Reese Anthony missed a handful of events at the beginning of the St. Henry High School golf season. But she showed up strong at the end on Friday and Saturday at the KHSAA Girls State Championships in Bowling Green.
“I was very proud of myself this week,” the St. Henry middle schooler said during some rare down time Sunday.
In July, Anthony was in North Carolina with her family while competing at the three-day World Teen Championships near Pinehurst. The annual event attracts the best 18-and-under players from around the globe through a grueling series of qualifying stages lasting nearly two years.
Like any golf dad pouring money into his child’s advancement, Evan Anthony pays close attention to his daughter’s play. He watches her swings. He keeps her scores and tallies tournament wins. He’s an expert on Reese Anthony and he noticed something while watching his daughter play her way into the top 20 in the Girls Age 14 Tournament at the U.S. Kids Golf summer showcase.
“She did really well (tied for 18th) and it rained the whole time,” Anthony’s father said. “Up until that point, I thought she would break through at the high school level when she was a freshman. But after that, I told my wife it could happen this year.”
Reese Anthony proved her father correct, putting together a top-10 finish at last week’s season-concluding state tournament.
Anthony, an eighth grader, shot a two-day, 8-over-par 152 at Bowling Green Country Club. She carded scores of 75 the first round, and 77 the final day in a steady rain, to place 10th. It was the highest state finish in individual stroke play competition for a northern Kentucky participant. Anthony finished just two shots off seventh place and six away from fifth. She was 13 shots behind Sacred Heart’s Keira Yun, the repeat champion.
“It was a lot better than how I played at last year’s tournament,” Anthony said of her 2025 state debut as a seventh grader. “I thought that tee to green, it was easier this year. Once you were on the greens, though, it played really fast.”
Anthony carded a pair of birdies on Nos. 5 and 16 on Friday. No. 16 was a birdie-3. She added another birdie-3 right out of the gate Saturday on No. 1. She was a picture of consistency, parring 24 of 36 holes, 12 each day. The youngster largely avoided the damaging bad hole, with just two double-bogeys, but no more than one either day.
The area’s top placing at state is just the latest in a string of top finishes for the St. Henry class of 2031 standout. Anthony, an honors student who attends an advanced algebra class at the high school, earned her second straight state appearance by winning the Region 7 tournament. She tied for fourth at the sectional qualifier. She won the state middle-school championship in September, and younger sister Nora, a sixth grader, placed seventh.
Reese also won a Northern Kentucky Athletic Conference division championship last month for St. Henry. She took the girls 13–15 age‑division title and was third overall at the 64th Cincinnati Metropolitan Junior Girls Championship in July. Sister Nora was fourth overall and second in her division. That’s not the end of the line for the burgeoning family dynasty. There is a 6-year-old Anthony daughter already swinging a club.
Right behind Reese Anthony at the girls state event was Ryle High School’s Elizabeth Dickson in a tie for 12th at 155. It was Dickson’s first state appearance.
“I think it’s pretty good that I shaped up to be in 12th,” said Dickson, a senior heading to the University of Kentucky to concentrate on academics. “I’m not playing golf in college so it was nice to do well.”
Dickson carded five birdies on Friday’s first day and one more on Saturday.
“A lot of people were saying the greens were fast,” Dickson said, “but I only had two three-putts over the two days.”
Among other locals, Maria Penaranda of Notre Dame Academy tied for 34th with 165. Conner’s Sofia Seals tied for 57th. Conner, making its maiden trip to the state finals, was ninth in the team competition won by Lexington Christian Academy.
