The 15-year-old Temple freshman, who has been competing in golf tournaments ever since she was around 4, has burst onto the scene in her first high school season.
Ralston finished in a tie for third at the District 13-5A Tournament to become the first Lady Wildcat to advance to regionals since Audra Van Winkle accomplished the feat in 2003.
Ralston, along with the Belton Lady Tigers team of Hilary Elrod, Kessler Tormey, Courtney Weise, Courtney Cryer and Katelynne Chamness, aim for a state tourney berth when they compete at the Class 5A Region II Tournament today and Wednesday at Cottonwood Creek Golf Course in Waco.
While Ralston’s primary goal is to earn a state tournament berth, she is really looking forward to the experience to build on for the future.
“I’m kind of nervous but I’m really excited,” said Ralston, who shot a season-best 78 at Sammons Golf Link in the second round of the district tournament. “I just want to take it as a learning experience so I can set the basis for the rest of my years. I’m more excited than I am nervous.”
Added Temple coach Aaron Rodeffer: “For a freshman to get to the regional tournament and see the level of competition and see what she has to work toward . . . not too many of the girls have that opportunity. As a freshman it just gives her loads of experience to be able to build on in the future.”
Ralston, who will tee off today at 8:10 a.m., says her strategy is “fairways and greens” as it has been all year. While she knows she’s not one of the favorites, the poised freshman is ready to see what she can do against the other 95 individuals in the field.
“I just want to go play the course,” Ralston said. “I don’t want to really play anybody there for it being my first year. I don’t want to set the bar really low and not even care because I really do care about trying to advance and trying to play really well. I just want to play the course, play my own game and see if I can beat one of my records that I’ve set for myself.”
While Raltson is happy to be competing at regionals, so are the Belton Lady Tigers, who return to the 16-team regional after missing it last year for the first time since 2002.
“This is what you work for,” Belton coach Sherry Ayers said. “Any time you can advance it says something about what they’ve done. Their hard work is paying off and their scores are showing it.”
Junior Hilary Elrod, who tied for third and won a playoff against Ralston for the bronze medal at the district tournament, is the lone Lady Tiger with regional experience when she competed in 2006.
Ayers said Elrod has worked on becoming a more consistent golfer and for her to win the playoff under pressure was a huge step.
“I felt during the fall she wasn’t where she wanted to be and you could see the frustration,” Ayers said. “That’s the thing with golf. You keep working and it finally clicks. Now she has more confidence and she sees that she can keep it low.”
Ayers said junior Courtney Weise’s improvement has made a huge impact for the team. Weise finished tied for ninth at the district tournament.
Along with Weise, senior Tormey, sophomore Chamness and freshman Cryer will all be making their first regional appearances.
Tormey, who finished eighth at the district tournament, has been in the varsity lineup since her freshman year but an illness caused her to miss the district tournament in 2005 and an injury forced her to miss regionals in 2006.
The Belton golfers’ tee times begin at 9:10 a.m. with the last Lady Tiger starting at 9:50 a.m.
“We expect a lot of competitive play,” Ayers said. “We’re really excited to be going back.”
