©2009 NPT PHOTO SUBMITTED

Former Cocke County High School standout Cory Talley
is all smiles after medaling at a recent tournament for
Lincoln Memorial University.

NEWPORT-Golf is a hot topic in Cocke County, especially since Cocke County High School sent the boy's golf team to the state championship tournament for the first time in the school's history. Along with the boy's squad, which included Zach Briggs, Chase Atkins, Jacob Quinton, Jacob Norris and Kurt Brooks,  two of the Lady Red linksters, Lexi Clevenger and Cassidy Gibson, also made it to the state championship tournament just a few weeks ago. Needless to say, none of these young phenoms are seniors. But, in a year or two, several, if not all, will be playing the game on the college level.

While the Cocke County High School golfers dream of playing on the next level, three CCHS grads already are, including Corey Talley and Whitney Ball, both at Lincoln Memorial University, and Kennie Leigh Eisenhower at East Tennessee State University.

Colleges play a split season, starting with the Fall season, and finishing with the Spring season. The Fall season has already been completed for Talley and Ball at LMU, but Eisenhower has one tournament left to play.

We'll start out with Corey Talley, who's in his junior year at LMU.

Corey has had quite a Fall season, playing in four events for the Railsplitters. Talley finished the Fall season at the LMU Fall Invitational at Woodlake Golf Course in Tazewell finishing tied for seventh (75-68, 143, -1).

Earlier, Talley finished tied for fifth at the Maryville College Men's Invitational (75-72, 147, +3), tied for 15th at the Tornado Fall Invitational in Bristol (77-72-76, 225, +12) and tied for 16th at the Tusculum College Fall Invitational in Greeneville (73-74, 147, +3). Talley is third on the squad with a career average of 73.6 through 43 rounds.

Ball is just beginning her career at LMU as a freshman, but has quickly made an impact on a squad that also includes Jefferson County High School alum Maria Stapleton of White Pine.

Ball started her golfing career at LMU with a bang at the Maryville College Invitational back in early September when she tied for 10th (79-76, 155, +11). In her next event for the Lady Railsplitters, the Women's Independent Collegiate in Etowah Valley, North Carolina, Ball finished tied for 11th (84, +12). At the Tusculum Fall Classic in Greeneville, Ball finished tied for 39th (91-81, 172, +28) and finished her Fall season at the Lenoir-Rhyne Myrtle Beach Intercollegiate tied for 67th (101-91, 192, +48). Fear not, though, as Whitney is only a freshman.

And that leads us to Eisenhower, who is now in her senior season (just seems like yesterday that Kennie Leigh represented Cocke County High School at the state tournament!). Kennie Leigh started the Fall season slow, but has come on like gangbusters. She started the ETSU season with the Lady Bucs playing in the Golfweek Conference Challenge in Las Vegas where she tied for 73rd (79-78-82, 239). Things went better in her second tournament, the Lady Paladin Invitational in Greenville, South Carolina, where she finished tied for 35th (83-76, 159). In her last event last week, the Lady Pirate Intercollegiate in Greenville, North Carolina, Kennie Leigh finished tied for 11th (76-72, 222).

Kennie Leigh has one tournament remaining on the Lady Buc's schedule, the Edwin Watts-Palmetto Intercollegiate at Kiawah Island, North Carolina, and going into the final round today, she is eight over (74-78, 152) and tied for 37th.

Eisenhower and the Lady Bucs will begin their Spring season on February 14 at the Qdoba Collegiate in Miami, Florida. The LMU schedule for Talley and Ball hasn't been finalized. But, we'll keep you posted.