Holton racking up wins in GO Series

Jun. 30--Holly Holton has played golf for as long as she can remember, but she's never had a stretch quite as productive as the one she's experiencing right now.

Holton, a rising sophomore at Daviess County High School, has been on a tear throughout the Worth Insurance Group/Chick-Fil-A Greater Owensboro Junior Golf Series over the past month -- capturing five wins so far in the Girls 13-15 Championship division.

"I'm feeling really good about it," Holton said of her performances. "In all my past seasons, I've never been playing this well.

"Doing the GO Series tour is like my practice for the high school season. Knowing I'm doing really good on this tour really makes me happy."

Holton, now a seasoned veteran on the GO Series, finished sixth in the 2nd Region Tournament as a freshman at DCHS last season. With her sights set on eclipsing that mark in 2019, Holton is soaking in as much experience as she can get.

"I like the GO Series because you get to go around and see a bunch of different golf courses and practice difficult situations, and that really helps out for the high school season," she said. "We're also playing a lot of the same courses, so that helps, too."

And, she's already seeing improvements to her game.

Prior to this year's GO Series, Holton had never broken 40 strokes in nine holes. She's already done it three times this year, achieving the feat at Windward Heights Country Club in Hawesville, Kenny Perry's Country Club in Franklin and Hillcrest Golf Course in Owensboro.

Even with the success Holton has had, however, she still knows there's room for improvement.

"A lot of my strengths are around the green, but one of my downfalls now is my driver," she admitted. "It's been going all over the place, so in a lot of the events I've played, I just use a 3-wood and it works just as good. I've tried straightening my shot out and everything, but it hasn't worked for me."

One thing Holton appreciates about the GO Series is the encouragement she receives from other golfers. Her brother, Jesse, is also an avid competitor in the tour's Boys 16-18 Championship division.

Holly Holton credits her sibling, a key figure on the DCHS boys' team, for helping her game along, as well.

"He's really helped me out a lot," she said, noting that the two have played golf since they were young. "I recently got a new 3-wood that I've been using, and he helped me straighten that out, which improved my game so much. A lot of weekends, we'll go out and play on courses, or we'll go out of town to other courses. That's a really fun family thing that we all do."

Though she uses the GO Series primarily for practice, Holton still has big goals for the summer.

"Hopefully, I'll win the championship," she said. "Also, at the end, whoever wins the most tournaments, their points are all added up -- I'm hoping to win that, too. And, mainly, I want to just have fun and get to know some new people. It's really been a lot of fun."

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