Considering that the league’s top two golfers so far are freshmen Nicolette Donovan of Green Hope and Catherine Ashworth of Fuquay and that last year’s top performer, Sarah Bae of Athens, hasn’t played since the first match of the season, it’s hard to think of a better word to describe this year’s start to conference play.

With a winning score of 119 Wednesday at Athens Drive’s home course of Lochmere Golf Club, Middle Creek made it three different first-place finishers in three matches after Apex and Green Hope won the season’s first two competitions.

Less than two weeks after the first conference match of the year, the 2011 Tri-Nine girls golf season has already seen as many teams – three – win conference matches as it did all of last season.

“The conference has definitely gotten a lot stronger,” Athens Drive coach Tony Alcon said. “We have quality scores being posted by all four top schools right now. It’s anybody’s game on any given day, depending on how they play.”

The Mustangs, who returned all of their top five golfers from a year ago, have improved with each match. They started the season with a third-place finish and took second on Aug. 23 before winning first place by six strokes Wednesday.

“We have had to get there gradually, going from third to second to first place,” said Middle Creek’s Kennedy Smith, who shot a 37 to finish two strokes behind the individual leader. “Now we just want to maintain that momentum.”

Green Hope took second place Wednesday, with Holly Springs behind the Falcons in third for the Golden Hawks’ first top-three finish of the season.

Green Hope, which has finished second or better in each of its first three matches, is currently leading the way in the conference standings, but it’s a slim lead. The Falcons lead second place Middle Creek in the standings by one point. Apex, Holly Springs and Athens Drive sit in third, fourth and fifth place, respectively.

The Jaguars, 4A state champs in 2008 and 2009 and the runners-up in 2010, have played without Bae since she led all competitors with a score of 30 in the first conference match of the season.

Alcon said Bae, who finished tied for sixth in the 4-A championships last year, is currently not on the team for personal reasons, but said the door is open for her to return to the Jags later this year. The Jaguars have opened this season with two sixth place finishes and one fourth place finish.

That’s allowed the individual performances of Donovan and Ashworth to shine in the first-place spotlight. After second-place finishes in her first two matches, Green Hope’s Donovan shot a 35 to tie with Fuquay’s Ashworth for the best individual performance Wednesday afternoon.

“It feels good and it makes me feel like I’m one of the best players out here, even though they are older than me,” Donovan said. “It gives me huge confidence in all aspects of my game.”

With a total score of 107 after three matches, Donovan trails only Fuquay’s Ashworth, who currently leads by her one stroke.

Fuquay coach Bobby Helbert knows he has never seen a freshman quite like Ashworth. He just can’t decide whether he is more impressed with her swing or her maturity.

“She is by far the best person at that age that I have ever seen hit the ball,” Helbert said. “She’s got a really natural swing. She doesn’t show a lot of emotion out there. I’ve never seen that kind of composure at that age. If you watch the girls that she plays with, if they have hit a bad shot, you can tell it from across the course, just from their body language. But she just moves on to the next shot, and if it’s a bad one, the next one is always a lot better.”