Habersham Central High School’s varsity girls golf team put together a record-breaking finish to the 2024 season as they competed in the Class AAAAAA State Tournament at Apple Mountain Golf Course in Clarkesville on Monday and Tuesday.
The Lady Raiders finished tied for ninth in the state with a combined two-day score of 497, setting a school record low score for a two-day state event.
The 2024 edition marked the fourth consecutive season HCHS has made the state tournament for the girls squad. Head coach Shawn Blackburn called the feat “unprecedented” for the Lady Raiders.
It was the program’s eighth time overall to make the event, including 2009, 2011, 2012, and 2017. Ashley Blackburn and Kiley Blackburn went to the state tournament in 2013 and 2016, respectively, as individual qualifiers.
There’s a lot of talk in sports about peaking at the right time and the ladies did just that this week.
Sophomore Macey Harrison shot an 85 on Day 1, freshman Charlotte Smith fired an 88 on Day 2, and senior Ava Caudell shot an 89 on Day 2. Each of those marked a career low for 18 holes.
Juniors Addie Maney (Day 1) and Maddie LaPrade (Day 2), who have each played in the state tournament the last three years, both shot an 80 this week for career lows for 18 holes in the state tournament.
Maney shot 80 on Monday and followed it with an 81 on Tuesday to combine for a two-day 161, which was a career low for 36 holes in the state tournament. LaPrade also shot a career-low 36-hole state tournament score with a 163 (83-80).
“Our motto for the year was ‘play your best when it matters most.’ That’s basically what we did here at the state tournament,” Blackburn said. “We had girls shoot their low score of their career [Monday] and [Tuesday]. They grinded and they’ve worked hard this year. We’re all proud of them.”
For Caudell, as a senior, you can’t ask for much more than shooting your career low 18-hole score at the state tournament. But she nearly made that score much more memorable with a hole-in-one on the Par 3 16th hole. She hit a driver off the tee that fell short of the green, but the momentum of the ball carried it up an incline, onto the green and it settled within inches of the hole for a tap-in birdie.
Blackburn said he feels like his team just meshed together well this season. Now, with Caudell as the only departing player due to graduation, there’s a ton of state tournament experience set to return next season.
“They’ve just played well as a team. The future looks bright for next year.”
Results
The Top 10 results are as follows:
1. Johns Creek – 445
2. Marist – 457
3. St. Pius X – 461
4. Blessed Trinity – 469
5. Alpharetta – 472
T6. Glynn Academy – 495
T6. Tift County – 495
8. Allatoona – 496
T9. Habersham Central – 497
T9. North Atlanta – 497
The low medalist for the tournament was Elizabeth Sullivan from St. Pius X. She shot a 72 on Monday and followed that with a women’s course record at Apple Mountain of 65 on Tuesday for a total 137.
