Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Melissa Whitt will be the first to admit that her first love was softball.
Her family moved to the area when she was entering the ninth grade and she fully expected to become a part of the Nash Central Bulldogs softball team. Then she changed her mind.
"I didn't want to be on a new team with people I'd never met before," Whitt said.
Her shyness at the time led her to golf where, as a freshman, she met Katye Walker, another ninth-grader who wanted to hit the links. Both played on the boys' golf team that year.
Three years later, Whitt and Walker have a team of their own and are the Telegram All-Area Girls' Golf Co-Players of the Year.
"When you say you play golf, it's like they don't think you can play," Walker said. "We're the only two (girls) in the whole school and Nash County."
The duo, which completed the season by leading Nash Central to a 15th-place finish at the NCHSAA 1A/2A/3A state girls' golf tournament, could have been satisfied with just playing.
The "girls on a boys' golf team" story could have taken on a life of its own. But Whitt and Walker decided they wanted to do more than just play ndash; they wanted to be good as well.
For Whitt, playing on the same team as her brother, John, for one year was all the motivation she needed to get better.
"Just watching him, I had to be up there with my brother," Whitt said.
So Whitt, who has qualified for the state tournament each of the last three seasons, began spending time with her dad in an effort to work on her short game. Practice sessions led to better rounds during competition and eventually Whitt was hooked.
Walker, a two-time state qualifier who began playing the game with rounds of putt-putt golf, moved on to lessons with a golf pro at Birchwood Country Club to enhance her skills. For years Walker could be found hitting balls in her backyard.
Now, golf isn't just something to do in the summer.
Both work at a local golf course and are around the game as much as possible. The two have even found small ways to stay competitive by challenging each other to closest-to-the-pin or best-putt contests during practice.
Together, both believe they would be the perfect player.
Whitt, who will play at UNC-Pembroke next year, has the edge on driving and putting, while both agree that Walker has the better short game of the two.
The two don't necessarily consider themselves the torchbearers of girls' golf in the area. What they do know is they love golf.
Will there be another girl sitting in their seat as player of the year this time next year?
"We don't know yet," Whitt said.
Jessie H.
Nunery can be reached at 407-9951 or jhnunery@coxnc.com
Cox North Carolina Newspapers, L.P.
- -
By using this service, you accept the terms of our and .
Registered site users, you may .
Having trouble?
Visit our .
News RSS