WREN — Wren High School junior Kaitlin Matheson says she’s had a golf club in her hand ever since she could walk, and today she practices every day.

“If you want to be good at golf, you’ve got to practice every day,” she said. “There’s no way around that.”

The hard work has paid off — she’s been recognized by the South Carolina Coaches Association of Women’s Sports as the Class AAAA Player of the Year, she won the Class AAAA state golf championship in Lexington in October, and she’s led her team to place second in the state.

She’s also already gotten a scholarship to play golf, after having committed to attend the University of South Carolina. She plans to study political science.

“I’ve been a Clemson fan my whole life, but I went down to Carolina and became a Gamecock,” said Matheson, who had originally strongly considered attending Ole Miss.

Matheson said she’s honored by the Coaches Association of Women’s Sports award.

“It’s great to be the AAAA state Player of the Year, just because of all of the hard work that I had put into it throughout our high school golf season,” she said.

Now that she’s committed to attending Carolina, she can focus more on playing golf, she says. She and her teammates hope to win the state championship next year, and she’ll be defending her personal title.

Although Matheson stays busy with golf throughout the year, she still has time for extracurricular activities — she’s also Wren High School’s student body vice president, Beta Club vice president, and director of the Wren talent show.