The Masters is 2 weeks out and this is exciting. What’s also exciting is the fact 2 local high school girls golf teams are in position to win state championships.

Prior to presstime, Lexington and Gilbert were leading their respective state championships heading into the final round.

You are going to have to pick up next week’s Chronicle to find out the results.

Gilbert had a 7-shot lead on the Class 3A field after a team total 310 at the Heckler Course at Coastal Carolina. Kennedy Gooding leads Gilbert with an individual score of 73, while Edie Raine Hardee and Meredith Price had 78 and Alexis Hodge had 81.

Lexington had a team total of 295 which is spectacular in girls high school golf. The Lady Wildcats carry an 11-shot lead into the final round and, with the strength and depth of their team, the pursuers in this field will have their hands full.

Molly Hardwick, who won last weeks Lower State championship, was 3 shots out of the lead at -1. Prior to presstime, she has seized the lead by 1 stroke and teammate Isabella Rawl was 2 strokes behind in 3rd place.

The Masters Tournaments in November could be bookends to golf greatest growth period in history. Opening the “off-season” winter training season with an event like The Masters, then kicking off our beautiful Carolinas spring golf season is an incredible thought.

A conversation recently with former national hockey league professional Walker McDonald was fun.

“We would always use the competitive season to set up the ‘off season training season’,” he said. “The offseason hard work was the platform we used to get better.”

Another professional athlete, former University of South Carolina center Ryan Stack used this phrase referencing the recipe for continuous improvement - “Summer for Winter and Winter for Summer”. The NBA and professional basketball seasons took place in the winter, so Stack’s in-season performance would be motivation for summer off-season basketball training.

Jack Nicklaus is who I first heard referenced this seasonal approach.

What is extremely interesting to me is a fact the Boston research group established 15 years ago. It’s simple - a golfer’s enthusiasm for golf grows when improvement takes place. Golfers play more golf when they are improving.

Have you thought about your “Off-season golf training initiative”?

There is a Family Golf program that is called the “Winter Tour” that was established in 1992 with the Lexington County Recreation & Aging Commision.

The Irmo-Chapin Recreation Commission absorbed the program after a few years. Now, all 3 major recreation programs, including the Richland County Recreation Commission will all hold registration for the 2021 season.

Just visit their websites to register or call (803) 603- 1718 for information.