Kingwood’s Barry brings home silver
GEORGETOWN — For her first time playing in the UIL Class 6A state tournament, Kingwood sophomore Jackie Barry played it wisely.
“I knew that the tournament would be won by the person that made the most putts,” Barry said. “I just tried to be the one that made the most putts.”
At Legacy Hills Golf Club, Barry came up a little shy of the individual state title. But she medaled with a silver after shooting a 4-under-par 140 (69-71). Barry finished three shots behind state champion Kaitlyn Papp of Lake Travis.
The Lady Cavaliers won the overall team state championship for the third straight year with a 4-overpar 580, 11 shots ahead of second place Austin Westlake. Allen finished third at 599, and Montgomery finished just outside of a medal with a fourth-place finish at 621. The Woodlands was 10th, while Kingwood finished in sixth place.
“Amazing,” coach Susan Willis said. “All five of them did a fantastic job. They had never done this before. Four sophomores and a junior. To come in sixth place at the state tournament is incredible. We are extremely proud of them.”
Barry came into the day 3-under par. With just one birdie on the front 9 and a birdie and a bogey on the back 9, Barry parred 15 holes. She had five birdies Monday. “I think my shots coming into the green might not have been as close,” Barry said. “I had problems finding the speed on my longer putts, but my short putts were better than yesterday.”
Willis said afterward that she didn’t have to say much to Barry, who’s been golfing since she was in third grade.
“I don’t talk to her about much,” Willis said. “I just drive around and cheer. She has a game plan, and she sticks with it. Other than being there supporting her, I just let her be and let her do your thing.”
Barry didn’t pay much attention to how close she was to the top of the leaderboard. She just simply did what she needed to do.
“I knew it would be close based on the field of players,” Barry said. “I knew there would be incredible golfers here. I knew that it was honestly anyone’s game. I knew that every putt counted.”
Grace Ni of Cy-Fair and Gurleen Kaur of Cypress Woods tied for fifth place at even par.