Thursday, October 09, 2008
BOWLING GREEN – Although the Hopkins County Central girls’ golf team did not advance to the second round of the KHSAA State Golf Championships on Wednesday, Lady Storm golfer Ashleigh Howerton played as an individual, advancing into the final 18 holes for the first time in her career.
As many of her teammates watched, Howerton endured sloppy conditions at Bowling Green Country Club and finished 15 holes before darkness prevented her from completing her round. Howerton posted a 79 with three holes to make up Thursday morning.
One day after shooting a career-best 80, Howerton, a junior, struggled to find the same stroke that placed her in a tie for 13th overall.
“A lot of times when shoot well, you have high hopes and then things don’t go as smooth as the day before and you kind of crash, and that’s just the first time making the cut, first time shooting 80 — all those things come into play,” Central coach Mike Zimmer said.
Howerton may not have had her best day, but Zimmer said he’s impressed by her improvements from last year’s mark.
“It doesn’t matter, it was 20 strokes better than the last time she played here,” he said. “She did a heckuva a lot better than she did last year and she should be proud of herself.”
After her first three holes, Howerton stood at just two over par, but a double-bogey on four signaled the beginning of her troubles.
“I started off pretty good and then I had a bad hole and tried to fix it, and it just didn’t work out,” Howerton said.
On the back nine, Howerton appeared to find her stride by stringing together a few pars, but then went plus-three on her final two holes to end the day.
Howerton said the difference in her successful holes was her mental approach.
“I just stayed slow and I forgot about everything,” she said.
What frustrated Howerton the most was the inconsistency of her various types of shots.
“It was always a different shot that ended up bad and it kind of screwed me up because I thought well maybe I can fix this and work on another one, but it just didn’t work out that way,” she said.
Zimmer said he agreed that the difference was merely one shot on each hole and it varied between drives, approaches, chips and putts.
“She was struggling on every hole with one shot,” he said. “When that happens, you can’t get into a rhythm and you don’t feel like you’re playing very well, so you lose confidence in that shot, and then on the next hole, you might hit that shot real well, but the other shot failed you. She really could not develop any rhythm. That’s a good way to say it.”
For Howerton, it was her third straight appearance at the state championship, and although it was her first time making the cut, she didn’t allow herself to merely be happy with that achievement.
“I just felt upset with myself because I knew I could do better, but I didn’t,” she said. “It feels good that I made it, but it makes me feel worse that I can’t do better on the second day.”
While Howerton focused on her day’s play, Zimmer showed a bit more perspective.
“She should be proud of her accomplishment and take it into next year,” he said.
With three more holes to finish, Howerton said it’s a good opportunity to reverse course and create some new momentum and hopes Wednesday’s play does not follow her into a new day.
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