The 2017 Peebles girls golf squad, from left, Nicole Burns, Jessica Newman, Shay Boldman, Jasmine Francis, Katie Setty, Sarah Laxton, Brooklyn Cluxton, Tessa Gaffin, and Holly Niswander. Absent from the photo was Anna McElwee.


Herman takes over as head coach – 

Story and photo by Mark Carpenter – 

To say that new head coach Rachel Herman is taking over an inexperienced Lady Indians’ golf squad might be an understatement. Though the Peebles roster boasts an impressive 10 girls, six of them have never played the game of golf before. The Lady Indians also have to replace one of the area’s finest female golfers in recent years in the graduated Savannah McCoy, so for Coach Herman, who put together a pretty fine career of her own at West Union High School and then Wilmington College, improvement from now until season’s end is the number one goal.
“Having six players who have never played before, our team goal this year is to show enough improvement to be competitive by the time the conference tournament rolls around,” said Herman. “The fundamentals are my main focus right now because in order to get better, we need to know the fundamentals and rules of the game. It will all fall together from there.”
The 2017 Lady Indians golf roster will include: Jessica Newman, Anna McElwee, Shay Boldman, Sarah Laxton, Nicole Burns, Holly Niswander, Brooklyn Cluxton, Katie Setty, Tessa Gaffin, and Jasmine Francis.
“This is my first year coaching at Peebles but having coached in the county for the last several years, I have gotten to know most of the players,” adds Herman. “Even the girls who played last year are still pretty new to the game.”
“I know this will be a rebuilding year but the program growing and getting more girls interested in golf is a key to our success.”
The Lady Indians open their 2017 campaign on Friday, Aug. 18, hosting the North Adams Lady Devils at the Adams County Country Club.