Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
GIRLS CO-GOLFERS OF THE YEAR
“It’s so crazy; it was so surreal. We were all waiting for them to put it on the scoreboard. There was one team left that didn’t have their score up, and one was really good. We were all nervous and holding hands. ... Then the score went up, and we finally knew. We started screaming and crying. We knew before it was announced because of the scores.”
— Peri Tygart
CHARLESTON — Peri Tygart, Maddy Flynn and their Charleston teammates thought this might be their year to finally crack through for a golf championship.
“We thought from last year, we were runners-up two years in a row,” Tygart said. “We thought we had a shot because Bismarck lost a lot of seniors.”
With Tygart, a senior, and Flynn, a junior, leading the way, the Lady Tigers won the Class 3A championship by 19 strokes over second-place Melbourne and finally didn’t have to worry about Bismarck, which won four titles in a row with the last two just ahead of Charleston.
Tygart and Flynn are the inaugural All-River Valley CoGirls Golfers of the Year.
The championship didn’t come without a little drama, though.
“It’s so crazy; it was so surreal,” Tygart said. “We were all waiting for them to put it on the scoreboard. There was one team left that didn’t have their score up, and one was really good. We were all nervous and holding hands.”
The score was posted; Charleston 287, Melbourne 306.
“Then the score went up, and we finally knew,” Tygart said. “We started screaming and crying. We knew before it was announced because of the scores.”
Charleston golf coach Jay Crowley knew his Lady Tigers would have a chance this season so they played at the course, Horseshoe Bend, during the summer.
“We played this summer at the course because our coach thought we’d have a shot,” Flynn said. “As the season went on, we were beating everybody in our district.”
Tygart finished third in the state championship, shooting 93, with Flynn right behind her in fourth, shooting 94.
Tygart went on to the Overall golf championship and finished 13th with a 95.
Last year, Flynn was fifth at the Class 3A championship with an 88, and Tygart was 10th with a 93.
Tygart finished 15th as a sophomore in 2020 with a 105, again helping Charleston to a runner-up trophy.
This season, Tygart enlisted the help of her boyfriend, Brandon Scott, to play during the summer.
“I put more time in,” Tygart said. “I got my boyfriend into golf, so that was our thing. We always golfed together and were always on the course together. That made me better. We pushed each other. We played a lot more.”
Tygart also enjoyed beating Scott, who also golfed in the boys championship and is a football and basketball standout.
“He’s very competitive,” Tygart said. “I beat him most of the time, but he puts up good competition. When he loses, it makes him mad.”
Flynn has only been golfing since the ninth grade, picking it up because of her grandfather, Mike, and her dad, Cody.
“I play with my grandpa,” Flynn said. “I started in ninth grade, and then we went every day in the summer. We’d have golf practice in the morning, and then I would go with him when I got back. He’s taken me everywhere.”
She took to the sport very quickly.
“I thought it might be fun,” Flynn said. “They both played so I gave it a try. Now, it’s my favorite thing. I want to play all the time.”
Flynn also cheers and plays basketball and softball.
Her natural progression into an activity could have easily been into rodeo, though, given the family history, especially with her grandfather’s brother, Denny, who’s in the National Rodeo Hall of Fame as a champion bull rider.
“Dad tried to make me a cowgirl,” Flynn said. “Thanksgiving break, I went to feed with him. That’s about it.”
Flynn is already looking toward next year when she will be counted on to lead the Lady Tigers’ golf team.
“There are also some other girls and they depend on the day,” Flynn said. “Yes, we’re looking to repeat.”