Sister act chipping in

By CASEY OLSON

The Mirror

It’s pretty easy to see that Kayla and Jayme Carbon are sisters. Their appearance makes it pretty obvious. The similarities are wide-ranging, including smiles that could light up a room and a pair of easy-going attitudes.

But things aren’t always as they seem with these Thomas Jefferson High School golfers.

Their differences are also pretty obvious.

Kayla, a senior, feels right at home behind a grand piano rattling off classical music from Chopin or Beethoven, while Jayme, a freshman, would much rather dig into the batter’s box and face a pitcher throwing a nasty curveball on the softball diamond.

“They are really two opposites,” said TJ head golf coach Jim von Doehren. “Kayla is a fabulous musician and a very talented young lady and Jayme has taken a different road, being more involved in athletics, more so than Kayla.”

The game of golf, however, is where the Carbon sisters have found some common ground — something they enjoy doing together.

“We just really like playing golf,” Jayme said. “We make a pretty good team.”

Both Kayla and Jayme started playing the game as 10 year olds with encouragement from their father, J.P.

“He gets out there and tries on the golf course,” Kayla said. “He started us out playing and we have been doing it ever since.”

Jayme is more of a natural talent on the golf course and takes a more athletic approach to the grand old game. That ability was apparent when she carded a hole-in-one as an 11-year-old.

Kayla takes a more cerebral approach to the game, using her musical background as a blueprint.

“Music is a big part of playing golf,” she said. “You have to have rhythm and tempo and keep everything even.”

Two different approaches that have been playing dividends for von Doehren and the rest of the TJ girls golf team. Kayla and Jayme, along with sophomore Courtney Tappon, have posted solid round after solid round and led Jefferson to their best finish in the South Puget Sound League Central Division in recent memory. The Raiders knocked off perennial champion Auburn in their final match of the season Monday to finish 9-3 in league play — a record good for third place behind Decatur and Auburn.

“We have a very good, competitive team,” von Doehren said. “They have done some fabulous things and continue to just get better. They are very confident girls that are interested in golf. It’s a sport that you just can’t go out for and play during the golf season. You have to be dedicated and these girls are.”

Kayla Carbon was unquestionably von Doehren’s best player during the season. The senior led the team in medalist finishes and has a pretty good shot at qualifying for her first state tournament appearance starting Tuesday at the SPSL Tournament.

The two-day tournament will tee off at the Cascade Course at Gold Mountain in Gorst Tuesday. The top-48 scores after the first day will advance to play in the state-qualifying round on Wednesday. The top-17 scorers after two rounds will play at the Class 4A State Golf Championships in the spring. Tappon and Jayme Carbon also have a better-than-average chance of making some noise.

“I think they are capable of playing well enough to get into the second round and have an opportunity to be the top-17,” von Doehren said. “But it might be a tough task for all three of them to qualify.”

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