By Don Eskins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
The Carl Junction Lady Bulldogs battled their way to an Ozark Invitational Tournament title Thursday afternoon at the Fremont Hills Country Club golf course.
The Bulldogs carded a tournament low score of 380 to pick up the win, five strokes ahead of the runner-up West Plains Zizzers who fired a 385 and seven shots better than the third place Glendale Lady Falcons who turned in a round of 387.
“This win feels really good. You know we won this tournament last year also so coming back to successfully defend our title has made the day very special for us,” said Carl Junction head coach Corey Clingan. “This is also the second tournament of the year that our kids have won. They’re two for two now. I’d say that’s quite a feat for our kids to be proud of.”
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The Lady Bulldogs were led by Jenna Teeter, who registered a 78 for her days work, and Kylie Carnes who finished out her day one stroke behind Teeter with a 79.
“We have a really great group of kids this year. They always put forth their very best effort,” said Clangan. “As for today Jenna and Kylie, both shooting in the 70’s, got us all off to a strong start. Starts like that encourage all of our kids to play hard.”
Teeter turned in a 39 on the front side at Fremont Hills and followed that up with an identical round of 39 on the back side for her 78.
“My driver is usually the strongest part of my game, but not today. I played a lot of army golf, left-right and left-right,” Teeter said. “But I was able to get up and down and I managed to drop in a birdie. I think overall I played pretty good.”
Carnes, after running into problems early on the front side, recorded rounds of 43-36 for her 79.
“I started out with triple and quad bogeys on the front and wound up seven over par- carding a 43,” Carnes said. “But I was able to settle down and get my game back together on the back side to shoot an even par 36 for a 79 overall.”
Rounding out the Bulldog scorecard was Breely Pilgrim- 104, Abby Rogers- 119 and Maddie Coats- 133. Only the top four scores are averaged for team totals.
Leading the way for the runner-up Zizzers was Marissa Butler with an 81. She was followed by Caroline Beykirch- 90, Abby Lipford and Chloe Howard- 107 and Madi Freeman- 129.
Springfield Catholic’s Kayla Pfitzner turned in the day’s lowest score. The Irish sophomore registered a 77 to grab the tournament’s top medalist honors.
Head Irish coach Frank Gallant had a lot to say about his team’s number one player, who last year grabbed All-State status as just a freshman.
“Kayla is only about five feet tall in stature but she swings a golf club just like the boys. She’s very aggressive and she’s never afraid to fire away- it’s one of her best attributes,” said the Irish coach. “She’s an extremely good putter and chipper and has an excellent short game. I’m really very proud of what’s she’s been able to achieve at this point in her life.”
Leading the way for the third place Glendale Falcons was Wriley Hiebert with an 80. Also contributing were Olivia Baron- 99, Meg Roseman- 102,
Halle Jungmann and Brooke Ramsey- 106.
Following are team results and the tournaments top ten medalists.
Ozark Top 12
No. Team Score
1 Carl Junction 380
2 West Plains 385
3 Glendale 387
4 Ozark 392
5 Webb City 402
6 Logan-Rogersville 406
7 Carthage 409
8 Springfield Catholic 410
9 (tie) Joplin 411
9 Republic 411
11 Willard 416
12 Kickapoo 418
Ozark Medalists
No. Name Score School
1 Kayla Pfitzner 77 Catholic
2 Jenna Teeter 78 Carl Junction
3 Kylie Carnes 79 Carl Junction
4 (tie) Anna Lorio 80 Joplin
4 Wriley Hiebert 80 Glendale
6 Marissa Butler 81 West Plains
7 (tie) Hannah Aherin 87 Ozark
7 Emma Oathout 87 Webb City
9 (tie) Kimberly Sager 89 Carthage
9 Kaitlyn Gilliland 89 Joplin
