It’s a long ride from Mountain Home to El Dorado. Not so bad, though, when you’re toting hardware.
The Lady Wildcats’ golf team ran roughshod over the competition Monday and claimed the 5A State Championship, shooting a 258 on the course at Big Creek Golf & Country Club.
Aubrey Marx and Hope Walthall each posted scores of 82 to lead El Dorado, which won by a dominating 23 strokes. Lani Hammock shot 94 to round out the Lady Wildcats’ scores with Alexa Hulsey scoring 101.
“I’m pretty pumped up. Everybody’s excited,” said El Dorado coach Chris Ezell. “I don’t know if it was on their radar. As coaches, we felt like we had a chance. I don’t know that the kids thought they did. That’s kind of a good thing in a way because it keeps them more focused and driven.”
Greenwood was a distant second with 281 followed by Jonesboro (288), Mountain Home (292), Marion (308), Siloam Springs (311), Lake Hamilton (312), Searcy (331), Sheridan (352) and Maumelle (361).
Ezell thought his team had a shot at winning. But, by such a large margin?
“Obviously, no. We didn’t have a clue,” he said. “What I was seeing around the state and what I was getting from the other coaches was that we were all, pretty much, shooting around the same team totals. You don’t factor in what courses you’re playing and that kind of stuff. That makes it a little difficult to try to gauge. I thought it was going to be three or four teams that were all around the same. I didn’t envision it being that gap between first and second, for sure.”
The Lady Wildcats, who teed off after Greenwood and Mountain Home, grabbed a big lead early and then managed the course the rest of the way.
“After about nine holes, we realized we had about a 10-shot lead for sure. Then it became just playing smart because their back-9 has two or three holes back-to-back that can really make or break a round,” said Ezell. “I think we managed those holes pretty decent. We gave a couple shots back but, for the most part, they executed the game plan that we set for ourselves from the practice round.”
The coach said the key to the round was managing the windy conditions.
“They handled some tough wind conditions. That’s one thing we talked about in the practice round, constantly checking that, almost every shot. Seeing which way the wind was blowing,” Ezell said. “We talked about throwing up a little bit of grass and just seeing how fast it was moving and things like that. I think that helped them. It kind of helped calm their nerves a little bit because you had to make club adjustments. They had a two-club wind at times, whether it was in your face or it was going with you. That was probably the most challenging aspect of the course today.”
Marx and Walthall tied for fourth in the medalist race.
Jonesboro’s Caroline Hughes and Paragould’s Madison Homes each shot 77 and went to a playoff for medalist. Sheridan’s Emma Hester carded a 78. Emily Self of Siloam Springs shot 85 and Greenwood’s Hallie Jones scored 87.
Ezell, who claimed his fifth state championship as a coach, credited El Dorado’s home course at Mystic Creek for preparing the girls.
“My hat’s off to them because in their minds, they were looking at what they were shooting at Mystic Creek. I kept trying to tell them, ‘Girls, we play the toughest course in the state. I promise those scores are going to be so much better when we play on other courses,’” said Ezell. “I think having that facility to practice at makes them better golfers and it made them handle different situations easier.
“I can’t be more excited for them. It’s a special moment for them. Given all the COVID-19 and games getting cancelled left and right, to be able to finish our season out when most people didn’t give us a chance to get it all the way to the finish.”