Yorktown High School

End of the Regular Season-- What a year it has been for the Yorktown Tigers Golf Team. A year that began with 21 young ladies trying out for the team concluded (its regular season) last night @ Players Club, on the modified front nine (we played 4 as a par 4 instead of a par 5 and moved up the tee box, creating a par 35). A record seventeen (17) Tigresses ultimately competed this season; huge thanks to YHS Athletics and Players Club for allowing us to afford this opportunity to these young ladies. It is a special group, and it is a group that has had some success as well, being crowned County Champions, finishing second as a team @ Cobblestone, finishing 3rd in the conference, and firing several sub-170 nine hole scores. Good stuff from our lady golfers. We are not done yet. The Match-- These Richmond girls are good and were red hot coming into Wednesday's dual @ TPC, and the Tigers were able to cool them off and pull out a 172-178 victory. For those unfamiliar with The Players Club @ Woodland Trails, it really is among the toughest tests in the entire state, especially from the women's tees. TPC presents some serious challenges, several intimidating tee shots, and is fairly long, especially relative to a majority of courses in the state. Without a doubt, it makes us better, but no one is setting it on fire; it is simply too challenging. 172 to close the regular season was strong stuff. Tiger Scores-- Leading the way and co-medaling (Kyla from Richmond joined them) on Wednesday were junior Alysse Taylor and freshman Lilly Duncan, who both fired +6 rounds of 41 on the modified front nine. Alysse played one of her cleaner nine hole matches of the season, with just a single double bogey on the night; she also made par on both par 3s, a testament to her work on scoring irons. Lilly, meanwhile, made birdie on 2 and threw in a couple pars en route to her 41; the freshman played eight of nine quality holes of bogey or better, joining Alysse for the team lead on the night. Senior Grace Turner and sophomore Lucy Melton were steady, shooting a pair of 45s on Wednesday. Both also made seven of nine scores of bogey or better, while limiting the damage to double bogey on the two exceptions. Grace and Lucy tossed a couple 4s on the card and are looking to go low on Saturday @ Crestview. More good stuff from the back of the varsity lineup, with Avery Barnell and Addison Whittenburg both closing their regular seasons with season-lows, as Avery shot 48 to Addi's 50. Strong stuff, Girls, and thank you for continuing to push yourselves and your teammates. Both Avery and Addi will be back next season and will continue to fight for varsity lineup spots. Emma's Birdie! Exciting to see Emma Wolfert make her first career birdie, at least in competition, as she made a deuce on the par 3 7th hole, a hole that played exactly 107 yards. Emma rolled in a putt from the front fringe and celebrated with a small little leprechaun kick of some kind. It was quite athletic, likely athletic ability from her mother rather than her father. Dan is a gentleman, a scholar, and a mediocre athlete. This Weekend = Time To Peak-- The Tigers head into Sectional Play healthy and eager to show everyone how good they can be, as they seek the program's first sectional team title in a number of years. Grace Turner will lead the team into battle @ 9 am on Saturday. Gary Tarr, an elite English Teacher-- "Nathan, are you anxious or eager?" This question was one originally voiced back in 2005, as yours truly stood over a challenging tee shot. In this moment, Mr. Tarr, who I later honored at a senior banquet of some kind, attempted some gamesmanship while also attempting to educate a young man on the difference in the two words. This is a question that has stuck with me for twenty years. For this Saturday, for the opportunity in front of our Tigers, yours truly is eager. These girls are ready. Let's play some golf!