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Unquestioned Choice

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By CHRIS BERNHARDT JR.

Hernando Today

Published: December 7, 2008

The voting served as a mere technicality, an attempt to maintain a democratic selection process.

The four Hernando County girls' golf head coaches were posed the same question: who deserved the Hernando Today Player of the Year award?

They all needed little time to formulate an answer. Hernando High junior Lauren Shuford didn't leave a shred of doubt, earning a unanimous nod for the postseason honor.

Commitment to the game

Shuford qualified for regionals for the third straight season, shooting an 81 across 18 holes of the Class 1A, Region III Tournament at the University of Florida's Mark Bostick Golf Course.

That tied her for seventh overall, on the heels of a third-place 79 at the district tournament a week earlier. Her regional round included a back nine of 36, the county's lowest nine-hole score by 10 strokes.

Yet her overall performance for the season, in which she averaged 42.1 during the regular season and was the county's only female regional qualifier, left her with a less than satisfied feeling.

She improved by one stroke from an 82 at last year's regional event. As a freshman she shot 96 at regionals.

"I really didn't think I did my best," Shuford said. "I think I could have done better. Last year was one of my better years. This year I couldn't improve, but I guess I wasn't focused. But next year, I'm going to be on it.

"My putting wasn't that excellent. My swing was changing every day. Pretty much a little bit of everything."

For Shuford, the 17-year-old of daughter Brooksville residents Don and Wendy Shuford, that higher standard comes from years of experience on the links.

She estimated that she picked up the game about nine years ago, thanks to her father. Since she was too little to handle a regular-sized club, he had custom clubs made for her.

Her competitive career began in smaller tournaments in Georgia, where her father lived at the time, and moved on the North Suncoast Junior Golf Association Tour.

"The first time I played (in NSJGA), I won," Shuford said. "I was excited about that."

After a year in NSJGA, she began playing in bigger tournaments for tours out of Tampa and Orlando. The golf bug had clearly bitten her hard.

"You can never win at this game," Shuford said. "There's always a challenge no matter what. You have to practice every day."

Shuford said she usually plays six days out of the week, mostly at Southern Hills Plantation Club. She doesn't normally play on Tuesdays, she noted, only because the course is under maintenance.

It's that work ethic that makes her an elite golfer, according to Hernando Head Coach Kevin Bittinger.

"Like any good athlete in any sport, she plays golf every day," Bittinger said. "You have to, especially with golf. You have to have a club in your hands 5-6 days a week to be successful.

"This year her short game gave her more difficulties, so she worked on her short game. She's intelligent enough to know where she has to get better."

Going forward

With one more year of high school in front of her, Shuford has the opportunity to exceed her previous limits in 2009.

"I definitely want to have an average in the 30s," Shuford said. "I want my regionals and districts to be in the 70s, definitely, and to make it to states. I definitely want to make it to states.

"I need to practice a lot more and actually think (at practice) and work on specific things. Each day work on something different."

She also wants to earn a golf scholarship, ideally from the University of South Florida. She said she has made a resume with a DVD of her swing to send out to college coaches.

But advancing to states remains the biggest goal she has left to obtain while still playing for the Lady Leopards.

"I know she wants to go to states," Bittinger said. "She wants to represent Hernando High and Hernando County at states. I think she'll do it next year.

"I think she can go to states. If you get to states, it's a two-day tournament. If you get on a hot streak for two days, who knows? She can have a top 10-15 finish if everything comes together and she works hard for what she wants to do."

BY THE NUMBERS: LAUREN SHUFORD

Best Round (9 holes): 36

Regular Season Average: 42.1

District Finish: 79 (3rd)

Regional Finish: 81 (T7th)

Sports writer Chris Bernhardt Jr. can be reached at (352) 544-5288 or cbernhardt@hernandotoday.com.

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