ANDERSON — To borrow from an old folk song, in terms of girls high school golf in Madison County, the refrain may soon be, “Where have all the players gone?”

Participation in girls golf has plunged in startling fashion over the past few years and reached an all-time low this season.

Pendleton Heights had just one girl out for its first day of practice. The Arabians canceled their first week of scheduled matches. Anderson also missed a couple of dates because the team had just three girls out. Highland hosted an invitational Wednesday and had four girls instead of the customary five to play in a match.

“I’ve been coaching for quite a while,” Anderson coach Rod Windlan said. “In 1997, I had 14 girls out. It’s just gradually dropped off.”

“This is the fewest number of players I’ve had in 20 years,” said Highland coach Bob Windlan. “In this area it’s just frightening.”

“We’re going to try to find another person or two,” said PH coach Chad Taflinger, who was a late replacement for Craig Brunnemer, who decided not to continue as the Arabians coach. “I didn’t find out I was going to be coaching until July 25. I imagine we’ll get enough girls to have a team.”

There seems to be almost more guesses about the reasons for the decline than there are players.

“I think the economy in the area and General Motors pulling out had a lot to do with it,” Bob Windlan said. “The best players I’ve had came from parents who played. Now the parents don’t play. Over in Hamilton County they had 10 to 20 players on every team.”

“The economy is a factor,” Alexandria coach Mark Long said. “It takes money to play. Parents used to have more discretionary money than they have today. I’ve been fortunate to get some new girls.”

The Tigers are one of the healthier programs in terms of numbers. They had four players back and four more newcomers. Elwood has seven currently and may end up with eight. Lapel has eight.

“I’ve been recruiting like mad,” Lapel coach John Maryan said. “I’ve even got a guidance counselor asking kids if they play golf. If we get a freshman girl who wants to learn how to play, we can make her into a pretty decent golfer by the time she’s a senior.”

Another factor could be the fact that the season starts a couple of weeks before schools are back in session.

“I imagine that has something to do with it,” Rod Windlan said. “Kids are still on vacation. I had 13 girls to call who expressed interest in playing. It was hard to get in touch with some of them.”

Lapel’s Shelby Meyer, a regional qualifier a year ago, doesn’t think the early start should be a factor.

“Summer’s been awesome,” she said. “Losing two weeks of it isn’t a big deal. Golf is a patient game. You have to forget one bad shot and not dwell on it.”