BOWLING GREEN — Undefeated all season when at full strength, Sacred Heart Academy showed some signs of stress early Friday during the first round of the state golf tournament.
“It was a terrible first nine,” coach Mackenzie Moir said. “A little tight, a little nervous.”
Moir saw her team start to turn things around on the second nine Friday, and the Valkyries carried that momentum into Saturday’s final round and repeated as state champions.
Down five shots to Madison Central entering Saturday’s play, Sacred Heart rallied for a 12-shot victory in the Leachman Buick-GMC-Cadillac/KHSAA State Golf Championships at Bowling Green Country Club.
Sacred Heart finished with a two-day total of 626 and was followed by Madison Central (638) and Lexington Christian (652). Assumption (717) finished sixth in the nine-team field.
Rowan County junior Athena Singh blitzed the field to take individual honors, firing a 5-under-par 139 to win by nine shots over Cumberland County’s Kenzie Willen (148). Sacred Heart senior Emma Lindemoen was third at 149.
Singh, who has committed to the University of Houston, finished her two rounds with nine birdies and four bogeys.
“I had a few rough holes, but I’m glad I was able to bounce back,” Singh said. “I feel like putting was definitely one of my strong suits the past couple of days. I made a lot of downhill putts, which was the most challenging part.
“I was just consistent and didn’t take a lot of unnecessary risks.”
Sacred Heart won its 13th team championship as four players returned from last season’s championship team.
Lindemoen, a three-time Region Six champion, finished her high school career with her best individual finish in four trips to the state tournament. She placed seventh last year.
Lindemoen, who has committed to Amherst College and plans to study political science, said team goals were more important than individual honors.
“We were like, ‘Forget about individual. Every shot for the team,’” Lindemoen said. “We just had to go all in and be aggressive. We didn’t have the target on our backs. We were going for Madison Central.”
Sacred Heart sophomore Keira Yun tied for seventh place with a 154. Rounding out Sacred Heart’s five were sophomore Greer Wathen (tied for 15th, 159), junior Brooklynn Bohnert (tied for 28th, 164) and senior Charly Garner (tied for 51st, 171).
South Oldham’s Avery Suter tied for 17th at 160, and Collegiate’s Heidi Mitchell tied for 20th at 161. Tatum Mullaney led Assumption, tying for 57th place at 176.
But the weekend belonged to Sacred Heart. Despite the five-shot hole entering Saturday’s round, Moir said she had a good feeling about the final outcome.
“No one was nervous,” Moir said. “It was kind of a weird feeling. I just felt like we were going to come back and do it. … They were never playing for themselves. They were always playing for the team. Every shot they knew they were hitting for Sacred Heart.”
Reach Jason Frakes at jfrakes@courier-journal.com and follow him on X @kyhighs.
Friday-Saturday at Bowling Green Country Club, par-72
Team scores – 1. Sacred Heart 626, 2. Madison Central 638, 3. Lexington Christian 652, 4. South Warren 682, 5. Daviess County 683, 6. Assumption 717, 7. West Jessamine 720, 8. Montgomery County 722, 9. Owen County 724
Top individuals – 139 – Athena Singh (Rowan County); 148 – Kenzie Willen (Cumberland County); 149 – Emma Lindemoen (Sacred Heart); 150 – Reagan Ramage (Cooper), Madison Glisson (Ballard Memorial); 153 – Carter Lankford (Lexington Christian); 154 – Kylah Lunsford (Henry Clay), Keira Yun (Sacred Heart), Claire Reynolds (Daviess County); 155 – Caroline Childers (Bowling Green); 157 – Tatjana Andracenko (Dixie Heights), Morgan Kennedy (Boyd County), Mollie Neeley (Madison Central); 158 – Elsie Espinola (South Warren); 159 – Greer Wathen (Sacred Heart), Sydney McClanahan (South Warren)
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