Madison Central shatters team record in claiming girls golf’s state crown
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- Madison Central set a team record and won its third state girls golf title.
- Keira Yun eagled 14 and finished 6-under to claim the individual title.
- Madison Central posted a two-day 604, beating the prior mark by 10.
Madison Central’s girls golf team obliterated the tournament record in winning the program’s third state crown and second in four years at the Leachman Buick-GMC-Cadillac/KHSAA Girls State Golf Championship on Wednesday at Bowling Green Country Club.
In the individual state title race, Sacred Heart junior Keira Yun eagled the par-5 14th hole on the way to a 5-under par second-round total of 67 to finish 6-under for the event, four shots ahead of Marshall County’s Trinity Beth, who was trying to become only the fourth girls golfer to win three high school state championships in her career.
Madison Central’s record-breaking performance
Madison Central’s four-player, two-day, 28-over par total of 604 on the course’s roughly 5,700-yard, par-72 layout, ranked 10 shots better than the previous team record shot by Marshall County in 2021.
“Honestly, I don’t ever look at the leaderboard at all, so I don’t even know what we shot today,” said senior Mollie Neeley who was also a varsity player on Madison Central’s 2022 state champs. “But yesterday, making the turn here, I saw we were down by about 10, so I kind of clicked into gear.”
The scores were actually about square at that point on the first day, but the lag in how players update their totals electronically likely showed a gap, giving Madison Central’s players a sense of urgency.
The Indians responded, ending the first day with a four-player total of 300, five shots better than Lexington Christian Academy. On the second day, Madison Central held steady as its challengers could not keep pace.
“We did a lot of talking among ourselves,” Madison Central coach Tennye Ohr said. “At various points on the golf course, we needed to make sure we made no worse than double bogey and we needed to keep the ball below the hole. I think that filtered in. The most important thing is that they stayed within themselves. They didn’t let any distractions get to them. … I’m just tremendously proud of them.”
Neeley’s 6-over round of 72-78—150 led the Indians who got top-16 finishes from their other four — Aubrey Barrow (+7), Mackenzie Federspiel (+8), Rosie Patterson (+9) and Haley Federspiel (+11). Patterson is the lone freshman among four seniors. Their team total is a combination of the best four scores each day.
Lexington Christian came into the tournament as one of the favorites after capturing both the All State Championships and 9th Region team title. The Eagles topped Madison Central by 11 strokes for the region crown two weeks ago.
Four of LCA’s players finished in the tournament’s individual top 25, led by lone senior Carter Lankford at 6-over par. Caroline Lankford (+8), Grace Soale (+13), Piper Dunn (+13) contributed to the near record team total of 616 with the score of Elle Chamberland (+25) tossed out. LCA’s second-place total would have won state in all but two of the state tournaments held at BGCC since 2007.
“We’ve been playing really well as a team, and we just didn’t play to our standard kind of what they normally would play,” LCA coach Matthew Soale said. “It happens. It’s a two-day tournament. I think we finished (two) shots off the all-time. KHSAA two-day total here. So, I can’t really be complaining about that, right?”
Sacred Heart golfer goes low on final day
A sign in Sacred Heart’s supporters section said it all: “Call 911 Keira’s on fire”
Yun drained a 60-foot downhill putt from near the fringe atop the 14th green after her second shot on the 416-yard par 5 sailed long. Yun calmly walked after it and gave a thumbs up to her supporters upon retrieving the ball from the hole.
Yun professed to not know where she stood on the leaderboard, but she knew making that putt was important. She had birdied No. 12 just moments earlier. The eagle at No. 14 put her in the lead.
“Once I made that, I was like ‘Maybe?’” Yun said of her chances. “But I didn’t really check.”
Yun began Wednesday one shot behind Marshall County’s Beth, but because of how the teams and players were split, their shotgun start put them on opposite sides of the course.
Starting on No. 10, Beth had two birdies over her first nine holes while Yun recorded two birdies and a bogey over her front nine that began at the first tee. That extended Beth’s lead to two shots as each made the turn.
After Yun’s eagle, she crossed paths with Beth (likely unknowingly) on the next hole; the course layout places the par-4 15th’s green within a shout of the par-3 7th’s.
Yun pulled her drive on 15 well left, leaving her with trees and a bunker in front of her target. Moments later, Beth’s tee shot on the 7th stopped short on the apron. Yun’s approach landed short of her bunker, but she somehow saved par with a chip and a putt of about 12 feet. As Yun made her way to the 16th tee, Beth missed her short par putt to drop another shot.
Yun’s Sacred Heart teammates made sure to put her fire out after their teammate finished 18 with a birdie. Once all the putts were in, the Valkyries stormed Yun with a shower of water and cheers.
“I’m just excited and happy that I was able to get this win and to be able to experience it with my family and teammates,” Yun said.
Three Central Kentucky golfers finished in the top eight medal positions with Carter Lankford tied for sixth place overall along with Madison Central’s Neeley and Lexington Catholic’s Parker Haddix, the seventh-grader who won the 9th Region individual title two weeks ago.
Frederick Douglass freshman Willa Borough finished just outside the medal stand in a tie for ninth place at 7-over.
Girls State Golf Championship individual top 10
1. Keira Yun, Sacred Heart, -6, 71-67—138; 2. Trinity Beth, Marshall County, -2, 70-72—142; 3. Madison Glisson, Ballard Memorial, E, 71-73—144; 4. Athena Singh, Rowan County, *, 1, 72-73—145; 5. Kenzie Willen, Cumberland County, +2, 71-75—146; T6. Parker Haddix, Lexington Catholic, +6, 74-76—150; T6. Mollie Neeley, Madison Central, +6, 72-78—150; T6. Carter Lankford, Lexington Christian, +6, 74-76—150; T9. Willa Borough, Frederick Douglass, +7, 73-78—151; T9. Aubrey Barrow, Madison Central, +7, 77-74—151.
Girls State Golf Championship team results
1. Madison Central, +28, 300-304—604; 2. Lexington Christian, +40, 305-311—616; 3. Sacred Heart, +45, 306-315—621; 4. Daviess County, +79, 330-325—655; 5. Marshall County, +81, 323-334—657; 6. Bowling Green, +102, 330-348—678; 7. Owen County, +103, 334-345—679; 8. Mercy, +133, 353-356—709; 9. Montgomery County, +143, 354-365—719.
Complete results are available at the KHSAA website.
This story was originally published October 8, 2025 at 8:56 PM.
