SSHS girls finish 6th at 5A state
The Siloam Springs girls golf team finished sixth Monday at the Class 5A State Girls Golf Tournament held at Big Creek Golf & Country Club in Mountain Home.
El Dorado won the state title with a team score of 258, followed by Greenwood 281, Jonesboro 288, host Mountain Home 292, Marion 308 and Siloam Springs 311.
Lake Hamilton finished seventh at 312, while Searcy was eighth at 331, followed by Sheridan 352 and Maumelle 361.
“Like I told the girls, we had a great season and have nothing to be upset about,” said Siloam Springs coach Michael Robertson. “Just really proud of them. We dropped 50 shots as a team in two months and even though we wanted today to be better we really played our best golf at the end of the season.”
Jonesboro’s Caroline Hughes was the individual state champion with a 88, beating out Paragould’s Madison Holmes in a playoff hole.
Emily Self led Siloam Springs with a sixth-place finish of 85 and was an all-state selection. Self shot a 42 on the front nine, followed by a 43 on the back nine.
Brooke Smith shot a 108 for Siloam Springs, while Julia Jackson and Baylee Morris each shot 118.
Robertson said the Lady Panthers had a strong practice round
on Sunday, but windy conditions on Monday were a factor.
“Probably the windiest event I ever remember,” Robertson said. “Emily came out really well. I think she had two birdies in first four holes. Her short iron game is so good. Julia started really well, striking it really well. Same for Baylee. Brooke had a really good back nine. Each of them had moments of good play and each had a good nine. We knew we needed three solid scores to compete at the top and a couple moments on each side kept us from shooting as low as we needed.”
Siloam Springs will lose three seniors in Jackson, Trang Phan and Kate Gryder.
“We were so excited to add Julia, Trang and Kate to our team this season,” Robertson said. “They brought so much energy to our team and helped give us another solid score in our rotation. We are going to miss them. Looking ahead we have a lot to be excited about for next season. Emily was an all-state selection and got better each week. I expect her to work hard this off season and be one of the best players in 5A next season. Brooke and Baylee have gained a lot of experience the last two years and I expect them to take huge jumps over the next year and be great players for us. They have such high end potential. We need Kenzie (Sontag) and Alyson (McWilliams) to continue working hard to improve and to make a jump next season. We’re going to take some time off, develop a plan for the offseason and then start working hard to get to the top.”
The Siloam Springs boys golfers will head to Big Creek next week for the Class 5A State Boys Tournament. A practice round will be held Sunday, followed by the 18-hole championship round on Monday.