Key newcomers: Junior Caroline Sever and freshman Michelle Pickett
Junior Paige Weiss returns to anchor the lineup for the Westfall Mustangs.
Season outlook: The Mustangs have to replace their talented sister duo of Emily and Maddie Cook, who helped anchor the second and third spots in a lineup that turned in the second-best finish in program history last season.
Second-year Westfall coach Jonathan Barker knows replacing the graduated Cook twins will be a tall order, but he takes comfort in the return of junior Paige Weiss, who anchored the top spot in the lineup a season ago and is one of the top players in the south central Ohio area.
“We are very excited about the upcoming 2023 season. We have a tall task of replacing the Cook sisters, who carried a big part of the load for us in our run to OSU last year. Because we were aware of it being such a task we have put in quite a bit of work in the offseason,” Barker said. “Returning our No. 1 player in Paige Weiss is no small thing, as she has went sub-70 in two Southern Ohio Junior PGA tournaments this summer, and currently stands as the No. 1 player in the SOPGA 16-18 year old division.
“Our three other returning players Marianna, Alexa, and Kathryn have all been moving the dial in the right direction during this offseason and the addition of two promising players should give us a shot at being competitive again this year. Michelle Pickett joins us as a freshman after being the only girl to play in our middle school program, and Junior Caroline Sever has joined the team moving down from Cleveland. This will be Caroline’s first year playing organized golf but she’s picking up on it pretty quick.
“Above all I’m thankful for, and looking forward to, another great year of coaching an amazing bunch of great young ladies,” Barker added. “I’m not sure anyone is every having more fun out there than we are.”
