Talking prep links… Lady Cyclones poised to have shot come tournament time
Published 12:54 pm Thursday, August 20, 2020
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Star Photo/Ivan Sanders The 2020 Elizabethton Lady Cyclone golf team is made up of Hannah McDonnell, Ashlyn Guy, Katelyn Kechter, Kylee Evans, Katie Lee, and Gabby Miller. Head coach is Lucas Andrews.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Elizabethton girls' head golf coach Lucas Andrews said that even though his squad is young, they can't be overlooked as they are capable of shooting some very good scores.
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BY IVAN SANDERS
STAR SPORTS EDITOR
ivan.sanders@elizabethton.com
Entering the 2020 prep golf campaign, the Elizabethton Lady Cyclones have a very young team but according to head coach Lucas Andrews, don’t let that youth fool you as he can see his team start making noise when it matters most when tournament time arrives.
”This is a very young team, but they have the ability to shoot good scores,” Andrews said. “If they are playing well at tournament time then they have a chance to advance.
”I feel like we have a couple of girls that have a chance to advance to the regional.”
The one thing that most people know about Andrews is he is very competitive and hates to lose. He hopes some part of that rubs off on his team throughout the season.
”They know I am competitive and I want them to be the best player they can be,” Andrews stated. ”Obviously everyone wants to be successful, but the way a coach carries themselves will show up in their team.
“This game has a lot of pressure and a ton of individual pressure. I have to be able to be the calming factor for the team.
“At the end of the day I want to be able to help my team be the best they can be and I put pressure on myself to be able to help them in whatever.”
COVID-19 has proven to be a great distraction and also a challenge for all sports. In golf, players have the ability to distance themselves while playing but that doesn’t mean there won’t be challenges.
Andrews feels that the game of golf is most challenging when it comes to putting in the work before getting on the links in a competitive match.
“Learning to practice,” Andrews said is one of the toughest challenges his team faces. “Most high school players just want to play and not spend time on the practice tee and practice green.
“We have to learn from each round and figure out what part of our game hurt us each day. Then go and practice that. It is a game that can not be mastered so we must strive to get better at each aspect of the game and spend quality time doing that.”
Andrews will be looking to some returning golfers to help set the pace for the rest of the team.
“Katelyn Ketcher is our senior and has been playing well in the offseason,” he said. “Hannah McDonnell is returning and was able to shoot us some good scores last year with only playing a couple of months.
“We have some younger players that are also playing well and they could sneak up on some teams.”
When looking over the conference, Andrews knows what lies before him and his team and there will not be any days that the Lady Cyclones will be able to take off as everyone is returning solid competition.
”Our conference is loaded,” said Andrews. “South and Tennessee High have several great golfers. Science Hill is always at the top or near it. We have an opportunity to play in one of the best if not the best conferences in the state.”
Andrews said that for his team to be successful, the ladies will have to take it one shot at a time and have a short memory. The biggest thing for the Lady Cyclones is that if they have a bad shot or a couple in a row, they will have to put those shots behind them and move on to the next shot.
The coach was asked what he would consider to be a successful season.
“Our players learning more about how to play this crazy game,” Andrews said. “If our scores are getting better each time and we are improving individual scores and team scores then we did well.
“We always want to advance in the tournaments, but this game is wild and some days it just is not your day and some times other teams and players just play better. We can only control us and we can not go out and play defense on our opponents.”
Lastly, Andrews was asked how he would describe the 2020 version of the Lady Cyclone golf team.
”Entertaining, we have the ability to shoot low scores and with our mix of older players and younger players, we are going to have ups and downs in matches. There is also not a dull moment with these ladies,” Andrews commented.
