Henry Clay’s Kylah Lunsford tops list of qualifiers for girls state golf championship
Henry Clay’s Kylah Lunsford topped the list of qualifiers out of this year’s KHSAA State First Round Girls Golf Tournament at Eagles Nest Country Club in Somerset with an even-par round of 71 on Tuesday.
Lunsford, the reigning Kentucky Miss Golf and last year’s Region 9 champion, was the only player to conquer the Eagles Nest’s 5,341-yard layout and did so with an up-and-down day that included four bogeys and four birdies.
The Kentucky High School Athletic Association’s State First Round girls event is being held at three sites this week with Central Kentucky’s top Region 9 golfers competing with those from Regions 11 and 12 in Somerset. Each region sent a team champion and runner-up along with 10 individual qualifiers to their respective State First Round sites.
The top three teams and top 15 individual qualifiers at each site advance to next week’s Leachman Buick-GMC-Cadillac/KHSAA Girls Golf State Championship at Bowling Green Country Club.
In Tuesday’s team competition in Somerset, Region 9 team champion Madison Central took first place with a total score of 23-over. Lexington Christian (+34) and Montgomery County (+67) will join the Indians in Bowling Green next week as team qualifiers.
Madison Central was led by last week’s Region 9 individual champion Molly Neeley, who finished in a tie for third overall at 2-over par. Neeley’s teammates are Haley Federspiel (+6), Mackenzie Federspiel (+6), Aubrey Barrow (+9) and Amelia Harrel (+11). Harrel’s score is thrown out in the best-four-out-of-five team scoring format. Lexington Christian includes Carter Lankford (+4), Piper Dunn (+8), Caroline Lankford (+11), Grace Soale (+11) and Lila Bard (+15).
In the individual standings, Lunsford finished ahead of Rowan County’s Athena Singh by one shot and Boyd County’s Morgan Kennedy and Neeley by two.
From Lexington, Lexington Catholic’s Channing Hagen (+4) and Georgia Scott (+8) also advanced to next week as individual qualifiers along with Frederick Douglass’ Phoebe Grier (+12), the first girls Broncos golfer to make the state first and final rounds.
Other final-round qualifiers from Central Kentucky’s Region 9 were Woodford County’s Abigail Caine (+3) and three golfers from Franklin County, Claudia Logan (+4), Mary Clayton Rodgers (+11) and Emerson Bowling (+11).
State First Round girls results
State final round qualifiers and their scores to par from Tuesday’s State First Round tournament at Eagles Nest Country Club in Somerset.
Individual standings: 1. Kylah Lunsford, Henry Clay, E; 2. Athena Singh, Rowan County, +1; T3. Mollie Neeley, Madison Central, +2; T3. Morgan Kennedy, Boyd County, +2; T5. Abigail Caine, Woodford County, +3; T5. Darcy Lawson, Powell County, +3; T7. Claudia Logan, Franklin County, +4; T7. Channing Hagen, Lexington Catholic, +4; T7. Carter Lankford, Lexington Christian, +4; 10. Madison Easterling, Montgomery County, +5; 15. Aubrey Barrow, Madison Central, +9; 24. Phoebe Grier, Frederick Douglass, +12; T11. Haley Federspiel, Madison Central, +6; T11. Mackenzie Federspiel, Madison Central, +6; T13. Georgia Scott, Lexington Catholic, +8; T13. Piper Dunn, Lexington Christian, +8; T16. Malainey Dobbs, Wayne County, +10; T16. Kinzie Kilgore, West Carter, +10; T16. Emi Ledford, East Carter, +10; T19. Mary Clayton Rodgers, Franklin County, +11; T19. Emerson Bowling, Franklin County, +11; T19. Caroline Lankford, Lexington Christian, +11; T19. Grace Soale, Lexington Christian, +11; T19. Amelia Harrel, Madison Central, +11; T25. Alyssa Siler, South Laurel, +14.
Team standings (top three advance): 1. Madison Central, +23; 2. Lexington Christian, +34; 3. Montgomery County, +67; 4. Wayne County, +104; 5. Johnson Central, +114; 6. North Laurel, +115; 7. Boyd County, +116; 8. Shelby Valley, +170.
Complete results: khsaa.org/sports-sport-activities/fall/golf/
Girls state championship
Oct. 10-12: Final round at Bowling Green Country Club
This story was originally published October 1, 2024 at 7:07 PM.
