Long trip, hours worth it for Lindsey
PEA RIDGE — Meghan Lindsey came nearly 300 miles to win her first state championship.
Lindsey shot a 73 to win the Class 4A state girls golf tournament at Big Sugar Golf Course. Lindsey, a sophomore from Magnolia, said she was driven to succeed after placing eighth in the state tournament last season and finishing second in district play last week.
She arrived in Northwest Arkansas on Sunday and had a practice round Monday before winning the girls individual championship Tuesday.
“I shot 3 under on the front, and I thought it was going to be a lot lower,” Lindsey said of her final score. “But I didn’t worry about it. I kept playing.”
Nashville won the team championship by shooting 301 on the 18-hole course. Nashville was followed by Harrison (318) in second place and Ozark (326) in third.
Magnolia Coach Marvin Lindsey, who is not related to Meghan, said the trophy she carried home Tuesday was the result of many hours of working on her game.
“She’s the kind of kid who puts in a lot of hours to get where she’s at,” Lindsey said. “That’s what I’m most proud about because she’s out there six or seven days a week. You like to see somebody succeed who puts in that much work.”
Meghan Lindsey shot 33 on the front side and 40 on the back to finish ahead of Berryville’s McKayla Hussey (82) in second place. Lindsey had the shot of the day when she barely missed a hole-inone on Hole 13, 100 yards away. She also finished strong and just missed the hole on 18 from 70 yards out.
“It was like an inch away,” Lindsey said of her shot on 13. “I’ve never hit one, and that was the closest I’ve ever been. They were all like ‘ooooh,’ and my mom wanted to take a pic.”
Hussey, who also plays basketball for Berryville, played in the same group with Lindsey and was impressed with her performance throughout the longt day.
“I, honestly, didn’t think I did my best but I did what I could on this hard of a course,” Hussey said. “I’m super proud of Meghan for winning first place. She did awesome and it was fun playing with her.”