After four holes at the state golf tournament, Apalachee High School’s Shelby Hanna led the defending state champion by three strokes.
Hanna had stormed out of the starting gate at Bartram Trail Golf Course in Evans and had all those following her play take notice.
“My mind really starting racing then,” said AHS coach Kevin Morris. “It was something to see how well she doing.”
In the end, Hanna would finish with a round of 83 (40 on her first nine holes and 43 on her second nine.) She improved her round at state by 11 strokes from 2011 and was eighth overall.
With another year to compete, Hannah will likely be one of the top contenders next spring.
“Shooting an 83 at state is pretty good,” Morris said. “She had some trouble on a couple of holes, but that was it. Even going to the second nine, she was only five strokes behind the defending state champion.”
Hanna struggled on some of the first holes on her back nine, but managed to recover and finish strong.
“It would have been easy to have tanked it and finished with a 94 or 95,” Morris said. “I am most proud of the way she was able to finish the next seven holes. Not many golfers would have been able to survive what happened on those first two (on the back nine.) You have to be able to let it go and fight through it and continue to play well. That’s exactly what she did.”
North Clayton’s Mariah Stackhouse was the overall state champion with a round of 67. Stackhouse has signed to play golf collegiately at Stanford.
Lakeside Evans was the team state champion for AAAA girls followed by Lambert.
“Hanna really played well this season,” Morris said. “She showed a lot of improvement from the beginning of the season to the end. We think she has a chance to do some special things next season as a senior. I know she will continue working and doing everything she can to get better.”
Hanna will compete in the Hurricane Junior Golf Tour this summer which features female golfers ages 15-18 in various tournaments around the Southeast.
“She just loves the game,” Morris said.
