Madison's day one of best ever for a Tiger

Lauren Madison's performance at the Class 4A State Golf Tournament in Hesston on Monday was one of the better rounds of golf a Fort Scott High School girl has had to end a season. When she shot 42-44--86, she didn't just set personal highs. Her 11th-place All-State (medalist) finish was one of the top three or four at State by a Tiger.

"Over-top-thrilled for Lauren!" Fort Scott head coach Karen Curran said Tuesday. "Couldn't be more proud of her performance! She shoots her best score of the season at the State tournament and finished tied for 11th -- amazing!"

Curran noted that Madison tied Erin Lewis for third-best score at State by a Tiger. Lewis scored that her junior year (2003) in Salina, where she finished 16th. Second-best is an 85 that Lee Sewell shot her senior year. The best was an 84 that Lewis shot her senior year. The latter two took place in 2004 at Salina.

"And if it wasn't for one misplayed tee shot on the par-3 17th hole, she would have finished even higher!" Curran said. "She just played steady golf all day long, putted really well on huge greens, and never took a penalty stroke all day. I didn't think the wind could be worse than it was last year with Cameron (Defebaugh) at Hays, but it was definitely windier this year!"

The first shot went well for Madison and her day seemed to only get better.

"The toughest shot of the day is always the first shot of the first tee box," Curran said. "But she stepped up and bombed a great drive down the right side, just off the fairway and took a well-played bogey on the par-5. Another memorable hole was the par-3 No. 13 that she birdied. Just prior to the hole we joked that she hadn't had a birdie yet. She had put her tee shot pin high about 8 feet right of the cup, and I said that if she one-putted, then it would even out the 3-putt on the previous hole, which was only one of two 3-putts for the whole round!. Well, she made it for birdie and that was huge for her score!"

With a young squad competing this season, Curran is already looking forward to next year.

"Really looking forward to the next three seasons with Lauren and her teammates, watching them continue to improve, and seeing them come together as a team," she said. "It should be exciting!"