Lambert girls seek fourth straight state championship at Sunset

Published 3:06 pm Saturday, May 20, 2023

MOULTRIE, Ga. — It’s no secret why golf fans in Forsyth County are hooked on the Lambert High girls team.

The Longhorns will seek their fourth straight state title — and ninth since 2013 — when they visit Sunset Country Club for the GHSA’s Class 7A girls state championship tournament on Monday and Tuesday.

The 12-team event will tee off at 8 a.m. both days.

Although Colquitt County and Valdosta did not qualify, Region 1-7A’s Lowndes, Richmond Hill and Camden County will be in the field.

Also competing will be Carrollton, Peachtree Ridge, Harrison, Hillgrove, Brookwood, Walton, Buford and North Gwinnett.

Lowndes and Richmond Hill qualified in the Area 1 tournament.

Camden County advanced with a fourth-place finish in the state Sectional.

The top two teams in each of the four Area tournaments advanced.

Hillgrove and Brookwood qualified in Area 2; Walton and Buford in Area 3; and Lambert and North Gwinnett in Area 4.

Carrollton, Peachtree Ridge and Harrison were the top three finishers at the Sectional.

Six individual qualifiers also will be in the state tournament field.

Lambert, which has won back-to-back National High School Golf Association championships, is the clear favorite.

Coach Shane Fortenberry’s Longhorns won the Area 4 championship with a 9-under 207. North Gwinnett was second with a 256.

The next lowest state qualifying score was the 223 that Walton shot to win the Area 3 title.

Lambert has won state championships in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2022.

The Longhorns would likely have been the favorite in 2020, when the tournament was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lambert has won 13 straight area championships.

This year, the Longhorns are led by senior Sara Im, who brings a 67 stroke average to Moultrie.

She has won six individual championships at high school events this season and shot a 7-under 65 at the Area 4 tournament at Crystal Falls Golf Club.

A Lambert sweep of the Class 7A golf championships is not out of the question.

The 2023 GHSA Class 7A boys state tournament will be held Monday and Tuesday at Kinderlou Forest Golf Club in Valdosta and the Lambert boys have the lowest qualifying score among the 12 teams that will compete for the title.

The Lambert boys shot a 281 to win the Area 4 championship.

Milton, the No. 2 team in Area 4, also will be in the championship hunt. The Eagles turned in a 282 in the area tournament.

The other 10 teams seeking the boys state championship are Carrollton, Lowndes, Harrison, North Paulding, Walton, Buford, North Gwinnett, Forsyth Central, Cherokee and Richmond Hill.

Lowndes had the lowest score among Region 1 teams in the Area 1 championship tournament.