Garden City dominated the girls regional golf tournament Monday. As a team it shot 340 and the girls said they owed it all to their hair. Well, that and all the hard work they put in during the offseason.
All six of the Garden City golfers dyed a strand of their hair pink to match their uniforms and for good luck. Senior Abigail Shaddix said it worked for her.
“The team colored our hair last night before the tourney and it gave me good luck,” she said. “Plus my dad got me a marked ball on the green before the season started and that has given me good luck too.”
It worked for all of them. The top three finishers were all Garden City golfers. Shaddix shot a 79, Mackenzie Thayer shot an 81 and Abbey Campbell ended the day with an 84.
The Buffaloes are excited for a shot at the state title but they do not expect it to be easy. Shaddix said they have prepared for this all year.
“Coach makes us practice through rain, sun and wind,” she said. “We’re all really focused and we even come out here over the weekends when we don’t have practice so we can improve. We have a really good group of girls and our determination is what is going to take us far.”
Garden City coach Lloyd Tiffany said he expected his girls to do well in regionals and he is confident they will do well at the state tournament.
“They are definitely tournament tested and they’ve been looking forward to state for a long time,” he said. “We really feel that we have the talent to win it all this year.”
The teams that followed were Maize with 365 and Hutchinson with 428. Five girls from other teams qualified for state as well. Margaret Ekeler from Wichita North shot a 94 to qualify. Lexi Clark with a 106 and Maddie Bazzelle with a 114 qualified from Wichita Northwest. The final two qualified from Dodge City. Hannah Thomas shot a 106 and Whitney Winters shot a 112.
Ekeler said she struggled with the course at Southwind.
“This course is definitely harder than my home course but I didn’t hit the ball too bad,” she said. “I kept putting myself in the tall grass and it is killer once you get in there. I just kept getting penalty chips and I kept losing balls and it adds up quick.”
But she said her place at regionals does not matter and she is excited to start new at state.
“I’m pretty excited I get another chance to play better,” she said. “I want to try to beat the people I haven’t before. I’d like to hit the ball well and score well. It looks like a pretty awesome course so I think I should turn out alright.”
