"IF YOU LIKE GOLF"
weekly online golf column
by
Chris Dortch

August 7, 2001

Last column I touched briefly on the talented girls golf team coach King Oehmig has put together at Baylor. This time—with the season set to begin Aug. 13—I’ll take a closer look.

Since selected private schools broke off from the TSSAA’s primary classifications and formed Division II, Oehmig has been able to freely go out and find talented players to keep his team well stocked. The Baylor girls have won four straight Division II titles under Oehmig’s leadership, and before that won two straight Class AAA titles. At the rate Baylor is going, Oehmig will easily become the winningest high school golf coach in state history, and perhaps contend for national honors as well.

The talent pool is deep at Baylor, starting with May Wood. The senior, who is the No. 1-ranked high school recruit in the country, is fielding calls from all the major golf powers. ACC schools Duke, Virginia and North Carolina are making a major push. Vanderbilt would love to build its growing program around her. Stanford has beckoned, and though the distance is something to consider, so is a scholarship that will be worth six figures.

Wood has enjoyed a solid summer, making match play in the U.S. Girls Junior Amateur and the U.S. Women’s Amateur. Wood lasted just one round at the Women’s Amateur, but the experience only made her hungry to get better. She was spotted at Black Creek the other day practicing for more than four hours, then going out to play 18 holes.

Wood is far from Baylor’s only weapon. Sophomore Beth Felts proved as much two weeks ago when, at a mere 15 years old, she won the Chattanooga Women’s Amateur.

Felts is a small person at 5-0, but she packs a punch because she’s in top physical condition and a multi-sport athlete.

"She might be in the best condition of any athlete at Baylor," Oehmig said.

Felts started for Baylor’s varsity soccer team as a freshman—earning TSSAA Division II All-Tournament honors last fall—and has the strength to crank out drives of 250 yards or more. Her putting had plagued her for a time, but a trip to the North-South Junior Amateur, where she had to put the treacherous greens of Pinehurst No. 2, convinced her she needed more work. Felts still managed to shoot 78 in a qualifying round at the North-South, boosting her confidence.

Felts, under the watchful eye of her grandfather, Frank Trundell, has been playing golf since she was eight. When she was Player of the Year in Tennessee’s strong junior system three straight years, Felts began to command attention.

Another young player who has earned a solid reputation is Catherine Hicks, only a freshman. This summer, she’s won the girls city championship and a Southeastern Junior Tour event, plus qualified for the U.S. Girls Junior. She shot 83-77 and missed qualifying for match play, but the experience, Oehmig thinks, was invaluable.

Oehmig has still other players to call on. One of those is eighth grader Leah Hagedorn, who has a silky swing for someone so young. She plays regularly at The Farm, so when she does get to see action at Baylor, none of the courses the Lady Red Raiders play will be intimidating to her.

"She’s going to be a good one, too," Oehmig said. "Her aspiration is to play on the LPGA Tour. All our girls want to play college golf and eventually on the LPGA. It’s very possible they can. I’ve never been around a team this talented."

The Baylor girls will be gunning for their seventh straight state title—and Wood her fourth straight individual title—Oct. 2-3 at Old Fort Golf Club in Murfreesboro.