CHAPEL HILL — Top golfers from across the state will compete next week in the North Carolina High School Athletic Association’s 35th women’s state golf championships.
For the 13th year in a row, the NCHSAA is offering classified championships, and for the fifth consecutive year there will be three different state tournaments. The two-day events will be held on Monday and Tuesday at three different sites.
The 4-A championship is set for Pinehurst number six, while the 3-A classification will compete at the Red Fox Course at Foxfire Resort and Golf Club in Foxfire Village. The 1-A and 2-A golfers will play at the Longleaf Golf and Country Club in Southern Pines.
Players and teams qualified to the state championship from regionals across the state.
An Athens Drive individual golfer has earned medalist honors in each of the last three 4-A state tournaments, with Jennifer Chang winning in 2014 as a freshman. Chang fired a 67 to grab top individual honors in the 4-A East Regional at Heritage Golf Club at Raleigh earlier this week, while Cardinal Gibbons took the team title and defending state team 4-A champ Green Hope placed sixth in the regional.
Kathryn Carson of Lake Norman was the top individual in the 4-A Western Regional at Brushy Mountain in Taylorsville with an outstanding 69.
Ledford had captured three state 3-A championships before Gibbons snapped the string last year as a 3-A school. Siranon Shoomee of Lee has won the last two individual state championships and fired a 71 earlier this week to win the 3-A Eastern Regional title at Wilson’s Wedgewood Golf Course.
Salisbury has been the champion among 1-A/2-A teams in the state the last four years. A Salisbury golfer has won the individual title three of the last four years, with Grace Yatawara winning a year ago. Yatawara captured this year’s regional crown in the 1-A/2-A Central Regional by seven shots.
The best three scores for a team, which may have up to five individuals, are counted each day toward the team total. The championship courses are set with par at 72 for the 1-A/2-A (5,659 yards), 3-A (5,703 yards) and for the 4-A (5,580 yards).
The championships will include a field of 78 golfers in all three tournaments. Golfers are scheduled to tee off at eight o’clock Monday morning in the 3-A and 4-A events and at nine o’clock in the 1-A/2-A tournament. Players will be paired differently and tee times adjusted for Tuesday’s round, based on Monday’s scores.
NCHSAA FastFacts
Event: NCHSAA Women’s Golf Championships
Date: October 26-27, 2015
Site: 1-A/2-A: Longleaf Golf and Country Club; 3-A: Foxfire Resort and Golf Club, Red Fox Course; 4-A: Pinehurst No. 6
First Held: 1969
Qualifiers: Teams and individuals compete at the regional level qualify for the state tournament.
Last year’s team champions: 1-A/2-A: Salisbury; 3-A: Raleigh Cardinal Gibbons; 4-A: Cary Green Hope.
Of Interest: Siranon Shomee of Lee tied the mark for the low round in NCHSAA women’s state golf championship history with a 67 in the 2014 3-A tournament at Longleaf. Blair Lamb of East Henderson, in 2003, is the only other female golfer to shoot a 67 in state championship play.