Golf

High school golfer gaining valuable experience competing in national tournaments this summer

High school golfer gaining valuable experience competing in national tournaments this summer

Rylan Wotherspoon placed 24th in a field of 101 top-notch golfers at the Barbasol Junior Championship this week at Keene Trace Golf Club in Nicholasville. The 18-year-old Union resident didn’t come home with a trophy, but he got a better idea of where he stands in that high level of competition.

“It’s just a great experience to be able to see what these other guys are like and where I see myself by competing against them, and the things I need to work on going forward,” Wotherspoon said.

The Cooper High School senior shot 1-over-par 145 in the first two rounds of the tournament that included many of the top junior players in the nation. The final round on Thursday was canceled due to heavy rain and Preston Summerhays of Arizona was declared the winner with an 11-under-par total of 133.

Wotherspoon will get another chance to compete with the elite at the Boys Junior PGA Championship July 12-15 at Kearney Hill Golf Course in Lexington. He also qualified for the U.S. Junior Amateur July 19-24 at the Country Club of North Carolina.

After those two national tournaments, Wotherspoon will turn his attention to his final season of high school golf. His ultimate goal is to win the state championship that escaped him last October when he tied for first place and then lost in a playoff for the title.

Wotherspoon was still named Mr. Kentucky Golf based on points awarded through out the high school season, but he was disappointed with the way it ended.

“That one kind of stung a little bit,” he said of placing second in the state tournament. “To lose the way I did in a playoff and to get that close, that was frustrating. So it was a motivating factor for the off-season and to go out and have the best summer I could.”

Wotherspoon, who has already made a verbal commitment with the University of Cincinnati, won the first American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) event he entered this summer. At the Rome Junior Classic in Georgia, he topped the leader board with a 13-under par total of 200. During his three rounds, he carded 15 birdies to offset a pair of bogeys.

Last month, Wotherspoon placed 35th in two other AJGA events held in North Carolina and Illinois. He is currently ranked 26th in the Rolex AJGA boys national point standings.

Several other Kentucky high school golfers have played in the same summer tournaments as Wotherspoon. Just like him, they’ll be setting their sights on winning this year’s state tournament and finishing on top in the Mr. Kentucky Golf point standings.

“After the U.S. Junior Amateur at the end of July, I’ll start to get my mind set on a couple of high school achievements,” he said. “Helping my team get down to the state tournament and winning an individual state championship are my goals for this year.”

Wotherspoon was medalist in the Region 7 tournament the last two years and finished third as a freshman to earn at-large berths to the state tournament. He would like to have his Cooper teammates playing with him at this year’s season finale by winning the Region 7 team title.

“I’ve been to state three times so far and I’ve gone down as an individual each time,” he said. “It’s been a cool experience, but I see how everybody has a lot of fun with their teammates. That’s something I definitely want to experience, especially with this being my last year as a senior.”

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