In the swing of things: Albrecht leads Father Lopez

Ormond Beach Observer
Sports

Emma Albrecht finished fourth in Tuesday's district tournament, shooting a 73. She advanced to next week's regional tournament.

BY ANDREW O'BRIEN | SPORTS EDITOR

Emma Albrecht is one of the top high school golfers in Florida. She competes on the boys team at Father Lopez. And she doesn’t care.

Albrecht, a senior, led the Green Wave boys golf team to an 8-3 regular season.

It was a successful season under first-year coach Hunter Blake, and he can largely thank his lone female golfer for much of the team’s success.

Albrecht, who is also one of the top junior female golfers in the state and country, golfed for the boys team this season.

And for that, Blake — and the boys on the team — are grateful.

Albrecht competed against girls in Tuesday’s district tournament, where she shot a 73 and advanced to Tuesday’s regional tournament. (The team had three other golfers advance: Logan Lecras, Ben Higgs and Caroline Votaw.)

Albrecht averaged a round of 38 this season, which is an improvement from last season, when she made it out of districts and into regionals, where she shot a 74. She missed qualifying for states.

There was no resentment with having a female golfer on the team, Blake said.

“The boys love the fact that she’s playing that way they can win matches,” he said. “They don’t have any jealousy.”

And they shouldn’t. They are watching one of the top young golfers compete each week.

As for Albrecht, she doesn’t care who’s on her team, as long as she’s helping them.

“To me, it doesn’t really make a difference whether I am leading a group of boys or girls,” she said. That is the good thing about golf, it is kind of gender neutral. It doesn’t matter if you are a girl or a boy, the person on the golf course who shoots the lowest wins. Plain and simple.”

And she’s no stranger to shooting the lowest. She has led the Green Wave with the lowest score in every match this season. She also shot a 62 in an 18-hole tournament this season. She also finished fourth at the Flagler-Volusia boys tournament.

But beyond her club selection and putting abilities, she’s just a great person, Blake said.

“She’s the perfect kid that you’d want for any team sport, and she’s very polite and hard-working,” Blake said. “She’s extremely competitive, and she has just got a good passion for competing and holds herself pretty high.”