Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Cuzick Wins All-State Honors
FARMINGTON — The Farmington girls golf team finished fourth in the team standings at the Class 4A State golf tournament held at the Harrison Country Club Oct. 1.
Bailey Cuzick shot an 88 which placed her seventh overall and earned All-State recognition. Teammate, Olivia Rodman, was three strokes behind with a 91; while Zoe Nix shot a 104. The Farmington girls compiled a team score of 283 behind State Champion Brookland, 261; State Runner-up Nashville, 262; and third place Harrison, 271. Ozark finished fifth with 291 points, followed by Clarksville, 308; Pulaski Academy, 316; Valley View, 318; eStem, 342; Crossett, 345; and Bauxite, 357.
“At first it was tough because I’ve only played it a couple of times, but I had the district tournament there so I got a feel for it. I was excited that I placed so high. I was just happy that I got the good score and I had a good time, too,” Cuzick said. “I’m just glad I kept my head and I stayed focused.”
Cuzick faced a challenge when the ball stopped in front of a tree and she had to hit it out. She achieved par none-the-less and came away feeling good about not only her individual score but the team’s overall competitiveness.
“Fourth place is definitely really good. Last year I was the only girl so I didn’t make it to state, which was really hard,” Cuzick said. “I felt like this year having the team helped me out. All of us did good and we kept our heads down and we just kept on.”
Cuzick grew up watching her father, Greg Cuzick, play golf. She draws inspiration from that experience and from Farmington coach Randy Osnes’ expertise.
“Watching him since I was little has definitely helped and Coach Osnes has definitely helped me just be a better golfer and help me keep up with it,” Cuzick said.
District Results
A week earlier, host Harrison won the girls 4A-1 District team championship with 266 points. Halle Marseilles shot an 87, then won a playoff against Gravette’s Rachel Deihl to claim the medalist title. Thea Norcross was one stroke off the leader board with an 88 for Harrison while Riley Richardson was right there with a 91.
Cuzick surpassed all of those girls at state by trimming 10 strokes off her district score with Deihl and Marseilles right behind her at 89. Rodman, too, lowered her score from district by 12 strokes and finished tied with Ella Kaye Spry, of Harrison, with a 91.
Farmington tallied a team score of 305 at District paced by Cuzick, 98; followed by Rodman, 103; and Nix, 103.
“Our girls finished second, conference runner-up first time in a while that we’ve had a full girls team go on to state and they’ll represent us,” said Farmington coach Randy Osnes.
Shiloh Christian finished third at district with a team score of 327 between: Sophia Burasco, 103; Lauren Eldridge, 109; and Anna Heil, 115; while Huntsville was fourth at 365 led by Kathlyn Fancher, 107; Madison Phillips, 120; and Hattie McCollough, 138.