Franklin senior Reese Phillips watches her shot on the 11th hole at The Legends Golf Club during last month’s county tournament.
Daily Journal file photo
Reese Phillips stands alone in the middle of her team’s lineup, but the Franklin senior is first to the green in other categories.
Four seasons as a starter makes a difference, after all.
“I think Reese brings a level of experience to the team that no one else does,” said Grizzly Cubs coach Ted Bishop, whose squad is ranked sixth in the state. “She likes competition, really isn’t concerned with who she’s paired with, and just goes out and plays.”
Phillips is the only 12th-grader in Bishop’s lineup, joining a formidable nucleus that includes sophomore Cassidy Rucker and juniors Addi Bright and Lexi Ray. As many as four other Cubs have been vying for the No. 5 spot so far this season.
Playing either the 2 or 3 spot throughout her prep career, Phillips has been an All-Mid-State Conference selection all four years in high school.
Phillips hails from a golfing family, making her passion for the sport not at all surprising. She began playing around the time she was 6, her love of golf only growing as time’s gone on.
Her mother, Julie (Drake), was a starter for Franklin at one point during its string of high state finals finishes in the late 1990s. Jon Phillips, her father, played for the Franklin College men and continues to play at a 1 handicap.
“Golf has always been a part of my life. My parents saw that I had a talent in it and wanted me to keep playing,” Reese Phillips said. “My temperament as I’ve gotten older is like my mom’s. I used to be a hothead. I began to realize that a bad round of golf does not affect the rest of my life.
“And my dad is an incredibly long hitter, and I think I get that from him. Right now, my driver is my biggest weapon, and I’m a pretty solid iron player.”
Phillips was one of four players to shoot 73 at last season’s Franklin Regional at The Legends Golf Club, leading the Grizzly Cubs to the state finals. She fired scores of 85 and 92 at Prairie View Golf Club in Carmel as Franklin took eighth in the team standings at state.
She carried the momentum into this season. In August, Phillips posted a score of 77 at The Legends during the county tournament, earning all-tourney honors and helping her team to a second-place finish. More recently, she was the individual runner-up behind Bright in helping Franklin win the 16-team Franklin Central Invitational on Saturday; her 1-under-par 35 led the Grizzly Cubs past No. 15 Plainfield on Monday as the team celebrated its senior night.
Next for Franklin is the Center Grove Sectional at Hickory Stick Golf Club on Monday. It’s the first tee box to what Phillips hopes is another run to the state finals for the Grizzly Cubs.
Phillips, whose 3.9 grade-point average is good for a No. 48 class rank academically in a class of 395 students, would eventually like to continue her golf career in college. Either way, she plans to attend college within a five- to six-hour radius of Franklin.
With Phillips being an only child, the family that golfs together …
“Reese and her mom are the only mother-daughter combination (at Franklin) that I know of who have both played in the state finals,” Bishop said. “It’s always nice when you’re dealing with parents who played.
“Knowing that they’re probably on the same page as the coach, it helps that player-coach dynamic.”
