She gave up softball to get better at golf. Now she’s a region champion.
Maddie Cecil was a good golfer as a sophomore. She finished runner-up at last year’s 7th Region Tournament and was one stroke shy of making the cut at the 2017 state tournament.
A year later, the Paul Laurence Dunbar star is shining even brighter. Cecil shot a 2-over-74 to claim the individual title at the 7th Region girls’ golf championship Tuesday at Gibson Bay Golf Course.
Fresh off medalist honors in the Fayette County Championship last week, Cecil overcame heavy rain on Monday and rough wind on Tuesday to prevent defending champion Laney Frye from a repeat. Frye, a Lexington Christian junior, finished second with a 4-over-76 while Taylor Brennan (Bryan Station) and Mattie Neeley (Madison Central) ended in a tie for third at 5-over-77.
GIRLS’ 7TH REGION GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP: CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE RESULTS
Cecil now will seek her third title in as many weeks at the Leachman Buick-GMC-Cadillac/KHSAA State Golf Tournament next week at Bowling Green Country Club.
“That’s what we’re hoping. I felt really good coming off of city,” Cecil said. “Last year I came in second at region so my goal this year was definitely to win it, so I’m really pumped about that right now.”
Cecil credits her leap to a sacrifice she made this summer: she was able to improve her short game and mental approach by giving up softball, her other sport. She didn’t play with her travel team in the off-season and doesn’t plan to return to Dunbar’s team in the spring.
“I played softball for a long time so I feel like it kind of put me behind everybody else,” Cecil said. “ ... “It is really tough (to give up) but I definitely want to play golf in college so I have to do what I have to do.”
The balancing act worked out for a while; Cecil would go to softball practice after school and immediately hit the golf course afterward. She wasn’t able to get in as many rounds as she hoped, though.
“Enough to get by, but not enough,” Cecil said with a grin. “Now I’ve gotten to play so much.”
Cecil’s playing group included Brennan and LCA’s Emily Sparks. Their round was halted in the middle of hole No. 12 on Monday after heavy rain moved into Richmond and forced a postponement of the tournament, which resumed Tuesday morning.
Her first putt for par lipped out on No. 12, putting her at 2-over. She managed par through the rest of the course despite “super windy” conditions over her final four holes.
Cecil is the first 7th Region champ from a Fayette County public school since Leslie Ginter in 2013. She’ll look to become Dunbar’s first individual girls’ champion and first from Lexington since Henry Clay’s Sharon Park won in 1994.
“Like region this year, I’m just ready to go out there and show what I have,” Cecil said.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Paul Laurence Dunbar junior Maddie Cecil won the individual title at the 7th Region girls’ golf championship. <a href="https://t.co/ysqjnXlkYi">pic.twitter.com/ysqjnXlkYi</a></p>— Josh Moore (@HLpreps) <a href="https://twitter.com/HLpreps/status/1044645130433712129?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 25, 2018</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
This story was originally published September 25, 2018 at 3:19 PM.