Bishop Brossart, Notre Dame Academy, St. Henry and Ryle will field some of the best girls high school golf teams in Northern Kentucky this year. But it’s Cooper that’s looking super. With a lineup including savvy seniors Eva Maley and Kendall Brissey and crackerjack junior Reagan Ramage, Cooper could have a team for the ages.
“I love my girls. I’ve got some talented, high-character players. But we are young this year so it’s kind of a building year,” Notre Dame coach Karen Henderson said. “Cooper is the team to beat. Reagan Ramage is on a rampage and Eva Maley is really good, too.”
Ramage, the defending KHSAA Region 7 individual champion and fifth at the state tournament, is so good that she’ll be playing at the U.S. Kids Golf World Teen 18-under championship held July 27-29 at Pinehurst Country Club in Pinehurst, North Carolina. Ramage also qualified for the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship Aug. 7-13 at Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles, California.
“She’s going to miss two tournaments next week,” Cooper coach Joe Deters said of his standout player. “We play four tournaments in four days to open the season beginning Monday. We’re playing a lot and looking for some youngers girls to step up early.”
Ramage put together a score of 69 at last year’s regional tournament. She shot a two-day score of 150 at the state tournament and was named first-team all-state while collecting virtually every local player of the year honor. If it wasn’t for Ramage, Maley would be regarded by many as the region’s best player. She was named second-team all-state last year. As it stands, they form one of the best 1-2 tandems in Kentucky.
“Eva is a fantastic player,” coach Deters said. “Her and Reagan were neck and neck with each other last year, going back and forth with who had the better round.”
Without Ramage, Cooper still has two of the area’s best players. Maley was Region 7 individual runner-up with a score of 71 for the three-time defending regional team champ. No other returning golfer was within eight shots, except for teammate Brissey, who carded a score of 79 while placing third. There’s also senior Ava Finke, who tied for 11th at the regional. The coach is touting his new No. 5, senior Sydney Koenig, a key replacement player last season. She should help as the Jaguars defend their Northern Kentucky Athletic Conference Division I crown. Maley is reigning NKAC Division I individual champ.
With Ramage, Cooper seems unstoppable.
“You always want to have Reagan, but we’ll still be able to compete the few times she’s out because we have enough good players to put up a good team score,” Deters said. “We’ve got four girls who all could shoot in the 70’s on a given day.”
Notre Dame welcomes back three of its top five players including juniors Leah Hickey and Didi Jiradamkerng, who placed third on the Pandas while finishing seventh at the regional. There’s also sophomores Riley Pope and Teagan Kruer.
The Pandas need to make up 43 shots on Cooper. That was the Jaguars’ winning margin at the regional tournament after they shot a team score of 304. The Pandas shot 347. Cooper’s score tied the 2017 Ryle squad for lowest at the regional over the last 20 years. The next best was the 316 Notre Dame scored at the 2015 regional. No other Region 7 team has scored under 320 during that span.
Ryle, led by incoming sophomore Anika Okuda, placed fourth in the 2022 regional team standings at 383, 26 shots behind third-place St. Henry (357). The Crusaders, defending All “A” Classic regional champions and last year’s NKAC Division II champs, feature rising senior Lexi McMillin. Conner was fifth in the regional at 440, led by incoming eighth-grader Sofia Seals. Those squads need some much-improved players to catch No. 1 Cooper and No. 2 Notre Dame. The region could see the same top five this season.
“Things change, but that’s how we finished last year,” Deters said. “I would expect the same this year.”
In Region 8, defending regional All “A” Classic champion Bishop Brossart returns standout Emma Laker and senior Bailey Ritter following last year’s third-place regional tournament finish with a score of 386, well back of champion Owen County (314). No other local team finished in the top five. The Mustangs placed fifth at the All “A” Classic state tournament.
Laker, a rising junior, placed fifth individually at the regional with a score of 80, the best for an area player. Highlands’ Jenna Richey was next among locals at 90.
The top two regional teams and top 10 scorers not on those teams advance to the first round of the state tournament, which features 12 teams at three events. The top three teams and top 15 scorers not on those teams in each of the three first-round events advance to October’s state finals in Bowling Green.