C.B. Aycock freshman Sauls earns all-ECC honors in girls' golf

By Allen Etzler
Published in Sports on October 7, 2014 1:48 PM

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aetzler@newsargus.com

MOUNT OLIVE -- Charles B. Aycock freshman Abby Sauls picked a good day to have a good day.

Sauls carded a personal-best 45 at Southern Wayne Country Club on Monday afternoon to solidfy herself in the regional standings and to earn all-conference honors in the final Eastern Carolina 3-A/4-A Conference match of the season.

She was the only member of a 3-A school to earn all-ECC accolades.

"It feels really good, it's exciting to get (all-conference)," Sauls said.

Sauls helped lead the Golden Falcons to a fourth-place finish with a score of 157. Rachel Boulanger contributed a 54, followed by Isabelle Boulanger with a 58. Anna Williams posted a 60.

New Bern won the match with a 130, followed by South Central at 143 and D.H. Conley at 144. Southern Wayne rounded at the meet with a 181.

Sauls posted the best round of her high school career by capitalizing on something she considers her weaknes -- putting. She parred the last three holes using solid strokes to drop putts she usually doesn't make.

"She was a lot more confident with her putts," CBA coach Roger Rhodes said, "She was walking up, taking her practice strokes and just hitting them in. She wasn't missing many."

Sauls avoided triple bogeys, which have plagued her throughout the season and made it through the tough par-5 No. 7 hole with just a bogey after hitting her second shot in the water.

Hole Nos. 7 and 8 caused problems for a lot of golfers on the course with their danger around the greens,

Sauls will compete in the regional tournament at Carolina National on Oct. 20.

Rhodes suspects his young freshman could immediately come in and compete at the state tournament, following in the footsteps of former CBA golfer and two-time state champion Tara Simmons.

"She's got a chance to be that good," Rhodes said. "I saw a lot of things from her today that we can build off of going to regionals."

Southern Wayne's Cathryn Jones led Southern Wayne with a 57. Amanda Murphy and Jessica Carmichael rounded out the Saints' effort with scores of 61 and 63, respectively.