Golfers have good day at Anderson County
GARNETT -- Fort Scott High School girls' golf coach Karen Curran was understandably pleased with the performance her Tigers turned in at the Anderson County Invitational here Tuesday.
Although the Tigers finished fourth, most of the girls turned in season or career best scores for 9 and 18 holes. Fort Scott shot 414 as a team, their best over 18 holes this season.
"(The score was) nearly 100 strokes better than our first 18 hole tournament at Girard," Curran said. "We were finally able to beat Chanute and inched closer to Girard. Regionals is setting up to be a day that is literally up for grabs. I don't think there's any one clear favorite, at least five teams have a legitimate chance of taking the top three spots to move on to the state tournament."
Caney Valley was the team champ at 384 followed by Fredonia at 399 and Girard with 402. Chanute was fourth at 417.
Riley Wunderly, who had missed the previous three tournaments due to illness, earned her first medal of the season as she finished in 10th place. She shot 50 on the front 9 and 48 on the back for a total of 98.
"She had a great day, shooting career lows for each nine and then a career low for 18 holes," Curran said. "Hopefully, she can continue this streak for the rest of the season."
Kacie Brown just missed a medal as her 46-53--99 put her in 11th place.
"She had a terrible tournament last Thursday at Columbus and came back today and nearly scored a career low," Curran said. "She has such great mental toughness and determination and I think she's going to peak at just the right point in the season."
Shelby Blackburn had the third score for the Tigers with a 55-53--108 and Devan Lloyd rounded out the team score with a 57-52--109. Lloyd had career lows for 9 and 18 holes. The four best scores count toward the team score.
Haley Kruse had the fifth score at 61-60--121 and Ashleigh Marquardt, playing in just her second 18-hole tourney, finished at 61-63--124.
Kruse's 61 set a new personal best for 18 holes, then her back 9 score set it again. Marquardt also had personal 9- and 18-hole lows with Monday's score 28 strokes better than her 18-hole score at Girard on Sept. 16.
Wunderly, Blackburn and Marquardt will play in a 9-hole tournament at Parsons on Thursday as they have each missed tournaments due to illness. The entire team will go to Girard Monday morning for the Girard Class 4A Regional Tournament. Chanute, Columbus, Anderson County, Lenexa St. James Academy, Parsons and Spring Hill will also be present. Play begins with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m.