All three girls golf teams will tee off this season with a couple of goals in mind – with the first being to complete the season.
The season will be shortened like other fall sports seasons because of coronavirus precautions. The teams will start this week and run through the end of October, about a seven-week season. State qualifiers are Oct. 19 with the state tournaments being Oct. 26-27.
Due to the coronavirus, schedules and key dates, like the ones mentioned above, can change.
Catawba Ridge
Still small this year, Catawba Ridge will again be fielding a girls’ golf team with just four golfers led by Katherine Mann. The Copperheads finished nine in the 3A state tournament last year with just four golfers.
“We look good,” said head coach Mickey Joslin. “They have been playing a lot all summer.”
Mann has been the most consistent golfer for the Copperheads, Joslin said, but with only four golfers, all scores will count.
“All we can do is control what we can do,” he said. “Everything else is out of our control. We have to roll with the punches.”
Catawba Ridge opens the season Sept. 3 at Springfield Golf Club against Nation Ford. The Copperheads will be using Fort Mill Golf Club as their home course again this season, where they have a couple of matches scheduled. The Copperhead’s Region 3-4A tournament is scheduled for Oct. 12.
Nation Ford
The Falcons enter the season with a new head coach in Amelio Rodriguez, who will also be coaching the boys’ team in the spring. Rodriguez comes to the area from Michigan, where he coached golf for four years.
Rodriguez moved to the area three years ago and is currently working towards getting his real estate license. He said he is unsure what to expect with golf down here.
“I am excited about the girls we got,” he said. “Our goal is to be competitive and win more than we lose.”
Nation Ford returns a couple of golfers from last year’s squad out of the nine players on their team, but doesn’t have any seniors on this year’s team. Last year’s squad finished 11th in the state at the 5A state tournament. Vivian Harris will start as the number one golfer for the Falcons on the season.
The Falcons will open Aug. 31 against Northwestern at Waterford Golf Club, before hosting Catawba Ridge a couple of days later. Nation Ford currently has four home matches scheduled at Springfield Golf Club.
Fort Mill
The Jackets have nine players on this year’s team and are looking to make it to the 5A state tournament. Fort Mill has just two seniors on the team this season to go with four freshman, two juniors and a seventh grader. Two key golfers back this year for Fort Mill are Kinsley Delcourt and Emily Broshious.
“We are pretty young,” said head coach Judd Dye. “We are excited. We did what we wanted to do last year. We are trying to make the state tournament this year. I feel pretty good. I am excited about our young kids.”
Fort Mill’s first match is Sept. 3 at Clover’s River Hills Country Club. The Jackets play their home matches at Tega Cay Golf Club and currently have four on the schedule.
Both Nation Ford and Fort Mill will have their Region 3-5A tournament on Oct. 5. The Upper State golf tournament for the Falcons and Fort Mill is scheduled at Waterford Golf Club Oct. 19. Dye is hopeful the season will allow this to happen.
“Each day we play or practice, we call it a victory,” he said.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
