avery women’s golf team in its inaugural season is of the utmost value.

“This was the first tournament where the girls weren’t allowed to pick up their ball on a hole, and some players had scores of 15, 16, or even 17 for an individual hole. Our girls each had 11s on holes, which was something they hadn’t seen before,” Coach Barinowski said following the round. “I really like the way the regional tournament is structured. It is a better snapshot of your golfers in high school sports and rewards individual play more. In boys golf you can be a poor golfer on a good team and go to state, where in girls golf if you go as a team, you’re probably good enough to also go as an individual. The best method for building talent is girls teaching girls, and now we have two girls see what it is like at regional level and can share that experience with their teammates.”

The success of this year’s team can be traced to the generosity of a number of individuals and groups, including the local golf courses allowing the girls to practice and hold matches, as well as organizations who donated space to allow the team to better prepare for the season.

“The fact that we had a girl qualify for All-Conference in our first season in existence validates the decision by Mark Garrett to start the program. I want to thank him for helping us move in the right direction with athletics in a more equitable way,” Coach Barinowski added. “JROTC helped to fund the multi-use complex that allows us to also utilize the facility to practice golf indoors, particularly for boys golf in the winter. The VFW allowed ROTC to hold its annual banquet there for free rather than us using our budget to hold a banquet elsewhere. That allowed us to put the funds toward our indoor rifle range facility and lay down the carpet for golf and other activities.”

The coach was also quite appreciative of the local golf courses and personnel who continue to help the school’s golf teams succeed and improve.

“We are so appreciate the golf staffs that allow our boys to practice before even the members are allowed to play in order to help them prepare for their season. The support of the staff at Linville Golf Club has been huge, as well as the people at Mountain Glen and Sugar Mountain courses who have helped our teams to hold practice and matches during their respective seasons.”

Congratulations to the Avery ladies golf team on a fantastic first season, and best of luck to the boys golf team in the spring.