East High Golf - Monday/Wednesday, September 26/28, 2022

As you may know, our girls golf team spent two days out on the course this week.  Normally I have something clever or snarky to say about the weather or some other circumstance, but this time, I’ve got nothing.  All we had were two spectacular, beautiful days on the golf course.  It was wonderful.  And to top it all off, our girls are seriously getting better.  Four of our six girls have been golfers for six weeks or less, and one has only been a golfer for 13 months.  Our most experienced golfer has only been a golfer for little over two years.  But it has been SO fun this week watching them not only really start to hit the ball, but starting to understand strategy and decision-making on the course.  We have no seniors on our team, and if they stick with it and continue to work on their own in the off-season, we could have a really solid squad next year.

We played Rolling Hills Country Club on Monday, maybe my favorite course in the city.  But it is also a challenging course, with a creek that comes into play on numerous holes.  It was also the first time that many of our girls had ever played an 18-hole round of golf.  They were tired at the end, but it seemed like every time I turned around, I saw an East girl hitting the ball better than she had all season.  It was great.  As a team we shot a 502, finishing in 10th place.  Here is how they scored individually (individual medalist was Meg Tilma of Kapaun, who shot a 3-under 69; click here for complete varsity results):

  • Jillian Hutchinson, 109, 33rd
  • Faith Mantzke, 122, 47th
  • Natalie Schafer, 126, T54th
  • Mackenzie Wright, 145, 61st
  • Beija Cousens, 149, 62nd
  • Violet Rice (played 9 holes of JV and shot a 72)

On Wednesday we went back to Sim Park to compete in the North Invitational.  Both of these tournaments this week were good because there were additional schools competing besides the usual suspects from the city, and on Wednesday, girls came from Dodge City, Garden City, and Pittsburg to compete.  Once again the girls showed great improvement, and while some of their scores appear to be similar to Monday’s, know that Monday’s tournament had a lower “max score/hole”, which means Monday’s scores probably would’ve been higher than yesterday’s if we had played the same max score/hole, if that makes any sense.  Anyway, the tournament was won by Regan Dusenberry, a freshman(!) from Andover High, who shot a 1-under 70.  Our girls shot a team score of 505, finishing 12th, and here is how they did individually (click here for complete results):

  • Jillian Hutchinson, 100, T28th
  • Natalie Schafer, 129, 57th
  • Faith Mantzke, 136, T59th
  • Beija Cousens, 140, T67th
  • Mackenzie Wright, 141, 69th
  • Violet Rice, 201, 71st…she had kind of a rough day. If you see her, please tell her to keep her head up.

On Monday the girls will play in the GWAL League Tournament at Tex Consolver GC, and then in the KSHSAA Regional tournament in Garden City the following Monday (October 10).  The season (along with your sense of obligation to read these reports) is nearly over ðŸ˜Š.

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