El Dorado set to start conference slate
After a trio of successful tuneups, El Dorado’s golf teams will start conference play today when they travel to Lake Hamilton.
The Wildcats and Lady Wildcats have swept their first three matches, and El Dorado coach Chris Ezell said experience coupled with being able to play once restrictions from the coronavirus pandemic were eased allowed his teams to hit the ground running.
“I think it’s a lot of returning players that have played some of these courses mixed in with a couple of new guys,” Ezell said. “The new guys are playing courses for the first time they haven’t been on yet, so I think our scores will go down even more as the season goes on. I think a lot of it was golf being one of the few things that they could do, and several of those kids were taking advantage of that opportunity not being restricted away from the golf course.”
Balance has also played a key role for the Wildcats early on.
“Just looking back at last year’s scores, we were hovering around 330,” Ezell said. “This year, it’s been 316 twice and 319. Those top five have really been balancing each other out. One of them might not have their best round, but then three of four of the other ones have stepped up at given times and that’s what has kept our team scores where they’re at.”
Ezell singled out Preston Howard for his solid start to the season.
“I think Preston has probably been the one that’s stepped up the most coming off what the summer scores were,” Ezell said. “Then once the matches got here, he seemed to really turn it on. I think he shot a 78 at Simmons and 77 at Magnolia. His scores have been down.
“With Jon Brooks (Elia), he finished runner-up at Simmons with a 74. He didn’t have a great day at Magnolia for him, but he came back with a 76 at Camden Country Club. That being up there is one of the ones that you count on.
“The other three with Keaton Michael, he’s had 82 and a 77, Aaron Ezell has had 82, 84 and 81, so he’s been around the same scores every time out. My transfer (Miller Wallace) has had 80 and a 79 in the last two matches, so he’s getting things going here in the last week.”
The Lady Wildcats have also impressed early on with Aubrey Marx and Hope Walthall earning medalist honors in their last two outings at Magnolia and Camden.
“I don’t think you could’ve asked for a better start as far as the top of the order,” Ezell said. “Aubrey has been 84, 83 in two matches already, which is way lower than what she averaged last year. Hope Walthall has had 95, 86, 88, and I think she is capable of dropping those scores as well. Alexa Hulsey has been our surprise. Her qualifiers out at Mystic (Creek) wasn’t as low as what she’s turned in, but once we started playing other courses, her scores have come down to be
our third scorer for each of the three matches, so those three right there have given us the team scores each time so far.”
As far as today's match with Lake Hamilton is concerned, Ezell said his teams are very familiar with Glenwood Country Club.
“I think actually the kids enjoy getting out on the road, getting to go somewhere with your teammates and that camaraderie,” Ezell said. “I think we've got a lot of good chemistry as far as the people on the team with each other. They enjoy being around each other. They also compete with each other at practice.
“Most of the kids, outside of two, have already been on this course. This is where we had the conference tournament last year and state, and we had another match, so we played it three times last year. There's some familiarity there. They'll be a couple of kids that haven't played it before, but it will be their first chance to get on this course. I think they'll enjoy it.”