Xavier grads celebrate continued golf dominance

Xavier College Preparatory celebrated its 25th state golf championship with a reunion honoring 43 years of excellence in golf. In attendance last week were 58 golfers and their families who spanned the storied program's history.

"We decided once we had won our 25th championship that we needed to celebrate, but I did not expect this kind of turnout," coach Sister Lynn Winsor said. "The parents just took over and really made this a lovely occasion. .

. . This is not just to celebrate the 2006 championship, but all of Xavier golf and the incredible run we have had.

" Attendees included Xavier's first golfer, Sue Tubman; Missy Farr Kaye and her parents, Jerry and Sharon Farr; reigning NCAA Player of the Year Amanda Blumenherst; and the members of the 2006 team, which include future Sun Devil Ashley Smith and Cheyenne Woods, niece of PGA legend Tiger Woods. The event was held in the Virginia G.

Piper Performing Arts Center and featured a display of trophies, past uniforms, golf bags and other memorabilia like tournament score cards and press clippings, as well as a PowerPoint presentation of more than 3,000 photographs. Dinner was followed by a slide show and a brief look at Xavier's golf history. Tubman played six years on the LPGA Tour before joining the corporate world as a senior manager for Perot Systems in Texas.

She has since retired and lives in Rancho Mirage, Calif. "It is just incredible that a school this small has been able to sustain this kind of success," she said. "I'm jealous that we didn't have this kind of thing when I was here.

It was just me to begin with and then I guess there were three of us the next year, and I don't know what happened after that because I turned pro right out of high school and never really kept in touch once I left." Although golf did not become an official team sport at Xavier until 1973, it was Tubman, in 1963, who got permission to enter state high school tournaments and sowed the seeds of what has become one of the most dominant teams in Arizona high school sports history. In 1974, the golf program was taken over by Winsor.

Six years later, the school won the first of 16 consecutive state titles. Two runner-up finishes in 1996 and 1997 were then followed by the current streak of nine championships. Xavier's golf program has turned out some names well known in golf circles, including Heather and Missy Farr, Heidi Weiskopf, Grace Park and Blumenherst.

In addition to four state titles at Xavier, Blumenherst now plays on a Duke University team that has won the NCAA Division I title in both her freshman and sophomore seasons. "I think it is really amazing that this many people are here to support Xavier golf and everything we have accomplished over the past 30 years," Woods said. "A lot of schools wouldn't be able to get so many people to come back, but the tradition here at Xavier is just really strong.

I chose to come here because of both the athletic and academic tradition." Jennie Stine-Wicker, a special education specialist in Dallas, played for Xavier from 1989 through 1993 and had to get her doctor's permission to travel to attend. She's 29 weeks pregnant.

"I was thrilled when I first heard about this in October, and fortunately my pregnancy is going well enough that I could make it," Stine-Wicker said.