Clutch shots, low scores highlight high school golf’s All State Championships
With most of the best high school golfers all in one place at the University Club of Kentucky this weekend, there was sure to be drama in the boys’ and girls’ KGCA All State Championships, a two-day event and the premier stop of the sport’s regular season.
There was a lot of great golf, too.
For the boys, the team event provided fireworks with defending champion Madison Central edging St. Xavier by two shots thanks in part to clutch play down the stretch by Clay Pendergrass, who eagled the Big Blue Course’s par-5 16th hole and birdied No. 18.
In the individual boys’ competition, Taylor County’s Luke Coyle posted a ridiculous front-nine 28 — 8-under par — to start the event’s second day — which created a sizable gap on a loaded field that included last year’s event winner, Rylan Wotherspoon of Cooper. Coyle cruised to a four-shot win over St. Mary’s Rocco Zakutney.
Meanwhile, the girls’ individual competition went three extra playoff holes on the University Club’s Wildcat Course. Marshall County’s Trinity Beth, the 2020 Kentucky Ms. Golf, outdueled Shelby County’s Isabella Wiley for the win. Beth helped Marshall defend its girls’ team title, as well, winning it by two shots over Madison Central.
Coyle blisters Big Blue
Coyle, a junior who finished sixth in last year’s All-State tournament here and tied for third in the 2020 KHSAA state championship in Bowling Green, teed off Sunday tied for the lead after a 6-under par 66 on the Wildcat Course the day before.
He liked the Big Blue Course even better.
“I was hitting driver well and I stuck a lot of iron shots,” Coyle said. “The putter was hot on the front.”
Coyle birdied Nos. 1 and 3, eagled No. 5 and then went birdie, birdie, birdie, birdie for his 28 through nine.
“His front nine was some of the most fun golf I’ve watched,” Taylor County Coach Todd Polston said. “It makes it easy on a coach, right?”
Playing alongside fellow contenders Colten Wilson of Boyle County and Logan Liles of Lewis County, Coyle knew he just had to hold steady after the turn to likely win it.
“The back nine, I just tried to play aggressive but play smart at the same time,” Coyle said. “The putter wasn’t as hot on the back nine. I was able to get it done.”
Coyle finished Big Blue with a 66, the same score he shot on Wildcat, but admits the front nine had a different feel.
“I’ve shot rounds that low (8-under), but never on nine holes,” he said. “When you’re that low, it was one of those things where I wanted to keep going lower, but at the same time I knew I had the lead, so I just had to maintain that score.”
Once you make the turn at 8-under through nine holes, you’re just trying to hold onto it really, especially when you’re in the lead. You’re just trying to hold on.”
Beth backs up then clamps down
Through 15 holes, Beth, a Marshall County eighth-grader and basketball/golf coach Aaron Beth’s daughter, held a two-shot lead on the field.
But a bogey on No. 16 made for a nervy tee shot on Wildcat’s extremely difficult par-5 18th hole.
“My tee shots hadn’t been very good on the last few holes and my dad actually said I just needed a bogey to win. I was like, ‘That cannot be right.’” Beth recalled. “My score was wrong online. I was like, ‘I just have to make bogey at worst to tie.’”
Her tee shot went into the right rough leaving a difficult lie for her second.
“I was under a tree in the rough and had to carry that hazard. I just told myself, ‘Do not hit in the hazard,’” she said.
She muscled up on the swing and chunked it. The ball fluttered forward about 20 yards and stopped just short of the ditch she was trying to avoid. Two more shots left her a tricky downhill putt for par. She sent it rolling well past. But the left-to-right breaker from about 10 feet felt like the birdie putt she made on 18 the day before.
“I said, ‘this is just like yesterday, just keep my putter face shut on the way back and I’ll make it,’” she said.
The bogey dropped Beth to a 1-over par 73 on the day and 1-over for the tournament, tied with Wiley, who shot a 74 on Wildcat after being the only other player besides Beth under par (-2) in Saturday’s Big Blue round.
The two played the first two playoff holes — 17 and 18 — at par, but Wiley’s tee shot on 17 the second time hooked well left behind some trees forcing her to pitch it back into the fairway. She two-putted for bogey. Beth stayed in the fairway and made two putts for par and the victory.
“I like playoffs. I’ve had a good record in playoffs,” Beth said. “I knew I just needed to keep parring. I didn’t have to do anything special.”
Team victories
Madison Central’s Pendergrass knew his clutch play on the back nine meant something to the Indians’ All State title chances. He didn’t know how much.
“It ended up being pretty big,” he said. “It was a roller coaster to be honest. We didn’t feel like we put together a good round yesterday, but I think today made up for it for sure.”’
Pendergrass finished third in the individual competition at 5-under par. That included a birdie on 14, an eagle on 16 and a birdie on 18 to move himself and his team up the leaderboard. The Indians also got a seventh-place finish from Gavin McKune, who shot 3 under.
On Saturday, Madison Central shot 6 over on Wildcat for a a one-shot lead over St. X. The Indians shot 9 under on Big Blue. That was, again, one shot better than the Tigers for a two-shot victory at 3-under par.
“It felt like it came down to the last hole,” Madison Central boys’ coach Kyle Congleton said. “I mean I think we thought we had a little bigger cushion than we did. You’ve got to give it to St. X. It was a battle from the start.”
Madison Central’s girls team finished second to Marshall County with Beth’s rounds helping seal the two-shot win, but Indians Coach Tennye Ohr said her team feels good about how they will compete in next week’s regional tournament.
“It’s a big boost to finish second and play well,” said Ohr, whose top golfer, Claira Beth Ramsey, finished third at 6-over par. “If we just don’t let it go to our heads and not get too far ahead of ourselves, I believe we’ll be OK. You never know what other teams are going to do. You never know what (the regional tournament’s) going to bring.”
The postseason ahead
The Kentucky Golf Coaches Association established the All State Championships three years ago as a way to reward the state’s best players and teams in a way that the traditional postseason does not. Places at the All State go to the top 15 teams and top 21 individual qualifiers not on those teams according to KGCA points awarded throughout the season.
Next week, each boys’ and girls’ golf region will have a one-day tournament to decide a team champion and its sole team representative at the Kentucky High School Athletic Association’s state tournament at Bowling Green Country Club next month. There will also be seven individual qualifiers from each of the 12 regions in addition to those five-player teams.
The stakes are high. That’s why playing in events with most of the state’s top players and teams at the All State has become important, as well.
“I think it should be a huge momentum boost,” said Aaron Beth, Marshall County’s coach, who led the Marshals to last year’s KHSAA team title. “Even if we didn’t play as well as we could, we still got to come away with a win. There were some big shots that all of them hit that they can reflect back on and take a lot of positive thoughts out of that.
“That’s what we’ve really got to focus on. Golf is such a mental game. Yes, there’s physical ability to it, but you’ve got to be able to take care of six inches between your ears.”
Hall of fame
In conjunction with the tournaments, the KGCA honored the 2021 inductees to its Coaches Hall of Fame.
They are: H.D. “Dave” Cowden of Hancock County, who started the Hancock golf programs in 1971 and remains coach; Eric Geldhof of Lexington Christian Academy, who has led the Eagles’ boys’ team for 20 years and has won three state titles; Matt Logic of Bowling Green, who has won two boys’ state titles in his 13 years with the Purples; and Mark Price of Daviess County, who won a boys’ state title in 1995 and was coach for 24 years.
In addition, this year’s All State Championships were held in memory of the late Cullan Brown, a decorated Lyon County and University of Kentucky golfer who died of bone cancer last year.
All State Championships
BOYS’ TOP 5 INDIVIDUALS
1. Luke Coyle, Taylor County, -11; 2. Rocco Zakutney, St. Mary, -7; 3. Clay Pendergrass, Madison Central, -5; 4. Colten Wilson, Boyle County, -5; 5. Rylan Wotherspoon, Cooper, -4.
BOYS’ TOP 5 TEAMS
1. Madison Central, -3; 2. St. Xavier, -1; 3. Trinity, +18; 4. Christian Academy-Louisville +25; 5. Ryle, +29.
GIRLS’ TOP 5 INDIVIDUALS
1. Trinity Beth, Marshall County, +1 (won playoff); 2. Isabella Wiley, Shelby County, +1; 3. Claira Beth Ramsey, Madison Central, +6; 4. Macey Brown, Apollo, +6; 5. Nina McMurtrey, Glasgow, +7.
GIRLS’ TOP 5 TEAMS
1. Marshall County, +48; 2. Madison Central, +50; 3. Sacred Heart, +74; 4. Madisonville, +83; 5. Glasgow, +85.
Complete boys’ results online at: https://bit.ly/39iowGT
Complete girls’ results online at https://bit.ly/3CqkBEi
This story was originally published September 20, 2021 at 9:56 AM.
