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Ritchie County’s Krista Davis off to Davis and Elkins

RItchie County golfer Krista Davis will continue her career as a student-athlete for the Senators of Davis & Elkins College. Photo provided

ELLENBORO — Ritchie County’s Krista Davis learned one of the keys to becoming a good golfer at an early age.

“I got better the more I practiced,” she said.

A member of the Rebels’ Class A state runner-up team this past fall, Davis is set to continue her career as a student-athlete at Davis & Elkins College for head golf coach J.D. Lamm.

“He came and watched me during one of my Callaway Tours and he had heard about me a little bit because I play in this Pennsboro alumni tournament and his grandfather graduated from Pennsboro,” Davis said.

“I sent out a widespread email to places that had the courses I wanted and my major and they happened to be one of the colleges. I went up for a tour and it clicked immediately.”

The Rebel said even though she went on tours of other colleges, D&E just had what she was looking for.

“I felt the most comfortable there,” Davis added. “I already knew one of the girls (Wheeling Park’s Dorothy Romanek) who I would play golf with.

“It made everything feel natural and it felt like I wouldn’t have a problem settling in. I played with her during the Callaway Tour so it was just like a little reunion.”

Davis, who said she played basketball her first two years at RCHS to help keep her busy in the winter months, is set to pursue nursing — emergency and trauma.

“They just enabled a full four-year nursing program and they have a fantastic program,” she said. “I can take my four years up there and get my degree and then go into the work force.

“I’ll have to pass my nursing exam. Davis & Elkins has a group of hospitals that comes up and looks at the students.”

Close to a 4.0 GPA student, Davis was a four-year letterwinner for head coach Marsha Knight. Despite math not being one of her favorite subjects, she finished in the top 15 of her class.

“I do have to say it’s going to be a slight adjustment when I first get up there,” Davis admitted of transitioning to college life. “I’m just going to have to focus on my studies.

“I have to make sure I have my time scheduled out so I can make the time to study and have my academics to the point where I want them and enjoy the sport I love and I got a scholarship for.”

Starting out as a freshman in high school, Davis recalled shooting in the 50s at her home course of North Bend.

“Now I can shoot 37, 38, 39,” she said. “I do have to say my driving is definitely my strong suit and then believe it or not I actually was never good at putt-putt because I’d hit the ball too hard.

“I’ve gotten better at putting. My driver and putting, I actually rely on the most. I do have to say my short game is honestly something I always have to work on. I’ll raise up or not swing hard enough.”

Like all golfers, Davis is always trying to find that consistency to get better.

Along with working out and doing drills on the range, she also practices her short game in her yard.

“Sometimes I’ll get frustrated on the golf course when I can’t figure out what I’m doing,” Davis admitted of the mental approach. “I do have to say I’ve gotten a lot better since my freshman year.

“I would really get in my head about a bad shot and it would ruin my entire game, but I’ve had a lot of people to help me hone my ability to keep it calm with my brain instead of letting the smoke roll out and exploding.”

Always a regular member on the Callaway Junior Tour, the future Senator opted to bypass it this summer.

“I wanted some time to spend with my family,” Davis added. “Last year I would get up three times a week. I’d get up at 4 o’clock to go to a tournament.

“I decided I would spend time with my family and practice and just enjoy a little bit of time before I go to college.”

Still looking for that first hole-in-one, the Rebel said “I’ve gotten close several times, but not yet. I’m still trying to get that.”

Once in a tournament at Mingo Bottom, Davis was playing on the par 3 island green 10th hole and nearly found the bottom of the cup.

“It hit the pin and bounced two inches from the cup,” she said. “It dropped straight and hit the pin and barely bounced back.

“The day it happened, (general manager) Billy Dotson is a good friend of ours, he saw it and he went ‘are you kidding me?'”

Whether it’s fine tuning her game while on the course, at the range or on the putting green, Davis knows making the jump to Division II golf isn’t going to be easy.

As much love as she has for her favorite sport, Davis stated “I do have to say I’m not a fan of it” when it comes to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

She’s expected to be at college on Aug. 15 and start classes two days later.

“Because of the size of the college our classes aren’t very big and they said they will be able to keep us far enough apart it won’t be that big of an issue,” Davis stated. “They are saying they don’t know if they will be able to send us back after Thanksgiving break.”

Another aspect of the game which will be different for Davis is not having to play and compete alongside the boys.

“I do have to say me and my team, me being the only girl, we always didn’t see eye to eye,” she said. “But up there (at state) we did cheer each other on and if we saw each other we tried to keep a level head and stay calm and just enjoy the time up there.

“We didn’t know how it was going to go, but we needed to play the best we could. We needed to play our best and be a team in that moment.”

Along with the state runner-up finish, Davis said one of her other top memories as a Rebel golfer came this past August at Mingo Bottom, which was the host for the John Marshall Invitational.

“I just remember starting out the day and I was like I want it to be a good day,” said Davis, who was the medalist at the event the year before when it was at Wheeling.

“I had a good time with the course (at Mingo Bottom) and I became a medalist with an 81. The girls state tournament, I placed ninth a few weeks later.”

Soon enough, she’ll have her chance to make new memories at Davis & Elkins.

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com

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