 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
No jitters in this freshman
By JAMAL THALJI © St. Petersburg Times, published October 11, 2000 TRINITY -- She's just a freshman. Yet look at all she has accomplished: Amanda Moore has led Mitchell to a 12-0 record against the teams of the Sunshine Athletic Conference. She is averaging 43 strokes per nine holes to lead the Mustangs from the No. 1 spot. She has shot a season-low 38, not coincidentally, at River Ridge, the course where the SAC tournament will take place next Tuesday. So not only has she taken the lead in Mitchell's improbable march toward a conference title in the program's very first year, not only has she helped guide a team of three freshmen and three sophomores, but she is also one of the front-runners to medal at the SAC this season. And she's just 14 years old. She's just a freshman. Mitchell coach Steve Knobl is the first to admit that he had no idea his team, or Moore, was capable of this. He thought they would be a talented and competitive group. He thought Moore would be solid in her first season. But all this? Who could expect all this? "I had no idea," he said. "Now I knew coming in that she had a lot of experience playing over the last couple of summers. I knew she had some competitive golf experience but that was as far as it went. "Now she wants to get a scholarship to go to college. It will be exciting to watch her the next couple of years." It had been the team's hope from the beginning to be good one day. But to skip the whole growing pains part, though, has surprised everyone. "I had no idea that we would be this good," Moore said. "I thought that we had a good team starting out, and we were probably going to place in conference. "But I never considered that we would go into conference leading it." But that's just what the Mustangs have done. Their only loss of the season came against the defending Class A state champions, Saddlebrook, who they played again Tuesday evening. Today, they battle Ridgewood. After that, it's time to start preparing for the SAC tourney at River Ridge. Knobl has high hopes for all his golfers, players such as Katie Taylor, Amanda Palmer, Christina Beach and Julie and Laura Reaves. But in Moore he sees a golfer who can dominate the county's public schools for years to come, such as former Gulf standout Lindsey Murvine, a three-time SAC medalist who graduated last season. Moore is already showing a maturity on the course beyond her years. "She doesn't act like a freshman," he said. "Her course management is improving, she makes a lot of good decisions on the course. After seeing her on the course, some people have asked if she's a junior." Moore first picked up a golf club when she was 9 years old, and started playing competitively these past few summers. She was on the golf team at Bishop Larkin Catholic School in Land O'Lakes. The SAC tourney will be the team's first major test, in 18 holes against older girls. But Moore is confident they can claim the title. "If we work as a team," she said. "I think we can definitely win it."
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
From today's Pasco Times |
