For Gainesville’s Camryn Cole, the game of golf has been a part of her life for as long as she can remember.

Her great-grandfather Jack Jackson helped build Chattahoochee Golf Course, her grandfather is what she refers to as a lifetime scratch golfer and her family, "always watches golf on Sundays," Cole said.

"I guess you could say that I come from a golfing background," she added. "It’s always been a family passion, so one day they just put a club in my hand,"

And the Gainesville girls program, for one, has benefited from it.

In her junior season for the Lady Red Elephants, Cole won her third-straight Hall County Championship and finished third in the Region 7-AAA Tournament to help her team to a second-place finish and state match berth.

For her efforts, Cole is The Times 2009 Girls Golfer of the Year.

After winning individual region titles in both her freshman and sophomore years, it would be understandable if Cole saw this year’s third-place finish as disappointing or somewhat of a letdown.

But her attitude is just the opposite.

"The beginning of the season was hopeful mainly because we were starting out with a new coach but also because we knew we had been working," Cole said. "For the team the season was a success because that hope stayed.

"Individually, my whole season was a success. I played well and it was my best season so far."

It’s Cole’s mental approach to golf that allows for such a disposition.

She sees her only competition as being herself and the course laid out before her. And in the region match especially, the competition the course presented was as much as she could handle.

"I couldn’t make a putt to save my life," Cole said. "It was an extremely tough course and while I was striking the ball well, you can’t win a tournament if your putt isn’t on.

"Mine wasn’t up to par that day, no pun intended."

While Cole’s individual accolades continued to mount this year, she takes the most pride in the accomplishments of her team.

"This year we improved as a team almost 80 strokes and proved that golf isn’t an individual sport," Cole said. "LeeAnn Noble improved 53 strokes alone. Our coach had the most to do with it, he was just great.

"We learned how to work together which made this season easier as a whole," she added. "It was also really evident how much time everyone put in to the game. Everyone worked hard to make this season what it was."

And, according to Cole, the Lady Red Elephants are continuing to work in the hopes of, "being a force to be reckoned with next year," she said.

It’s been a rare day since the season ended that Cole and one or two of her teammates couldn’t be seen on the course at Chattahoochee. And this summer, Cole will spend the majority of her time in tournaments to not only improve for her senior year in high school, but improve her stock for colleges.

"This is the most important summer of my high school career," said Cole, who will be competing in, among others, the Junior Amateur Qualifier, the Women’s Top 60 Qualifier and the Junior Championships at the Polo Club in Cumming this summer.

"I love the thought of going to Kennessaw State or Memphis, they both have great (golf) programs. I want to go somewhere more local than not — I’m much too close to my family for that."