East High Golf - Monday, October 10, 2022

On Monday, October 10, the East High girls golf team traveled to the far-off land of Western Kansas to compete in the 6A KSHSAA Regional Golf Tournament.  As you might expect, besides Garden City & Dodge City, all the schools there were from the Wichita area.  Dodge & Garden make enough trips east that occasionally we have to be nice and let them host.

 The tournament was held at Southwind Country Club just outside Garden City.  No one on our team (including myself) had ever seen the course, and most of us were in shock when we saw it.  One, because the course, located in the middle of what has essentially become a desert, was unbelievably beautiful & lush.  Water conservationists everywhere cringed at the sight of it.  But, more importantly, the shock was from the extreme difficulty of the course layout.  Each hole was lined, on both sides, by waist-high gunch that would swallow any golf ball that went near it.  Numerous bunkers protected the greens and fairways, bunkers that the girls were strictly ordered to never hit their ball into.  And a couple of holes featured crazy water hazards that would require ultra-precise shots.  Needless to say, as we drove around the course on Sunday, the girls were a little freaked out.

But after a good night’s rest, a solid Best Western breakfast, a productive warm-up session at the course, and armed with sage advice from their coach (“Just hit it straight”), the girls were ready to go.  The day started out a bit chilly, but by 11:00 is was nice, and we enjoyed fantastic weather the rest of the way.  We were fortunate to avoid the infamous Western Kansas wind; if it had been present, it could’ve made the course nearly unplayable for many of the girls there.

Sometimes a difficult course can cause you to lock in a little more than you normally would, and that may have been the case for our girls.  Despite the challenge, our girls managed to post scores comparable to what we had been shooting, which once again points to the improvement they have made throughout the season.  As a team, East High finished in 7th place with a score of 531.  As mentioned earlier in the week, Jillian Hutchinson placed 10th overall and qualified for the state tournament.  Here are the results for our girls:

  • Jillian Hutchinson, 108, 10th place
  • Natalie Schafer, 134, T28th
  • Faith Mantzke, 138, 32nd
  • Mackenzie Wright, 151, T41st

The top individual from our regional was Ryann Warren of Garden City HS, who shot an 11-over 82.  Garden City also took home the team title.  For complete tournament results, click here.

Jillian will head to Salina on Monday for the first round of the 6A KSHSAA State Tournament.  The State Tournament is now potentially a two-day event, so if she plays well on Monday, she will advance to Tuesday’s final round.  If you have her in class, wish her luck!

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