Boys golfers finish seventh at 6A state tourney

JONESBORO — The Siloam Springs boys golf team closed out its season Tuesday with a seventh-place finish in the Class 6A state boys golf tournament at Jonesboro Country Club. Jonesboro won its eighth straight state title with a twoday total of 595, shooting a 288 on Tuesday after a 307 on Monday.

Greenwood took second place at 632. The Bulldogs trailed the Hurricane by four strokes after the first day with a 311, but Greenwood shot a 321 on the second day.

Benton finished in third at 660 (335-325), followed by Texarkana 683 (343-340), Searcy 687 (344-343), Marion 688 (351337) and Siloam Springs 737 (363-374).

“Going into the tournament our goal was to play well on day one and get to day two as a team,” said Siloam Springs golf coach Michael Robertson. “Conditions were really tough and we never adjusted to the green speed. We just had way too many threeand four-putts on the greens and it really hurt our scoring chances.”

Junior Karson Clement led the Panthers with a two-day total of 181. Clement shot 87 on day two after carding a 94 on the first day.

Junior Josh Johnson shot 183 (90-93), while sophomore Evan Sauer shot 185 (89-96), junior Chase Beyer 196 (90-106) and sophomore Luke Baker 198 (100-98).

“Coming into the season we were very inexperienced,” Robertson said. “We only had a couple guys with full-time varsity experience and a couple with none. All of our guys were able to get experiences on different courses that should help prepare us for the future. “Looking ahead we return everyone who competed in the state tournament, which is exciting. There will be a lot of unknowns as far as what conferences and state tournaments will look like, but I like the group we have returning. We have a good group that will be seniors, and I expect us to improve on the progress we made this season. We will take some time off and then get back to work.”