Seniors Grogan and Dalton lead the way for HCHS lady golfers
After another region runner-up finish last season, the Henderson County Lady Colonels golf team hopes to build upon that success as it prepares for a new season. Though the roster is young and inexperienced, two talented seniors will provide leadership and valuable tournament experience.
The Lady Cols lost Cameron Davis and Lucy Whitfield from last year’s team. Whitfield signed to continue her golf career at Transylvania University. This season, the team will lean heavily on seniors Meryl Grogan, who has also committed to Transy, and Ainsley Dalton to be role models.
“Meryl is coming to the next level… Ainsley has stepped up a lot. She’s got a chance at regions, semi-state, and making it to state as an individual. Both of them do,” assistant coach Payton Knight said.
Grogan is coming off a season where she won the individual region title, the first for the Lady Cols since Knight won it in 2017. She also set a school record with an eight-under 64 at the Christian County Invitational in August of last year.
“I would love to do that again (win region). I’m confident that I can do that. My expectations are to leave on a good note and just be positive in everything. I want to be a good person to be around on the golf course and just enjoy my last year,” Grogan said.
Dalton also expects to post solid scores and maybe more importantly to be a leader by example for her young teammates. She finished seventh at region last season and said that the beginning of her senior year has been surreal.
“We’ve always had Cameron and Lucy. Now they’re gone so it’s a little weird,” Dalton said. “The coaches tell us we have to lead by example… Personally, I’m going to try to have a great attitude and be happy on the golf course.”
Long-time golf coach, Jessica Grace, spoke on her seniors’ importance to the program. They have played for HCHS since seventh grade.
“From the first time I saw them swing, I knew they had talent… Their experience is only going to help the rest of the girls to get better,” Grace said. “We talked about having joy on the golf course. My goal for them is just to realize how lucky they are to be able to play this great game.”
Grace and Knight know it will be a challenge, but they are confident their senior leadership can help develop their young talent into a competitive team.
Colonels hope to overcome inexperience on the course
Austin Knight, like his wife Payton, is entering his second year coaching the Henderson County Colonels golf team. This season, he is taking on the full responsibilities of head coach with the assistance of Henderson native, Chris Thomas.
Knight will have his work cut out for him after losing five seniors from last year’s region runner-up team, including his top golfer, Jake Hayden, who signed with the University of Evansville.
“We have a young, but mainly inexperienced team other than Mason Ranes and a few others. You always want to post really good scores and compete, but really I just want to see growth. I want to see the kids staying positive and having a good time,” Knight said.
The Cols will have one senior in Jacob Nunn. He is new to the team, but has plenty of golf experience, as well as being a member of the football and track and field teams.
Their returning top golfer will be junior Mason Ranes. Ranes has shown great growth after picking up golf only about four years ago when he stopped playing baseball.
“I’ve got high expectations for myself. The goal is to win the region. It’s at the home course so I feel like I have an advantage, but I still have to put the work in and get it done,” Ranes said. “Being the lead scorer so far, you just have to set an example and let those other guys know that they can do exactly what I do.”
Henderson will host this year’s regional for the boys at Henderson Country Club. According to Knight, Henderson will be part of a new four-course regional hosting rotation.
“We have a great team, great players, great parents, great staff at school that supports us, and just the community of Henderson is crazy good,” Knight said.
Knight believes that the future of golf in Henderson is bright. He hopes that Ranes and Nunn can guide his younger golfers, such as freshman Evan Dalton, to a place where the Colonels will be competitive this year and years to come.
“The end goal is to help the future of this program. The end of the season is really where we need to perform and we have two months to get ready,” Knight said. “Even though it doesn’t sound like a lot, we’re going to have a lot of time to work on our game, to become a team, and get everything ready for the postseason.”
