The Kentucky high school golf season begins next week, and both Ryle squads enter with championship expectations. The boys return as defending Region 7 champions after posting a 293 last fall, finishing 10 shots ahead of runner‑up Covington Catholic. The Ryle girls also return as favorites after winning last year’s 7th Region tournament by 34 shots over Notre Dame Academy.
The boys team graduated only one key player and brings back a deep varsity group that finished sixth at last year’s state tournament. Leading the returnees are Region 7 individual runner‑up Thomas Leone and fifth‑place finisher Hayden Li. Seniors Chandler James, Jake Roscoe and Jack Maegly also return. Li, an incoming freshman, tied for 32nd at state, and James, Roscoe and Leone all placed inside the top 42. Leone is entering his junior year.
Freshmen Luke Roscoe and Brennan Salyers add to the varsity mix. The Raiders open their season Monday at a Conner‑hosted tournament at Kenton County Pioneer.
“We’ll miss Paxton, my son who is heading to Northern Kentucky University,” head coach Mark McKelvey said after wrapping up two‑day team tryouts Thursday at Lassing Pointe. “But pretty much everyone else is back, so we’re really excited. And everybody is in good form.”
The Ryle girls lost three key graduates, including regional champion Anika Okuda. But senior standouts Elizabeth Dickson and Lacey Wilson return. They finished fourth and ninth, respectively, at last year’s Region 7 Tournament.
Volpenhein, Lucas crack top 5 at Senior Met
Two local veterans placed in the top five at last week’s 78th Metropolitan Senior Men’s Championship. The Greater Cincinnati Golf Association event, held at Clovernook Country Club, saw Jim Volpenhein and Lance Lucas tie for fourth with matching 1‑over‑par totals of 143 in the 36‑hole stroke‑play event.
Volpenhein, representing Maketewah Country Club and a 1976 Covington Catholic graduate, shot 72‑71 with four birdies each day. Boone County 1980 graduate Lucas posted rounds of 70‑73, including five birdies in his final round. They finished five shots behind champion Pete Betzold of The Grizzly Course, who won with a two‑day 138 and a closing 68. As with all Senior Met champions, Betzold earns a local exemption into the 2027 U.S. Senior Open.
Volpenhein and Lucas earned 87.5 points each in the GCGA Senior Player of the Year standings. Volpenhein sits fourth overall with 177.50 points. Lucas is tied for 11th with 105. Betzold leads with 220.
Lucas is still seeking his first Senior Met title but is a three‑time Northern Kentucky Amateur champion.
Volpenhein won the Senior Met in 2021 and was GCGA Senior Player of the Year in 2020. He has won the Cincinnati Metropolitan Tournament a record seven times, earned GCGA Player of the Year honors three times, and is also a three‑time Northern Kentucky Amateur champion. His first GCGA win came in 1977 at the Metropolitan Junior Boys. He has won 19 GCGA championship tournaments as an individual.
Anthony sisters in fine form
St. Henry eighth‑grader Reese Anthony finished third at last week’s 64th Metropolitan Junior Girls Championship, held at Cincinnati’s Glenview Golf Course. Anthony, one of the area’s fastest‑rising middle schoolers, opened with a 76 and finished at 12‑over‑par 156, 11 shots behind winner Jenna Schmidt, an incoming junior at Lakota East. Anthony was just four shots behind the runner‑up.
Anthony’s total earned her the girls 13–15 age‑division title. Her sister, Nora Anthony, an incoming sixth‑grader, finished fourth overall at 160 and second in the 13–15 division. Nora’s scoring outpaced many high school juniors and seniors in the field. She also shot 76 on day one, tying Reese for third overall after the opening round. The sisters have competed since they were old enough to swing a club.
Repeat bid falls short for Beane
Former Campbell County standout Talen Beane fell short in his bid to repeat as Kentucky Boys Junior Amateur champion at last week’s 47th edition of the event at Bardstown Country Club. Beane, the reigning 8th Region Player of the Year and a second‑team all‑state selection, tied for 12th at 215. He has committed to play collegiately for the University of Cincinnati Bearcats.
The only other local golfer inside the top 25 was Ryle’s Hayden Li, who shot 219 to tie for 22nd. Dixie Heights incoming senior Jack Woolwine tied for 45th at 10‑over 226.
