Plenty of coaching has Halls’ Davis on the rise

By Steve Williams

Halls junior Lauren Davis, surrounded by a trio of coaches, continues to improve on the high school girls’ golf scene.

In addition to Halls Head Coach Ashley McGaha, Davis has two more coaches on her side.

“She has a great team (parents, swing coach and player development coach) around her that continues to take her game to the next level,” said McGaha after Lauren took top medalist honors and led the Lady Red Devils to the District 3-AA championship at the Three Ridges course last week.

Davis carded a four-under-par score of 68. Teammate Madison Miller shot an 80 for a combined winning team score of 148.

Gibbs (154) placed second with Brook Farmer shooting a 73 and Jadyn Thompson an 81. West (158) came in third with Calley Holbert tallying a 77 and Anna Claire Gibson an 81.

Julia Hyman of Powell also was one of five individuals who advanced to today’s Region 2-AA tourney at Three Ridges.

Halls’ Davis will be competing for region honors and another state tournament berth. She tied for ninth at the state last fall as a sophomore, shooting a 73 in the first round followed by a 79. With consistency, she’s certainly capable of moving up in the individual standings at the state this year.

“Lauren played great last season and has continued to improve this year,” said Coach McGaha. “She has a well rounded game, physically she’s strong off the tee, accurate with her irons on approach shots and has great feel on the greens. Mentally she’s tough, very focused and doesn’t make a lot of mistakes.”

McGaha added that Davis has numerous colleges reaching out and recruiting her. “It will be exciting to see where she decides to further her golf career. The program she decides to join will be getting a great student-athlete!”

Halls’ boys, with a 305 total, also repeated as the district team champion with top medalist Ethan Whitaker (69) again leading the way. The Red Devils also got 76 scores from Kade Wayland and Evan Caldwell and an 84 from Nathan Jeansonne.

West, led by Benett Collett (81) and Benson Hopkins (82), was a distant second with a 341 total. Campbell County (344) placed third.

Drew Bolton of Central took second place medalist honors with a 75 and earned a spot in the region as an individual. Others advancing included Fulton’s Maddox Myers (78) and Powell’s Caden Williams (81) and Carson Roberson (85).