Preview: Southwest Wake girls golf boasts 4A team, individual champs

What happened last year in the Southwest Wake Athletic Conference would have been unheard of had it not also happened three years earlier.

The conference accounted for the 4A champ, who did not win the SWAC.

Green Hope claimed its first N.C. High School Athletic Association title in the sport after finishing runner-up, 60-58, to Holly Springs for the conference title.

Along the same lines, the SWAC had the individual state champ – Athens Drive’s Jennifer Chang – who did not win the league title. That went to now-graduated Catherine Ashworth of Fuquay-Varina.

Chang (35.3 strokes per nine holes), now a sophomore, returns to try to keep the Jaguars’ impressive streak going. An Athens golfer has won the 4A crown in each of the last three years and four times in the last six years.

SWAC champ Holly Springs brings back junior Natalie Peterson (38.7), who finished fourth in the SWAC player of the year race last year. Green Hope loses its top two players from last year but returns junior Reilly Thomas (41.0).

Third-place Fuquay-Varina will be led by senior Brittany Greene, the Bengals’ No. 2 player last year. Panther Creek, fourth last year in the SWAC, brings back all-conference senior Maggie Basile (44.2),

Apex, which tied Athens Drive for fifth, returns all-conference senior Kaley Barts (43.7).

Middle Creek and Cary rounded out last year’s standings.

Apex Friendship will be coached by Courtney West in its inaugural season.

This story was originally published August 10, 2015 at 10:12 AM with the headline "Preview: Southwest Wake girls golf boasts 4A team, individual champs."