CENTERBURG – Centerburg junior Amaiah Gammell learned long ago the old adage "practice makes perfect." Now she is learning that one’s love for a sport is measured by how much time one spends perfecting every phase of the game in practice. Gammell’s work— especially with Mount Vernon golfing pro T. T. Crouch— has clearly shown in her short game, and especially her putting.
“I go to (Crouch) and he helps me a lot,” Gammell said. “That helps my score. I've been working with putting a lot. I'm putting and chipping much more than I did last year. Before, I would get on the green and only practice for five minutes, because I was horrible and hated practicing it. But now, I'm practicing more and getting better and better; so now I'm spending about 20 minutes on it before matches.”
Gammell needed every bit of her pre-round practice session before Wednesday’s Knox Morrow Athletic Conference quad match at the Wyandot Golf Course in Centerburg. She topped all individuals with a 9-over-par 45, three strokes ahead of her nearest competitor. Gammell’s performance was good enough to lift the host Trojans (216) to a single-stroke victory, just ahead of Highland (217). The Scots were led by Annabelle Zerby who shot a 49, the second-best individual score of the day.
Gammell ran into a bit of trouble on the 340-yard ninth hole and the 110-yard eighth hole, double-bogeying both. She made par on the 439-yard, par-five first hole, which is the longest hole on the course. She also shot par on the 278-yard fourth.
“My putting was good.” Gammell said. “It was working today. On two of the holes, I had three-putts (holes five and six) but the rest were two-putts. For me, getting two or three-putts is really good.”
Watching Gammell’s play on the course, along with her leadership with her young teammates, one finds it hard to believe that she has only four full seasons of golf behind her.
“She has helped the other girls on our team and they really look up to her,” said Centerburg girls golf coach Kathy Compton.
In fact, Compton encourages Gammell and others to provide input and light the way for the younger Trojans on the varsity— even if the advice comes from other coaches.
“I always tell the girls, when they get information from other coaches, to bring it along and share it with the rest of us,” Compton said. “Amaiah has done that.”
Fredericktown finished third on Wednesday with a score of 223. Makayla Frazier was the top individual for the Freddies, shooting a 50. Northmor (267) placed fourth.
