ROCKINGHAM —The Richmond Senior girls golf team comes into the 2019 campaign with a mixed bag of players that round out its roster of six.

Hailey Miller leads a trio of returners from last year’s group that placed third in every event in which they competed, resulting in a third-place finish in the Sandhills Athletic Conference.

Miller paced the team in each of the outings en route to qualifying for the NCHSAA 4A Girls Golf State Championships, her second consecutive season do so.

Lady Raiders coach Keith Parsons expects nothing short of excellence for the player he refers to as one of the best golfers in the area.

“The sky is the limit for her and I look forward to seeing how she finishes out her career,” Parsons said of Miller.

Miller will look to enhance on an already impressive resume that includes being the first female golfer in decades to sink a hole-in-one during Day 1 of last year’s state tournament where she shot a season-best 83, then eventually finished 29th overall after Day 2.

Parsons says his experienced senior has a propensity to help others get better, a key attribute required for a cast that includes three new additions.

“Certainly, we’re going to look for Hailey to be a leader like she was last year,” he said. “Sometimes a tip for one of the players comes better from Hailey than from me, occasionally.”

Senior Lauren Humann along with juniors Angeli Yang and Delaney Driggers will tee up for the Lady Raiders for the first time in their careers.

Humann has the most technical training of the newcomers and Parsons feels she can be a “great addition” after watching her at the driving range during the first practice on Tuesday. He added that Yang and Driggers are new to the sport, so getting them more comfortable, and understanding situational nuances will be important to their progression.

Sophomores Kenleigh Frye and Kirsten McDonald were in the same golf shoes as this year’s newcomers when they joined a larger team as freshmen last summer.

Frye qualified for every match last season and Parsons is excited to see her improvement.

“She has all kinds of upside. She’s one of the longest hitters, really, in the entire conference,” he said of Frye.

To get better this go-round, he added that Frye needs to work on consistency, and that will help her become a stronger player as the year moves forward.

Overall, Parsons says he tries to keep goals simple and that he wants each player to end the season better than they started. As a team, he concluded that it would be “admirable” if they could close the gap between them and perennial SAC foes Pinecrest and Jack Britt.

The Lady Raiders travel to host Pinecrest in the season-opener on Sept. 9 at Pinehurst Resort and Country Club No. 5.

Parsons
https://www.yourdailyjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/web1_MugParsons.jpgParsons

Leon Hargrove Jr. | Daily Journal file photo Richmond’s Hailey Miller qualified for the NCHSAA 4A Girls Golf State Championships for the second straight season last year. The senior looks to lead a Lady Raiders team that features three first-year players.
https://www.yourdailyjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/web1_hailey.jpgLeon Hargrove Jr. | Daily Journal file photo Richmond’s Hailey Miller qualified for the NCHSAA 4A Girls Golf State Championships for the second straight season last year. The senior looks to lead a Lady Raiders team that features three first-year players.

By Donnell Coley

Sports Editor

Donnell Coley can be reached at 910-817-2671 or by email at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter:@Sportsinmyveins.