SHARPE SHOOTER

 Becky Sharpe, who will be a senior at Williamsburg High School this fall, is already working on her game by playing in numerous invitations throughout the South.

Sharpe finished third in the prestigious Natural Resource Partners Bluegrass Junior Tournament, June 14-17 at Bellefonte Country Club in Ashland.

Sharpe led the field after the first day with a one-stroke lead over two-time state champion, Emma Tally of Union County. Sharpe recorded a 68 for the day and contributes her strong putting and four birdies on the front nine to her 2-under-par first round score.

“I had not been putting good all week and for some reason it just came together,” said Sharpe. “This was my first AJGA tournament so it was really exciting.”

“The AJGA stands for American Junior Golf Association,” said Sharpe. The girls played two rounds of golf before a cut was made on the final day. “I had played qualifiers before, but this was my first major tournament.”

“Since I finished third I am fully exempt now which means I don’t have to qualify for any AJGA tournaments,” said Sharpe.

“I started the tournament with three birdies in my first four holes,” said Sharpe. She was one shot behind Talley at the break with a 34. Sharpe continued to play well and started the second round with a birdie and pared the next eight holes to finish with the 68.

Tally had a bogey on the 12^th hole and double-bogey on the 17^th hole and finished the day one stroke behind Sharpe.

“I had 11 putts on the front nine and 26 for the day which is really good,” she said. “I went into the tournament without any expectations, I guess that is the best way to play.”

Sharpe said she didn’t putt as well the second day and fell to third behind Tally and Kelly Tan.

“I didn’t putt as well and it got me in a little trouble,” said Sharpe. She failed to pick up a birdie, but did par 11 holes. She had a four-over 39 on the front nine and a three-over on the back nine to finish with a 77. She finished with a two-day total of 145, four strokes behind Tally and three behind Tan.

Sharpe was just one of five from Kentucky to make the cut.

One the final day of play, Sharpe got off to a slow start and finished the front nine with another 39 after making a bogey on four straight holes (3-6), but she rebounded to par the final three holes.

On the back nine she opened play with a birdie on the 10^th hole. With four pars and three bogies she went to 18 one stroke behind Mikayla Harmon of Gilbert, Arizona. Harmon pared the 18^th hole and Sharpe was able to sink a birdie, tying for the third spot with a 221.

“I didn’t know that at the time, but I had to birdie 18 to tie for the third spot so I could be fully exempt which is huge for my first AJGA tournament and never playing on one of those tournaments before,” said Sharpe.

“I played with people from all over the country,” said added. “The last day I was in a group with Tally, who won the state tournament and has played everywhere like the Ryder Cup and Kelly Tan, who is from Malaysia. That just goes to show you the AJGA is all over the World.”

Sharpe will have a busy schedule until school begins in August. She will play in the PGA Junior Qualifier at Maywood Country Club in Bardstown, the Big “I”, the Junior Am., and the Women’s Open.

“July 18-23, I am going to Chicago to play in the US Girls Open, which I qualified for last week at Cherry Blossom in Georgetown,” said Sharpe.

“Golf is something I love to do,” said Sharpe. “I am so blessed to be able to keep doing it. I get to travel with my parents and spend some family time.  I thought this week was a good Father’s Day present for dad, qualifying for Chicago and finishing third in my first AJGA tournament.”
“It means a lot to be able to travel with my parents and share that with them,” she added.

Still ahead of Sharpe is her senior year at Williamsburg and choosing a college. “I want to make a decision on where I am playing college golf by the end of July or early August. That will make it a lot easier to enjoy my last year of high school.”

Some of her goals for her team and her self are to win the All “A”, both region and state. “We want to win region again and go to the state tournament and hopefully get a top three finish,” Sharpe said.

“Most of the girls are playing summer tournaments just like I am,” said Sharpe. “That should help our team tremendously. Just to be able to play in tournaments will give us that atmosphere all year round and that means a lot.”

Sharpe says she gets a kick out of telling other girls about her school and hometown. “I usually tell them we are right on the Ky-Tenn., line or 15 minutes south of Corbin,” Sharpe said. “Most of the girls have a minimum of 200 in a class and they are shocked to know we have about 900 K-12.”

“That’s one thing about playing in the summer, you get to meet girls from all over and they want to know where you are from. I like to put our little town on the map,” said Sharpe. “It’s fun to represent our town and school, I wouldn’t want to be from anywhere else.”