It’s official---Ella Anderson, a member of the Lady Patriot golf program for six years, will take her skills to Midway University in Midway Kentucky. Anderson signed her letter of intent Monday, December 15, at the high school as family, coaches, teammates, and friends looked on.
“Midway is a small college that's 20 minutes from Lexington and 20 minutes from Georgetown,” Anderson said. “It felt like home when I went there for a visit.”
During Monday’s signing ceremony, Anderson reflected on her golf journey. Thanking the numerous individuals that have helped along the way, the senior realizes she has come a long way since first swinging a club.
“I picked up a club for the first time in fifth grade,” Anderson recalled in a recent interview. “I first started playing with my grandpa. I was not good at all. I played more in sixth grade and Amy Williams (former AC-S coach) let me practice some with her high schoolers.”
By the time Anderson reached middle school, she was slowly developing her skills in summer events on the Junior golf tour. On the course as a seventh grader with the Lady Patriots, she would struggle with her scores reflecting her growing pains. However, the struggle was the foundation through which future success would come. After shooting scores above 100 throughout middle school, Anderson saw her scores drop and a jump in her finishing positions in tournaments and match play events.
“By my freshman year, I made a little jump.” Anderson continued. “I broke 90 for the first time my freshman year and I was proud of that. My sophomore year was a bad season but my junior year, I made another jump.”
Anderson took medalist honors (based on a scorecard playoff with her teammate Kennedy Carter) at the 2024 2A Sectional championship following a round of 84. She would go on to place 17th in the 2A Championship state tournament in 2024. Anderson’s play helped the Lady Patriot team finish as the state 2A runner-up.
This year, Anderson’s game continued to improve---improvement coming after a summer of daily work. Playing on the summer Bluegrass Golf Tour (BGT), Anderson placed third overall at the BGT Regional Combo on June 2-3. Anderson shot a 36-hole total of 176 after 18-hole rounds at Kenny Perry’s Country Creek and the Bowling Green Country Club. At the Notah Begay III Junior Golf National Championship qualifier, Anderson was second with a 27-hole total of 137---a tournament in which she shot the lowest nine-hole round (41) on the opening day.
On Monday, June 30, Anderson shot a personal best 18-hole round score of 78 in play at the Park Mammoth for a BGT event. She followed the next day with a round of 82 at Willow Oaks in Glasgow. Her two-day total in the combo round was a 160, placing her fourth among the golfers participating each day.
“This summer, I got to the golf course around 8 each morning and was there until eight at night,” Anderson said. “I also played against players that were better than me. I like it since I could learn from them.”
The 2025 season witnessed Anderson continue to help her team despite a slight shoulder injury. The highlight of the season was AC-S again reaching the 2A Championships' state tournament.
Anderson and her senior-laden team narrowly missed a 2A state championship at the 2A state golf tournament at the Owensboro Country Club. The Lady Patriots----Anderson, Allison Ford, Kennedy Carter, Kaytee Shelton, and Lillie Wallace---posted a team score of 347, six strokes off the first-place score of 341 posted by Franklin County.
The Lady Patriots’ solid performance was keyed by Anderson’s fourth place individual effort. Anderson made 12 pars, five bogeys, and a double bogey to finish with a seven-over-par round of 79. Her score tied her for fourth in the 54-player field alongside players from Corbin and Taylor County. Anderson’s 79 was six strokes from the championship score of 73 shot by Franklin County’s Mary Clayton Rodgers.
In late September, Anderson qualified as an individual for the KHSAA state golf tournament. The senior recorded a sixth place finish Monday, September 22, at the Region 3 Championship at the Willow Oaks Country Club in Glasgow. Anderson’s day was solid. Anderson closed with a score of 82 (+11). In the first round of the state golf tournament, Anderson fired a 92, bringing her high school career to a close.
Attention now turns to Midway and her future as an Eagle. The young lady notes that college play will be different in some ways which will require more and more work to strengthen her game.
“The courses in college are longer and that is something I will have to work on,” Anderson said. “I have to get stronger and also have to be strong in my chipping and putting.”
Midway coach Otis Smith joined Anderson for the signing and pointed out that being able to bring Anderson aboard will help the Midway program move forward.
“Ella is a great player,” coach Smith said. “I’ve watched her scores for the last few years and once I saw she had not signed with anybody, I reached out and put our name in the hat. I’m very happy she is coming to Midway.”
Midway is finding success on the golf course. This year, the team participated in the NAIA Women's Golf National Championships---their sixth national appearance.
“The Midway ladies’ program is strong,” Smith noted. “We have six conference championships in the last 12 years. The ladies coming to the program buy into my philosophy of having a great short game and course management style. If they come in and do the things I ask them to do then they will have success. I’ve been blessed.”
Anderson is the daughter of A.J. and Evelina Anderson. Her career ambition is to go into the sports management field.