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Columbia’s Veona Osborne is the LCR’s Girls Golfer of the Year. (JEN CHASTEEN/Special to the Reporter)
Veona Osborne hasn’t been at this long.
Just three years ago, the Columbia junior picked up a club and took her first swings into a larger world. Osborne’s sister and stepfather were hitting golf balls. That’s when she decided she’d like a whack at it.
“So then I came out to the golf course, and my stepdad really saw that I had a talent,” Osborne said. “He kept pushing me to do better, and I am where I’m at now.”
Where she’s at now is the top of the pack as the LCR’s Girls Golfer of the Year.
How she ended up there is no surprise. She led the area with a 39.2 nine-hole average and tied for sixth place at the District 2-3A Tournament with a team-best 81.
But how she ended up as a player who could perform that way on such stages is a twisting road, even for just three years.
Osborne said she spends every single day on the golf course. During her interview for this story, she answered her phone on the course.
“I spend every day, even after school, out here,” she said. “I’m out here until night. I work on my short game the most. That’s probably my most important part of my game that I concentrate on. Ever since two years ago, I’ve gone out here every single day.”
The road hasn’t always been easy or gratifying. Head coach Chet Carter said Osborne said he was saddened that he couldn’t use Osborne’s services last year due to subpar school grades. For as bad as he felt, Osborne may have felt worse.
“I was very upset that I put myself in that position,” she said. “It really disciplined me to realize what I need to do with my academics, to further my career in golf.
“It was really just really bad discipline on me. I’m happy I got myself back out.”
Carter agreed. He said that exact mindset is what makes Osborne special not just as a student-athlete but as a person.
“That’s really the two things she’s focused on: schoolwork, and her golf,” Carter said.
Osborne said one thing kept her focused throughout the new season: her teammates.
“I love my teammates,” she said. “All of them. They’re really nice to me when I feel like I have a bad round. They’re always there to support me and never tell me to give up, and it’s just like having a golf family that I’ve never had.”
With the pressure to perform both in the classroom and on the golf course, Osborne shined. Her efforts boosted the Tigers to a second-place finish in the district tournament and a qualification for regional play. She then outdid herself at the Region 1-3A Tournament with another team-best of 78 for an 18th-place finish on the individual leaderboard.
Osborne insisted that she never felt that pressure, however.
“When I play golf, I normally try to stay calm,” she said. “I’m never really nervous. That day, I was really fighting hard to get myself back into the 70s because I was having a little downturn. I just was dedicated on trying to get my score back lower.”
She achieved exactly that. Carter said it wasn’t exactly surprising given Osborne’s nature.
“She’s a little bit more of an individual golfer,” he said. “I would say she’s a little bit more introverted as far as her playing golf.
“Veona would be the one that I would say would kind of push her teammates by what she does on the golf course.”
She has one more year to push them as far as she can, as well as herself. She has plans to do just that.
“I would love to get a scholarship to college (for golf),” Osborne said. “If I excel more in golf, that’s great. I really want to get out there and just play college golf.”
ALL-AREA TEAM
Veona Osborne
Columbia, junior
The LCR’s Girls Golfer of the Year led the area with a 39.2 nine-hole average and tied for sixth at the District 2-3A Tournament with a team-best 81 to help the Tigers finish second and qualify for regionals. At the Region 1-3A Tournament, she shot a team-best 78 to place 18th.
Karlee Gainey
Columbia, sophomore
Had a 41.3 nine-hole average for the Tigers. She shot an 89 to place ninth at the District 2-3A Tournament and shot a 99 to tie for 56th at the Region 1-3A Tournament.
Ashley Nelson
Columbia, junior
Had a 41.7 nine-hole average for the Tigers. Shot a 93 to place 12th at the District 2-3A Tournament and shot a 96 to place 48th at the Region 1-3A Tournament.
Lindsay Self
Suwannee, senior
Tied for the District 2-2A title with a 92 and led the Bulldogs with a 45 nine-hole average. She finished tied for 10th at the Region 1-2A Tournament with an 86.
Gabby Saavedra
Branford, senior
Led the Buccaneers with a 45.2 nine-hole average and placed second at the District 3-1A Tournament with an 89. She finished tied for 22nd at the Region 1-1A Tournament with a 92.
LaDon Terry
Coach of the Year, Branford
Terry’s Buccaneers won the District 1-3A title for the lone championship in the area, with Gabby Saavedra finishing runner-up at the tournament. They then placed seventh at the Region 1-1A Tournament.