New Albany girls golf off to strong start on journey to three-peat
Aug. 16—Roughly fourth months after securing its second straight state championship, the New Albany girls golf team picked up where it left off on Tuesday.
The Bulldogs won their first tournament of the year at the Hillandale Golf Course in Corinth, beating Corinth and Kossuth for first place in the team standings.
Eighth grader Adeline Bailey and junior Lucy King started their seasons strong, finishing first and second, respectively.
"I think some of our scores might have been a little bit better if we had been on the greens a little bit more," coach Shane Sanderson said. "But we're just excited to get going."
With the MHSAA boys and girls golf seasons moving from the spring to the fall, it created a much shorter offseason than usual. Sanderson hopes that as a result, more Bulldogs will work in the summer leading up to the season.
"That's pretty much going to be, I think, a large majority of one of our teams' success is just the kids that are really seriously committing, and they're going to compete and take advantage of that in the summer, and that'll go right into the golf season," he said.
The season being moved to the fall means that many Bulldogs will be playing golf on top of other activities. Although it means less time on the course, Sanderson knows that when they do get there, his players will make the most of it.
"They get along and they know what they need to do and, whether it's during our practice hours or not, they get it done," he said. "So that's pretty much all any coach can ask right there."
New Albany is scheduled to host an invitational on Thursday. The season will also include competitions at Mississippi State, Pearl and Pickwick Landing in Hardin County, Tennessee.
