All-Region Golfer of the Year: Leavitt’s Ruby Haylock

Leavitt’s Ruby Haylock watches her tee shot while competing in the KVAC qualifier at Natanis Golf Course in Vassalboro in October. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

Ruby Haylock took a different approach to most of her matches this season. The Leavitt senior focused on playing the course rather than her opponent.

The courses and her opponents often didn’t stand a chance, with Haylock carrying a scorching 36.9 scoring average for nine holes, going 11-0 in regular-season matches and finishing second in the Class B girls individual state championship. For the fourth straight year, Haylock has been named the Sun Journal All-Region Player of the Year.

“This year, I tried to change my mindset a little bit,” Haylock said. “Instead of focusing on beating someone else, I focused on my own game; and shooting my specific score, excelling on certain shots and certain areas of my game.”

Haylock said she focused on chipping around the green and using different wedges instead of just using a 56-degree wedge all the time.

Harry Haylock, Ruby’s father and Leavitt’s coach, said Ruby did well refocusing this year when she did have a challenging opponent.

“There were a couple of matches she was concerned about the outcome, when she would be playing Kellen Adickes (of Lincoln Academy),” Harry said. “Kellen is one of the better players in the state. I remember her not being nervous but extra focused, not on the course but on the opponent. Part of it is match play; you don’t want to be too risky, you don’t want to take unnecessary risks when your opponent is in trouble.”

Ruby Haylock of Leavitt Area High School putts during the Class B state golf tournament at Natanis Golf Club in Vassalboro in October. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

Harry said Ruby’s leadership skills continued to grow this year by doing all the small tasks, like telling her teammates to call home when the team was on the road to be picked up at school or ordering the pizza after the match.

The long bus trips were two-pronged, and Ruby set the tone to and from the matches.

“On the way to the matches, we would always go over our personal goals and what we wanted to shoot,” Ruby said. “If I have played the course before and if some of my teammates haven’t, I would go over hole-by-hole with them.”

After the matches on the way home, Ruby said there was a lot of team bonding — going around joking and singing — that happened. According to Harry Haylock, the team was a rowdy bunch.

“Sometimes, a little too much fun. I had to stay quiet down in the back,” Harry Haylock said. “We had one of those big white vans, we were in closer quarters. The laughing and noise, sometimes it gets to you when it’s 8:30 and you are driving back from Damariscotta or Rockland. No, but they were a fantastic team.”

The season didn’t end the way that Ruby wanted it to. She shot an 87 at the Class B state championship. Her sister Jade, a freshman, took home the individual Class B title, shooting an 83.

“I am so glad Jade won (the individual title),” Ruby said. “I couldn’t be more proud of her. I was hoping our team would do a bit better, but I don’t think any of us had a great round that day. I know I should have been 10 shots better.”

Harry said bad rounds happen, and that’s the nature of the sport.

“There was not much that I could say, just seeing how devastated she was, it looked she let her team down,” Harry said. “For me, that’s just golf. It’s tough to be the top dog, be the leader of your team all year. At some point, you are bound to have a disappointing round. It’s just too bad; it happened on the big day. Even with an 87, and I know she could be 10-12 shots better, but even that, it would have taken other teammates two or three shots better, also, because we were 16 shots back.”

Yarmouth won the Class B team title with a 322; the Hornets shot a 338 to finish second.

Harry is proud of what Ruby has accomplished in her high school career.

“It’s been a true ride; it’s been fantastic,” Harry said. “I couldn’t script a better four years. …We are so proud of her. She has made a lot of players on our team better, by them being around her makes them better. They see how she goes about her craft, how she shows up to practice and how focused she’s practicing, and fun she makes it. That’s one of the most important things, how fun she makes it being out there.”

Ruby is still in the process of deciding where she will be playing her college golf. She has been looking at some Division II and Division III schools.