Kennedy Gooding and Isabella Rawl are a pair of local high school golf seniors that have been playing great golf.

Both are on their way to play in college. Rawl early committed as an eighth grader to play at Clemson, while Gooding signed with Anderson University.

Both have wonderful stories and have achieved much in junior golf. They each have worked hard and sacrificed to earn college scholarships and over the next few weeks, it’s my intent to tell more of their stories.

Rawl suffered a very serious back injury and was out of action for well over a year. She actually had to be home-schooled because she could not sit in class without enduring great pain.

Last week, she mentioned a physical therapist showed her how to treat herself with trigger point therapy.

Next week, there will be more on Rawl’s comeback story.

Gooding was the runnerup in the Class 3A girls golf state championship. She followed this with a victory at the SCJGA Fall Challenge.

She was tied for the lead heading into the final round and a solid start helped her maintain it.

“I started off super strong on Sunday as I was -3 through 4 holes,” Gooding said. ‘I birdied holes 2,3 and 4. Although I couldn’t keep my score that low throughout the remainder of the round, this great start really set the tone for the entire day. I played steady the rest of the round and was able to maintain even par through 17 holes. I was able to finish with a birdie on 18 to post a 1-under par round of 71.”

Gooding’s strong start and finish catapulted her to a five-shot victory. The Fall Challenge is one of the SCJGA Major Championships. The strength and depth of Junior golf talent in the SCJGA is among the countries best. So this margin of victory over the field is ultra-impressive.

There will be more on both Gooding and Rawl next week, so stay tuned.

The 30th season of the Winter Tour registration is upon us. You can now register through the Irmo-Chapin Recreation Commission or Lexington Country Recreation and Aging Commission websites.

There are three unique distinctions about the developmental golf program. The first is parents and grandparents are encouraged to caddie for their players

The second is all of the learning is done on the course. The third is brand new players are able to learn on the actual golf course.

The program is conducted Sunday afternoons during the month of December, January and February at close to 20 local golf courses. For specific information or questions call (803)781-2063.

What’s also extraordinary is the majority founding administrative staff is still involved with the program. E. Rutherford, general manager at Linrick and Chris Miller, head professional at Timberlake, are board members for the program.

There is another golf developmental program on the horizon. It’s a diversified developmental program meaning there will be options for families, brand new players and highly-skilled players to participate within the same program.

There will be recreation and competitive divisions along with individual and team and even family divisions, all participating simultaneously.

Golf is quite unique compared to other sports and lends itself to these kinds of diverse community-based options. We don’t see much of these type of programs in this country, but it is common in Ireland Scotland and England.

One of the main themes throughout each division will be time and pace of play. All divisions, from recreation to the competitive, will study the art and science of how to play fast golf.

The Richland County Recreation Commission will hold the new 2022 golf program. Each of the other recreation entities, including LRAC and ICRC, are involved as well. Stay tuned for more and registration could start Thanksgiving weekend.