The Lambert girls golf team continues to compete in a league of their own. The Longhorns, despite losing the best player in the state, are in position to win their fifth straight state championship next week.
Lambert is the favorite to win the Class 7A championship on Monday and Tuesday at the 36-hole state tournament at Sunset Hills Country Club in Carrollton. The Longhorns, who won their area championship for the 13th straight year, are vying for the 10th state title in school history.
“It’s nice to have golf courses within 10 minutes of your front door,” Lambert coach Shane Fortenberry said. “I think that influences the players and kind of brings in players. We try to support middle school golf and try to grow the game by getting the young girls involved. I think that has a lot to do with it.”
With the graduation of Georgia Player of the Year Sara Im, now playing at Vanderbilt, the team has been by a pair of juniors, Athena Yoo and Zoe Duval, who are among the best players in Georgia. They finished one-two at the Area 4 tournament, with Yoo the medalist with a 70.
Yoo tied for second at the 2023 Georgia Women’s Amateur Championship and Duval was 18th at the PGA High School Girls National Championship.
“If Zoe was at any other high school in Georgia, she could easily be their No. 1,” Fortenberry said.
Hannah Mun, a sophomore is an excellent No. 3 player and gives the team three girls who consistently shoot in the 70s, a rare combination that has been instrumental in the school’s ability to contend for championships. Mun, whose sister Sharon went on to star at Emory, will be making her final appearance for the Longhorns, as the family is moving to Sandy Springs and she will be transferring to Rivers Academy.
“She might even be better than her sister,” Fortenberry said. “She’s a really solid player who has been averaging in the mid-70s all year. A lot of schools have one or two players who can shoot in the 70s, she gives us three and that can really make a difference for Lambert.”
No. 4 McKinlee Proctor, a junior, and No. 5 Katie Sulko, the only senior on the team, provide depth through the order. Proctor has the skills to get hot and shoot in the 70s on a good putting day. Sulko, who is headed to Oglethorpe, is a late comer to golf and has turned into a real range rat.
The Longhorns have won three tournaments this year and finished second in a couple of others.
