Around the links in Northern Kentucky: Super mom Tonya Morgan wins Ladies Club Championship

By Marc Hardin
NKyTribune contributor

At last, some long-overdue press for Independence super mom Tonya Morgan, who stepped out from the shadows of her sports-driven family to seize a spotlight of her own Sunday at Eagle Creek Country Club in Crittenden.

Morgan has watched husband Jeff win championships as the Simon Kenton High School softball coach. She watched their two daughters, Kayla and Courtney, become outstanding student-athletes and softball all-stars under their father’s direction at Simon Kenton. Her family made softball history at the school in the form of myriad records and accomplishments. As the team’s long-time official scorer, she has a stack of old score books and scrapbooks full of newspaper articles attesting to the Morgan’s dominance on the diamond.

Both daughters took their games to the University of Pikeville, where they continued making headlines for the softball team and graduated. Kayla became the softball coach at Grant County. Jeff continued Simon’s Kenton’s winning ways in the field, eventually adding his wife as an assistant coach and making news once again by playing against Kayla’s team at Grant County.

Always the unsung hero working behind the scenes, Tonya Morgan finally put herself front and center. She is now the undisputed queen of the links at Eagle Creek after winning the Ladies Club Championship with a two-day score of 174. She carded an 83 on Saturday. The best part about it? Kayla finished second at 183, adding to a summer of accomplishments. She was recently hired to teach at Summit View Middle School in Independence.

“It was kind of cool and so much fun,” said Tonya, an Eagle Creek member. She carries an 18 handicap. “I finished second last year and Kayla played only the first day just for fun because she had to work. This year, she was able to play both days. I led the whole way this time and Kayla was 11 shots down at one point and sitting in fourth place. But I had to start figuring her score on Sunday because she was beginning to make some shots.”

Jeff Morgan plays golf as a hobby and sometimes Tonya would tag along. At Jeff’s urging, Tonya started playing more regularly when the couple became empty-nesters upon Courtney’s leaving for college. “It’s fun,” she said. “Kayla started playing her senior year at Simon Kenton and she actually played a few matches for Pikeville but we had not played together (in a tournament). We will definitely play again next year. I want to defend my title.”

Around the links in Northern Kentucky:

EAGLE CREEK: Jacob Vrolijk, a former Grant County golfer now playing at Northern Kentucky University, won his first Eagle Creek Men’s Club Championship with a two-round score of 143. He shot 69 the first day. Matt Turner (144) finished second after beating defending champion Bret Spencer in a one-hole playoff.

TRIPLE CROWN: Locals won five of nine age groups at the Kentucky PGA Junior Tour event in Union, which boasted four winners living within city limits. Boys’ 18-under champion Sam Connett, boys’ 14-under champ Christopher Harpum, boys’ 12-under winner Parker McKelvey and girls’ 15-under winner Clare Hooper all hail from Union. Connett and Harpum both shot 77. Connett beat Union runner-up Lincoln Herbst by five strokes. Harpum beat Ben McDaniel from Union by one. Sam Tucker from Hebron shot a boys’ tournament low 75 and edged Union’s Luke Herbst by two strokes in boys’ 15-under.

TWIN BRIDGES: Member Zack Baynum set a course record earlier this month with an 18-hole score of 9-under-par 63. The previous course-low was 64. Baynum, a former two-time Campbell County golf team MVP, plays at Thomas More College.

TWIN OAKS: Head pro Blake Trimpe recently had a hole-in-one with a pitching wedge on No. 17, a 140-yard par-3. It was his second ace. The first came in high school as a Holy Cross sophomore during a practice round at the 2007 All “A” Classic regional tournament. He holed that one with a sand wedge on No. 17 at Devou.

KENTUCKY PGA JUNIOR TOUR: Former Cooper standout Madison Smith won the Summer Series Event 13 girls’ 18-under contest with a score of 3-over-par 75 at Nevel Meade Golf Course in Prospect. Smith, heading to Middle Tennessee State University, shot 37 on the front nine and won by two strokes. She was the only girl shooting below 40 on both the front and back nines at the par-72 course.

Hebron’s Evan Stewart carded 80 and tied for ninth at Summer Series Event 22 for boys’ 15-16 at Gibson Bay Golf Course in Richmond. He finished seven shots behind the winner.

Marc Hardin’s summer golf column has been featured in The Kentucky Post and Kentucky Enquirer for 15 years. He’s covered all the local amateur tournaments and several PGA and LPGA events since 2003. His feature for The Cincinnati Post about how Chi Chi Rodriguez got on the album cover of a Devo record was PGA Story Of The Day from the 2004 Kroger Classic at The Golf Center at Kings Island. Marc has written for the Greater Cincinnati Golf Association and Greater Cincinnati Women’s Golf Association. He welcomes comments, story tips, feature ideas and your league’s standings. You can contact him at marcwriterdude@yahoo.com.