Freshman Trinity Beth helped Marshall County win state titles in 2020 and 2021 and finish second this year.
What had been a “stressful” season in many ways ended with Marshall County freshman golfer Trinity Beth winning her first individual state championship.
She was part of Marshall’s 2020 and 2021 state championship teams and this season her team finished second behind Madison Central.
“I am so excited that I won and glad I finished the way I did,” said Beth, a three-time Kentucky Miss Golf and 2021 state runner-up. “I put so much pressure on myself and I wanted our team to win again but I knew if I just did the best I could, that was all I could do.”
“I was hoping it would work out for the team but it didn’t quite do that. But I won the individual title, so there was not much more I could have done. It was disappointing we didn’t win but we still had a really good year.”
Beth had a 36-hole score of 1-under par to beat Lyon County senior Cathryn Brown, a Kentucky commit, by three strokes. Beth had a one-stroke lead after the first round but added a 1-under par 71 the second day to secure the win.
She was 3-under par after four holes the second day and had a six-shot lead at one time before she made five bogeys in an eight-hole stretch to let Brown get back within striking range. She said she got a bit “unlucky” on the 14th hole when her second shot hit a tree that led to a bogey.
“Then I got a little too flustered and that led to bogeys on 15 and 16. I did birdie the last two holes, so that made me feel better,” she said. “After 16, my dad (Marshall coach Aaron Beth) told me just to pretend I had just made a birdie to put me two shots up and just forget the bogey. I don’t really know how stressed he was because he stayed so calm and that helped keep me calm.”
Beth, age 15, said winning Miss Golf again had been her biggest goal all season because that is based on her season-long performance and not one specific tournament.
“That’s a reward for playing well all season and really means a lot to me,” she said.
How well did she play? She won 11 of 14 tournaments and was 32-under par in those tournaments. She was over par just once all season.
“I think I still need to work on a lot of things in my game,” she said.
That’s why she doesn’t take extended time off. She’ll again play in major junior tournaments across the country during the winter,
Beth admits her family has thought of moving to a southern state to make it easier for her to play golf in warm weather year-round.
“Most everyone that I play against in AJGA (American Junior Golf Association) lives south at least half a year,” Beth said. “I do not feel like I need to do that. This is our home. My school and family are here. It (moving) sounds nice but it’s working just fine the way it is.”
Beth will soon be hearing from a lot of college coaches, including Kentucky. She says college coaches use national tournaments to look for talent more than high school championships.
“In other states high school golf is not like it is here,” she said. “The competition we have in Kentucky is better. College coaches just don’t focus on high school events. Colleges around here would realize what winning a state championship in Kentucky means but a lot of coaches across the country would not.”
Beth now has three top five individual finishes at the state tourney to go with two team championships and one runner-up team finish. She admits the goal now is to win three more individual titles and hopefully more team championships, too.
“I want to win a national championship. I want to get involved in international play if I can,” she said. “I love golf and want to do all that I can and that’s why I know I have to keep getting better. There are so many great players out there and I want to be one of them, too.”
