By Terry Carter
Kingwood leads the Region III-6A Girls’ Golf Tournament at Eagle Point in Mont Belvieu by 21 shots, and Monday’s north winds and fast greens may be more challenging than they felt.
After the first of two rounds, Katy ISD’s lowest scores included Taylor’s 12th-place Audrey Rosen (42-42—84), Taylor’s Faith Chang (45-40—85), Cinco Ranch medalist Mallory Luitweiler (43-42—85), Seven Lakes’ Kay Song (42-44—86) and Tompkins medalist Annika Choi (43-46—89) on the hilly, tree-lined, 5,975-yard, par-72 layout.
The winds and errant shots delivered double and triple bogeys on most score cards. But tournament leader Bella Flores of Kingwood (38-36—74) collected a rare eagle-3 on the par-5, 17th hole. The sophomore holds a 3-shot lead with one round of 18 holes remains on Tuesday as only four girls broke 80.
Luitweiler is among the lowest scoring golfers from Katy ISD in this tournament and tied for 18th position. However she will need a low round in the 70s most likely to challenge the top finishers on day one, including medalists Melanie Maier of George Ranch (77) and Daniela Palmeros of Jersey Village (78).
“Only four girls shot in the 70s. Eagle Pointe is playing tough with the greens running (very quick). We didn’t play well on Monday.” Seven Lakes golf coach Sean Ewing said. “Kay (Song) would need to shoot about 10 shots better on Tuesday to have a chance (as a medalist). Mallory (Luitweiler) could go that low. And Taylor is in fifth place and needs to shoot about 330-335 and get some help to qualify as a team. “
Monday’s north winds, however, are expected to switch to prevailing southerly winds on Tuesday and for the rest of the week. The Region III-6A Boys’ Golf Tournament is scheduled to begin here Wednesday and run through Thursday.
In the girls’ team race, Kingwood shot 320, 32-over-par among its top four players. Houston Memorial (341) sits a distant second place, followed by Clear Creek (349), Pearland (354) in fourth place. Atascocita and Taylor both shot 366 and are tied for fifth place, so the Lady Mustangs enter Tuesday’s final round needing a solid team effort for a chance to advance their squad to state.
Ridge Point (368), Clements (371), Houston Memorial B (377), Clear Lake (380) fill the top 10 listing. Seven Lakes (385) is in 11th place currently, playing without Madelyn Kim, who shot 69-69—138 at the District 19-6A tournament. Kim is playing a major event in Puerto Rico currently, according to Coach Ewing.
The top three teams and the top three individual golfers not playing for the state-qualifying teams will advance to the 6A Girls’ Golf State Tournament at Legacy Hills Golf Club near Georgetown on May 16-17. The girls’ state tournament is likely to play the tees that measure up to 6,079 yards with a course rating of 69.90 and a slope of 121.
