Albany Herald

Photo by Danny Aller

LEESBURG -- Not a bad week for Lee County's Christian Liggin. On Monday, she won the 10-team Lee County Invitational golf tournament. On Tuesday, she signed a scholarship with the College of Coastal Georgia.

So what's she up to today?

"Practice,'' said Liggin, whose home away from home is Grand Island Golf Course, where she spends her summer days playing golf from 10 a.m. until dusk. It's that kind of dedication that landed her a golf scholarship.

Liggin is not only the first female to receive a golf scholarship from Coastal Georgia, where they have just started a golf program, but the first female to receive a scholarship since the school became a four-year institution.

"She is going to be the leader of our team,'' said Coastal Georgia coach Mike Cook, who has known Liggin's personal coach and local pro golfer, Sonny Skinner, for decades. "When I saw her I liked her swing, and the way she hits the long ball. She's very competitive. I've known Sonny for 35 years, and I know if he's her teacher, then she knows how to compete.''

Liggin won the Region 1-AAAA title last year and finished ninth at the state meet, and hopes to win the state title as a senior. That's quite a leap for a young lady who gave up golf when she was 11.

"Our whole family plays golf, and she started playing golf when she was 7,'' said her father, Scott. "But when she was 11, she just quit. She liked softball better. Then in 10th grade, she started playing golf again, and she kind of got really good real quick.''

Two dislocated knees helped Liggin make that decision. She injured both while playing softball,.

"That gave me a heads up to what I needed to be doing,'' she joked. "Golf just came easy for me. I guess you're blessed with talent, and that's mine. And I have the mindset for golf. You have to be focused to go out and practice hours and hours working on shots.''

But there is a downside.

"You get horrible tan lines,'' laughed Liggin, who gave a lot of credit to Grand Island, which allows her to practice there, and the club's golf pro, Rex Caldwell, along with Skinner, and Lee County coach Cristi Griffin.

Liggin signed in front of a large group of friends and family that included her father, her mother, Jane, her sister, Taylor, and her grandparents, Jack and Tina Beamon, and Buddy and Joyce Liggin.