Lady Flyers' Ahing Takes the Lead at Beacon Ridge and Keeps It
Sandhills Community College's Trinity Ahing is two-for-two this spring after earning medalist honors on Saturday at the Golden Knight Carolina Classic held at Beacon Ridge Golf and Country Club in West End.
The sophomore, who played at Western Carolina as a freshman, finished four strokes ahead of second place Sydney Devore of Ohio Dominican University with a 36-hole score of 73-79-152. She also finished in first place 10 days ago at the Pfeiffer Spring Invitational held in Ocean Isle, NC.
"Two tournaments in a row is great and she's going to win some more," Lady Flyers Coach Herb Pike said afterward.
Ava Ray, who tied for 24th place with scores of 87-86-173, and Lindsay McAulay, also represented the Lady Flyers who did not have the four players required to post a team score.
Gannon University (PA) won the team title over the other 10 four-year colleges by two strokes over Emanuel College (GA). Ohio Dominican, Trevecca Nazarene (TN) and Mercyhurst (PA), finished in the third through fifth places respectively.
Ahing, who shared the two mile walk on a beautiful, but windy day, with her parents Ken and Victoria, seems to be getting used to being a front runner. She picked up her first win last September at the Flyers Fall Invitational held at Longleaf Golf and Family Club and took a six-stroke lead into Saturday's final round.
"It's nice when you can take the lead and keep the lead," she said. "I was fine with my irons and driver, but I could not make a putt today. I'm hoping to keep steady, keep going."
Even with the clear skies compared to a rainy Friday, Pike still thought conditions were even more difficult on Saturday.
"The wind and the hard and fast greens made it tough, but I was real pleased with how the girls played," he said.
The next tournament for Pike's squad is The Flyers Invitational at Longleaf on March 20-21.
C. Bergmann