Getting Her Swings!
You could say that Sarah Beth Hundley gets her swings both on the golf course and the softball diamond. The senior has been around both sports for quite some time and although softball might be her top sport, the one that she recently made an impact on was golf. For Hundley, golf started a little later for her when she was a fifth-grader. Her dad, Andrew was the assistant Softball coach at John Hardin high school and the school needed an extra player on the girls team. Hundley was at Heartland Elementary at the time and the coach asked her if she’d come out. ” I went out to the Country Club with my buddies and I didn’t even have clubs at the time, so I borrowed his and went out and played at John Hardin that first year and shot a 158 at Region, so each year I continued to improve 20-shots better so that’s kind of how it started.” As her game improved, so did her confidence and it helped build up her confidence. Last year, she had a few good outings as the Elizabethtown Lady Panthers (her current team) were favorites to win state. “I definitely felt better and it showed that I could compete with the higher level of golfers in high school in tournaments and I remember Region last year and it was kind of the worst kind of weather, but I loved it because I played really good and I was really focused. I like playing good, but sometimes I have some bad days.”
Hundley, because of her dad’s connection with softball, loves playing it too and has been a standout of the Elizabethtown Softball team the last several seasons. In fact, when asked if she’d rather putt or take practice swings on the driving range or just hit around in the batting cage, she said she was torn. “I like playing golf, but I don’t like to play all by myself. I like to be around people and have them keep up with my score, too. I like them involved with my game. I think I’d just go to the batting cage just because of the atmosphere there. I love hitting softballs and I like playing around people and I like when coach is tossing it. I would probably say that I love softball because I’ve played for so long and my dad coaches it. It’s a way for the both of us to relate, but golf is a bit more relaxing.” For Hundley, this is a different year, her senior year and she has worked hard on her short game. “I can hit the ball fine, but just hitting it is like a direction type thing. It’s just hitting it straight, but putting and chipping is where your scores get low. I just want to get out on and par and get better.” The last several seasons, she and junior Sarah Hinton were part of a great team led by All Area performers Lauren Hartlage and Rebecca Black. For the Elizabethtown Girls Golf team, it was “State Title or Bust!” Now it’s up to Hundley, Hinton and fellow senior Kelsta Elder to carry the load and the continued high expectations. For Hundey, she was part of a Lady Panther Region 3 Title as the team shot 380 with Hundley finishing 7th with an 89. At State, it was a slightly different story as she shot an 81 the first day and a 79 the second finishing 17th with Payton Carter. With Golf out of the way, Hundley will turn her attentions to softball in February. Hundley has said she would like to be a nurse practitioner as a profession and attend UK or EKU and most likely not continue her golf or softball career past high school.
