Lavy Sets Her Own Mark

Anna Grace Lavy of Fayetteville is the girls All-NWA Media Player of the Year.
Anna Grace Lavy of Fayetteville is the girls All-NWA Media Player of the Year.

— For once, Anna Grace Lavy wasn’t the little sister trying to keep up with her siblings.

Instead she was all on her own, on the golf course at least.

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Anna Grace Lavy

School: Fayetteville

Class: Sophomore

Notable: Finished as team medalist in all 10 regular season matches this year. ... Named NWA Media Girls Golfer of the Year for second season in a row, after sharing award with sister, Olivia Lavy, in 2011. ... Had a 39.6 scoring average per nine holes, with a low round of 36 recorded twice. ... Earned all-state honors.

Lavy, a sophomore at Fayetteville, had always played alongside her older sisters while growing up in a family rich in golfing tradition. Even last season — as a freshman with the Lady Bulldogs — she was able to lean on then-senior Olivia Lavy, as the pair guided Fayetteville to a seventh-straight girls golf state championship.

But with Olivia, like older sisters Brittany, Hannah and Emma before her, were well past their days in Purple and White. Anna Grace was left to carry the torch.

It’s safe to say the youngest Lavy didn’t disappoint. And for her efforts during the fall high school season, she has been named the All-NWA Media Girls Golfer of the Year.

“I think last season there was more of a feeling of comfort,” Lavy said. “I had been around Olivia and practiced with her all of my life. This year it was just a weird feeling because I had always had my sisters with me.

“I just had to be calm for my team and be focused on being that leader.”

She had already seen what it was like to perform at the top level of high school girls golf, helping Fayetteville roll past the competition last season as a freshman. But this season, Lavy had to keep up her consistent — and improving — play as the Lady Bulldogs’ clear and only number one player.

“A lot of people don’t understand that Anna Grace is still so young,” Fayetteville golf coach Scott Williams said. “She was still a sophomore this year and she was kind of asked to lead our team. That’s kind of a hard thing to ask, but she did it so well.

“It was kind of a double-edged sword. Where it was great to see her be able to handle that role as the top player on the team, it was also a lot of pressure when everyone was counting on her to perform at the top in every match.”

But Lavy did perform. In 10 matches this season leading up to the state tournament, the Fayetteville sophomore compiled a 39.6 stroke average per nine holes and finished as team medalist in every match. Her average was six strokes better than Fayetteville’s number two player and tops in the 7A/6A-West Conference.

“Coming into this season I had some swing changes and different things I had worked on,” Lavy said. “The main thing was being able to carry that over to the course, when I didn’t have my dad and my swing coach around.”

Fayetteville’s streak of seven straight state championships came to an end with a runner-up finish in the Class 7A tournament this fall to Conway. Led by Arkansas signee Summar Roachell, the Lady Wampus Cats had the experience to finally be the team to stop Fayetteville’s long and impressive streak.

But even despite not finishing on top as a team, Lavy looks as the Lady Bulldogs’ season as a positive.

“I think we knew coming into this season it was going to be difficult,” Lavy said. “But when we left the state tournament I don’t think it was a feeling of disappointment. We still came to practice and worked hard and had fun and just because we didn’t get it this year doesn’t mean we won’t get it next year or the year after that.”

And with Lavy back for two more years at Fayetteville, finishing on top will be the expectation as usual.

“The thing about it is, Summar Roachell might be the best female golfer in the state of Arkansas in some time. And Anna Grace was right there with her,” Williams said. “She competed right with Summar and was right behind her. And she’s just a sophomore. So that tells you how bright of a future Anna Grace has.”

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