The state's epicenter of golf?

Typically, far western Kentucky players were all over the leader board at the state boy's golf tournament.

Marshall County's team, the defending state champions, were dethroned by 17-time state champion Louisville St. Xavier, falling by a mere three shots. Defending individual champion Travis Thompson fell short of defending his crown, losing to St. Xavier's David Payne in a playoff.

Teammates Peter Meeks and Patrick Newcomb were fourth and seventh, respectively. Heath's Eric Straub posted a top-15 finish in his final state tournament appearance, and St. Mary junior Sammy Thompson can build on his top-20 finish for next season.

Emma Talley, Caldwell County's remarkable freshman, effectively lapped the field in her record-setting performance in winning the girls' state title, breaking the state record by five shots by going 10-under-par — a record set in 2002 by Leah Wigger of Louisville Assumption, who will be on the LPGA Tour next year.

All of which prompts an observation that golf has easily become far western Kentucky's best high school sport, at least on a state tournament-performance level.

Three different area schools have won the state team championship in boys' golf since 2000 — Paducah Tilghman in 2000, St. Mary in 2005 and Marshall a year ago. The area has also produced four individual champions — Tilghman's Brett Jones in 2000, St. Mary's Ryan Cochran in 2005 and 2006 and Thompson last year.

Marshall's Nick Newcomb was beaten in a playoff for the title in 2004, the same year that Heath's Rick Cochran finished third, which means that Region 1 has been this close to five consecutive state individual titles.

You have to go back to 2003 to find a year in which Region 1 didn't have a boys' team post a top-five finish, either. Marshall tied for third in 2004 and St. Mary went 1-2 in 2005-06, just as Marshall has done the last two seasons. Heath also finished fourth in 2006.

And on the girls' side, the area has produced five straight years of top-five finishes — Talley began a run of those in 2005, when she was a sixth-grader, and Murray's Angela DeBella took third in 2004.

College decisions: Marshall County's top two seniors, Patrick Newcomb and Peter Meeks, are locks to land Division I scholarships. Newcomb, who shot a 65 to win the regional tournament two weeks ago, could land at Central Florida or Florida Gulf Coast. He's also talking to Murray State, where his brother Nick plays — Nick Newcomb won the Ohio Valley Conference title last spring.

Meeks said he's looking at Louisville, in part because of family concerns — his father moved from Florida to Louisville in the last year.

Straub award: Wherever he goes, Straub will be armed with a $500 scholarship awarded to an outstanding senior playing in the state tournament by primary sponsor Leachman Buick-Pontiac-GMC. The scholarship is based on excellence in four areas — academic achievement, leadership, citizenship and sportsmanship.

Straub is also one of the area's best all-around athletes. He is a standout soccer player, a four-year anchor on the defense for a Heath club that has made the state quarterfinals each of the last two seasons, and he was a Paducah Sun All-Purchase selection in basketball.

He will play golf in college. At the moment, it appears he will make a decision between Missouri State, Arkansas State and Eastern Kentucky.