As the sun cast shadows across the fairway at Whitefish Lake Golf Course, Chelsea Ray was getting ready to tee-off on the back nine. She had shot a 43 on the front and had to make a showing if she was going to win the Ladies Club Championship. Show she did.
Shooting a 34 on the back nine, she tied Maresa Jensen for first place. She beat Jensen on the first hole of the playoff, making the 15-year-old Ray the youngest person to win the ladies championship.
Although she’s now 17, Ray still grins when retelling her accomplishment.
“It was pretty overwhelming,” she said. “I learned you can’t worry about people watching you. You have to concentrate on stroke and form.”
This year, Ray finished her high school career as a Bulldog varsity golfer the way she finished the last three, in the top ten, and helped her team win state.
“I play for the individual and the team, that’s what I like about it,” she said.
Ray hopes to take her favorite blue ball marker – from the Wigwam Golf Resort and Spa in Arizona – to Montana State in Bozeman next year where she would like to continue playing golf and learning golf management.
“If they’ll take me, I’d love to play there,” said Ray. “It’s definitely a sport I’ll play forever.”