BUTLERTWP — The numbers weren't what Sarah Parker was expecting.

They were much, much higher.

Parker, co-owner of Hiland Golf Course with her mother (Charlotte Zediker) and brother (Alan Zediker), will be head coach of the first varsity girls golf team in Butler High School history this fall.

She put up registration sheets in schools and 69 girls signed up:27 high school girls, 40 from the Intermediate, one from the junior high and one from Butler Catholic.

"I'm very excited about those numbers,"Parker said. "When you're starting a team for the first time, the natural fear is that there won't be enough people interested to get it started."

To the contrary, Parker will likely have to make roster cuts. She has scheduled a meeting for 10:30 a.m. Saturday at Hiland Golf Course for all girls interested in playing.

"The boys team has eight varsity players and the girls varsity will have the same,"Parker said. "We won't have a junior varsity team this year, but if the interest persists, hopefully we'll have one next year."

Butler becomes the 27th WPIALschool to have a girls golf program. It will be the only first-year program this coming season.

Veteran Butler boys golf coach Hank Keller said he's had two girls — Stacy Jones and Shayla Benninger — on his team in 15 years.

Benninger went on to reach the finals of the WPIALgirls tournament last fall and will play golf at Grove City College this fall.

"There are opportunities out there in girls golf,"Keller said. "I'm thrilled we're starting a team. Sarah and I have talked a lot. I'll do anything I can to help her.

"I really want this program to succeed. I thought about coaching it myself and Sarah had interest in being my assistant. But she's as qualified to coach this team as anyone I've seen around the WPIAL."

Seneca Valley and Mars are other Butler County schools to form girls golf teams within the past five years.

"I'm excited to see it happen because it provides another athletic opportunity for our students to take advantage of," incoming Butler athletic director Curt Phillips said. "That's what we're here for.

"To get kids involved in an enjoyable experience in sports is our overall objective."

Butler's initial season will consist only of an exhibition schedule. Pine-Richland and Blackhawk are two programs that are already on the Golden Tornado's schedule.

Parker anticipates her numbers dropping once the girls learn more details about the program.

"There is equipment the girls have to supply themselves,"Parker said. "They have to have their own clubs, their own shoes ... Golf isn't like other high school sports where most of the equipment is provided."

Practice will be in the middle of the day during the summer months "which may deter some kids from playing as well,"Parker added. "These are things I'm prepared for."

Parker has been a teacher in the Butler Area School District for 25 years. She is presently a third-grade teacher at Clearfield Elementary School.

The Tornado will practice twice a week in June and three days per week in July at Hiland, which will be the squad's home course.

"I don't want to burn the girls out right away,"Parker said. "I'll start out by giving them mini-lessons, practicing the short game, putting and chipping, then go from there."

Parker said she's honored to have the opportunity of being Butler's first girls golf coach. She is a Butler graduate and grew up on golf.

Her family has owned the Hiland course for 53 years.

"I played for the first time when I was 6 and took serious interest in the sport when I was 10," Parker said. "I never thought of going out for the boys team in high school. I was too shy.

"When I went to college at Indiana (Pa.), I was asked to play on the men's golf team. Still, I wouldn't do it. I didn't feel comfortable about it.

"If there was a girls team in place in high school or college, I definitely would have played,"Parker added.

She recognizes how successful Butler's boys golf program has been over the years.

"Outstanding ... Simply outstanding,"She said. "My goal is to build a girls program just as strong."