When Ardmore High School students returned to class last week, there was not a single girl signed up to play golf.
This is the second school year the Tigers began without having any girls sign up for the golf program, but coach Steve Ross plans to change that.
“Girls golf as a whole is down, even with the success that some teams in this area have had,” he said. “It ebbs and flows, and right now, is at the bottom of a pretty big wave.”
In an attempt to turn his non-existent team into something, Ross said he and his assistant coach, Mark Peters, would recruit from the softball team.
“Because the golf swing and softball swing are a lot alike,” Ross said.
He is looking for dedicated athletes that are willing to practice hard and strive for excellence.
“I want girls that will get out here and practice,” he said. “The boys get fired up, and we're trying to breed that into the girls.”
Even though Ardmore has a lack of high school girls involved right now, youth girls are starting to pick up the slack. Ross said his camps at Lakeside Golf Club had a large number of girls come out to play.
Doug Hargis, the golf pro at Lakeview, said the number of girl golfers has remained steady over the past few years, but he can’t explain the lack of players at the school level.
Dornick Hills Country Club golf pro Steve Ramsey said he has seen an increase in girl golfers in the 12-under age group.
“We had more girls at camp than ever before,” he said.
Ross, Ramsey and Hargis all said they hope the young girls will stick with golf until they get to high school, but the future is uncertain.
“The nucleus has started, so hopefully in the next two or three years we’ll see some more participation.”
Any girls interested in playing for the Ardmore girls golf team can contact Ross during school hours at (580) 221-7692.
