Lady Raiders run away with 11-5A title
Published 4:03 am Thursday, April 5, 2012
- Robert E. Lee girls golfers (from left) Kerbey Kipp, McCall Carlton, coach Shirley Chandler, Ellen Burton, Katy Powell and Erin Birdsong. (Courtesy Photo)
CANTON — Ellen Burton could only shake her head as she stood to the side and waited for the rest of her group to finish.
It was another three-putt bogey.
Burton finished with an 82, seven strokes worse than her opening round 75 on Tuesday. All of this despite hitting 15 of 18 greens in regulation.
Now, for the real crazy thing — Burton ran away with the District 11-5A tournament title, her combined 157 giving her a 10-stroke victory over teammate Kerbey Kipp (82-85—167).
“The putting killed me,” said Burton, who was runner-up at last year’s district tournament. “Winning district (is nice) but it’s all about regionals and this kind of round (will not get it done).”
The Lady Raiders also combined to capture a seventh-consecutive team district championship and qualify for regionals. Lee blistered the course with a 335 Tuesday and finished with a 354 on Wednesday to shoot 689 and win the district tournament by 151 strokes. Longview, which also qualified for regionals as the second-place team, combined for an 840.
Earning individual medalist spots were DeSoto’s Shirlecia Dickson (111-110—221) and North Mesquite’s Jennifer Warren (111-119—230). The two medalist regional qualifiers were given the top two scores not on the first and second place teams.
Burton posted an eagle on the par 5 13th, sinking a putt after a perfect drive and approach put her on the green. But the majority of her birdie and par putts attempts ended up short on normally fast greens that were slowed because of Tuesday’s rainfall.
Overall, Lee A golfers occupied the top five individual scores on the final leaderboard. Joining Burton, Kipp were third-place Katy Powell (90-90—180) fourth-place Erin Birdsong (88-101—189) and fifth-place McCall Carlton (96-97—193.
All five now march on to Waco where the opening round of the Class 5A Region II golf tournament begins April 17 at Cottonwood Creek Golf Course.
“They knew they were going to win (after yesterday’s round), so it came down to trying to better their scores,” said Lee coach Shirley Chandler. “At regionals, they are going to have to play two days of their best golf. We need to play two rounds like we did Tuesday.”
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District 11-5A Girls Golf Tournament
Wednesday at Twin Lakes Golf Course, Canton
Final Round Results
Team Scores — 1, Robert E. Lee Red, 335-354—689; 2, Longview, 424-416—840; 3, DeSoto, 475-468—943; 4, Robert E. Lee White, 502-524—1026; 5, Mesquite Horn, 525-503—1028.
Top 10 (All District) — 1, Ellen Burton, Lee, 75-82—157; 2, Kerbey Kipp, Lee, 82-85—167; 3, Katy Powell, Lee, 90-90—180; 4, Erin Birdsong, Lee, 88-101—189; 5, McCall Carlton, Lee, 96-97—193; 6, Cheyann Alford, Longview, 100-98—198; 7, Emily Gruppi, Longview, 103-98—201; 8, Meaghan McNamara, Longview, 110-104—214; *9, Shirlecia Dickson, DeSoto, 111-110—221; 10, Allessia Scribner, Longview, 111-116—227; *11, Jennifer Warren, North Mesquite, 111-119—230.
Robert E. Lee White Scores — Amber Telscher, 128-133—261; Ashley Phillips, 111-121—232; Alyssa Staples, 129-121—250; Regan Phillips, 134-149—283.