The Ponte Vedra Recorder met this week with Ashley Burke, the co-captain of the Ponte Vedra girls golf team, to discuss her performance at regionals, where she finished with a personal best 77. The interview also covered her team’s recent performances, her role as co-captain and more.
What’s it like to be co-captain of the Ponte Vedra girls golf team?
Being co-captain is a great honor. It's something that I was looking forward to my freshman year of high school. It's something that I'm honored to have. I love leading a great group of girls and it's such a learning experience and it's something I hope to take with me for the rest of my life.
You've been playing the best golf of your career lately. What was it like competing at regionals and finishing with a score of 77?
Regionals was definitely a tough competition. We all had to play good. I'd have to say, during one of my interesting rounds, I just tried to stay focused. It felt different because I was in the moment; I wasn't thinking of my shots and because of that I was able to pull out a great score —77 — which is definitely my lowest. Towards the end is when you have to stay focused the most. It was hard, especially with the other girls, there was some good golf out there. But thankfully me and all the other girls on my team were able to pull out a good score and get first at regionals.
Your team keeps rattling off first-place finishes. How does it feel?
It feels great. We've always usually done pretty good for district and regionals, but the difference this time was there was some more competition. It's a great feeling. It definitely feels earned, and we're so excited to be going to States.
