Kentucky golfer C.A. Carter, center, listens to former LPGA Tour star Jane Blalock at the Woodford Legends Invitational. (Colby Vaught Photo)
C.A. Carter had an illustrious high school golf career at Lexington Christian as well as on various junior golf circuits.
Still, she was not exactly sure what to expect during her freshman season at Kentucky when she averaged 75.6 strokes per 18 holes in the four events she played in for the Cats. She called it an “amazing experience” to play for Kentucky (her father, Jimmy, played football at UK).
“I didn’t really know what to expect going into college golf, You just try and stick to your process and routines every day, and just put in the work and hope it pays off,” said Carter, who finished as runner-up in the recent Kentucky State Amateur to UK teammate Cathryn Brown. “I was really fortunate to come out and get a taste of playing against some of the best college players, especially in the spring.”
She knew Southeastern Conference golf would be “challenging” and knew she had to trust her routines and teammates to get her through her first season. Carter said she is a much better player now than when she got to UK.
“I feel like all of the experiences I got and the lessons that I’ve been able to learn in such a short amount of time really made me a different player just with the mindset and knowing what to expect. I have more awareness for my game,” she said.
She also got a chance to enhance her knowledge last month when she played in the LPGA Legends Tour event in Woodford County for the second straight year. She got to play with and watch some of the best players ever to play on the LPGA Tour.
“They’ve been where I’m trying to get to, and I feel like there’s just so much to learn from them,” Carter said. “They have so much great advice and wisdom. It was just such a treat getting to play it again this year. I’m just honored to have been invited back.
“I got to meet Nancy Scranton, a former Wildcat. It was really cool being around all those players. I played with Jane Blalock, who made 299 straight cuts during her career which is incredible. That’s just unheard of. It’s tough enough to make a cut in our college tournaments and thinking about doing that 299 straight times on the LPGA Tour is amazing. I picked up a lot of little things just by watching her and talking to her because she likes to talk and share advice.”
The LPGA Legends again showed Carter the value of a solid short game.
“They’re able to score from anywhere around the greens and that’s definitely a part of my game that I’ve been trying to work on and get better and tighten up going into this next (college) season,” Carter said. “So that was really cool to see what a tour player could do.”
Carter is confident about the upcoming golf season for Kentucky. The Cats lost only one senior off last season’s team and have signed Samantha Paradise, an All-American and national champion from Daytona State College.
“I think we’re going to have a really great year. We have our schedule, and I think it’s going to make for a really fun season,” Carter said. “I think last year we were pretty young. Now with all of our freshmen coming back and the experience we gained last year, it just really bonds you as a team. I think we have that chemistry aspect that we didn’t have going into last year.”
Kentucky hosted a NCAA Regional last season but just missed qualifying for the NCAA due in part to the difficult strength of schedule it faced. Carter admits not getting to play on their home course in the NCAA was “disappointing” for them all.
“We all have our expectations going into the season and it definitely stung coming up short (of playing in the NCAA) but I think it serves as a learning opportunity,” Carter said. “We’re gonna use that to get better and work even harder to give it a good run next season.
