The Fuquay Varina Bengals Women’s Golf team is now in full force with regionals  after conference play. 

“We took four girls to regionals who included myself, Kaitlynn Barnes, Ally Field, and Aynsleigh Penland. The team at the regionals played decently but the golf course that we played was very difficult with very fast greens,” shared sophomore Katie Faircloth.

Faircloth was very proud of how she played and not giving up.           

Faircloth said, “Personally, I played pretty well at regionals, shooting the lowest from our team. I ended up just short of going to the States by three strokes, with me shooting a 97 and the cut line being 94.”

Unfortunately senior Melany Kippes sustained an injury towards the middle of the season.

 “It has kept me from finishing the season. I was really bummed out because it’s my senior year, but I didn’t let it bother me too much because I know that golf is a forever game. My injury is a wrist injury that led me to getting tendinitis,” shared Kippes. ¨Juggling golf and school at the same time is all about time management. I look for opportunities to complete my assignments throughout the day when I’m able. Once I hit the course, all focus turns to golf. When I leave the course, if school work remains then that becomes my priority.”

Faircloth finds the juggling of golf and school very similar to Kippes.                                                                                                                                                                                                      

¨Lucky for me I do not get a whole lot of homework from my classes, so it is pretty easy. But missing school is hard because of all the missing work we have to turn in,” said Faircloth. 

Kippes often plays golf on the weekends at Bentwinds to help improve her game.                                        

¨While I may not be the most skilled golfer on the team, I still put in hard work to become better. Quite honestly, I just find the game to be a lot of fun,” said Kippes. 

Challenges are inevitable in life and that goes for sports as well. 

“Some challenges during the season have definitely been the different greens that we have had to play compared to our home course, Bentwinds. Another challenge is the rough water at the different courses and the course for regionals, especially their bunkers,” Faircloth shared. Regional and conference play can look a tad different and this can be challenging to players.                                                     

¨Some of the teams that we play in the conference include Southeast Raleigh, Cleveland, Corinth Holders, etc. At regionals we had to play all sorts of teams from Athens Drive to Cardinal Gibbons. Most of the golf teams at regionals were a challenge to beat. We ended up being 11th out of 15 teams that attended as a team,” shared Faircloth. 

Unfortunately none of our Lady Bengals made it to States this season, but they remain hopeful for next season.

Kippes shared, “What I would like peers and others at FVHS to know about my golf team is that we are committed to performing well, supportive of one another, and we view each other as family. Coach Barnes and Coach Faircloth are very supportive and keep us motivated to do our best.” 

Being part of a team or group has many positives but doesn’t come without some challenges.

 ”I would hope that the other women golfers  would say I’m a good teammate, always encouraging everyone to do their best, and to not get too down on themselves if they do. One of my favorite phrases to say to my teammates is ‘You got this,”’ stated Kippes.                                 

“I would suggest to someone wanting to try out for golf, don’t be scared. Even if they think they aren’t as good as another golfer, that doesn’t mean they aren’t good enough. Golf isn’t an easy sport, and it takes a lot of practice,” said Kippes.