Sophomore core back as jockeying juniors in 2004

Thursday, August 26, 2004
Kara Foster is one of four juniors on the Nevada girls golf team jockeying for position this season. Here she works on putting at practice.

By Joe Warren

Nevada Daily Mail

The 2003 Nevada Tigers girls golf team relied heavily on three sophomores, earning them the nickname the "Sophomore Core."

The sophomores gained experience playing at the varsity level last season and now return to the course as juniors in 2004.

With only eight players in the entire program, and a new addition to the team from the junior class, that means juniors make up exactly half the roster.

That does not bother head coach Kelly Gray, who says in golf you do not need more than that anyway.

"We like it that we have eight," Gray said.

The eight players also include one senior, two sophomores and a freshman.

In Missouri tournaments, the Tigers will play with five as the varsity roster.

It is likely that all four juniors will join senior Rachel Prewitt as the players on that squad.

But when the players travel to Kansas for tournaments, which happens often to get more playing experience, they add a sixth to the varsity because in Kansas, six golfers get to play from each school.

Then one of the sophomores will step in, likely to be newcomer Aubrey Jones.

But it is the junior class that carries the squad.

Emily Benbrook, Tabitha Pitts, Eleanor Horst and Kara Foster are the four juniors on the team.

Benbrook is the top returning golfer from 2003, finishing the season as the number-one player. This year though, Benbrook is being challenged heavily by Pitts, who actually had the lowest team average after two qualifying rounds.

With Gray, the average counts more than what the golfers did last year. She goes strictly by the lowest average scores in qualifying rounds when determining who gets to play as the number-one, and who gets to play on the varsity team at all.

That could change on a weekly basis since the golfers hold the qualifying rounds each week.

Gray said that the players all get along, but that they also want to have that top spot.

"They are very competitive, which is good," Gray said.

The team is trying to go to the state tournament this season.

Unfortunately, the state has changed the rules for 2004. One team qualifies for state from each district. In the past there were two teams that were allowed to compete at state from each district.

Gray said that if the team can keep improving, qualifying is not out of the question.

"They have a chance if we can get their scores down to the 40s," she said.

Gray is talking about scores in the 40s for a nine-hole tournament. That translate into between 80 and 90 for a full 18 holes.

The other members of the team are sophomore Elisha Ellis and freshman Vicky Reardon.

But make no mistake, the junior class will have the biggest impact when tournaments start and the scores start to count.

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