Under almost perfect weather conditions, the Daviess County girls’ golf team cruised to their third straight region golf title Wednesday afternoon. Despite some of their members struggling on the front nine, the Lady Panthers shot 319 — good for 40 strokes better than second-placed Henderson County.
“Three-peat. Baylie, Claire, and Alexa since their freshman year have brought in three straight region titles. I am proud of everybody,” Daviess County head coach Jonas Billingsley said. “When your top four shoots a 78, 79, 80, and 82, there isn’t much to complain about.”
Leading the way was Claire Reynolds, who shot 78 and finished second overall in the individual competition. Alexa Salamah, Briley Billingsley, and Baylie Billingsley shot 79, 80, and 82 to round out the team’s top four scores. Next up for the Lady Panthers is semi-state, which will be Tuesday at the Hopkinsville Country Club.
“I want to go out there and do my best, but it would be really great if we can make it to state as a team,” Baylie Billingsley said. “We made it last year — barely, but we did. It would be great to go as a team again.”
Coach Billingsley noted they have played Hopkinsville once this year.
“Every one of our girls is familiar with it,” he said. “Getting in any type of practice at the next phase will be tough with the weather that is ahead of us. We essentially have Thursday or Friday to get a practice round in.”
The Lady Aces shot a 396 and missed the top-two cutoff to move on as a team. Hannah Robbins led the team with an 89, while Marley Baize, Elizabeth Wright, and Emma Lanham shot 100, 102, and 105 to round out the team’s top four scores.
“I thought they did really well,” Owensboro Catholic head coach Jenny Burns said. “They played better than average and that is all you can ask for as a coach.”
Robbins’ score is good enough to advance to semi-state as an individual, having finished in the top 10 players not on one of the top two teams.
“I am so excited for Hannah,” Burns said. “Last year she missed the cut by one stroke and two years ago, she missed it in a playoff.”
Owensboro only had three members participate. Ryann Kasey had the lowest score on her team, shooting a 96. Olive Harrison and Ellison Storm shot a 111 and 130.
After 18 holes, Kasey’s 96 was tied with Hopkins County Central’s Macy Cotton for the final individual qualifying spot for semi-state. In a playoff on the 18th hole, Kasey fell just short. Despite this, head coach Bryan Kasey believes her best golf is still to come.
“I was proud of the girls for finishing 18 holes,” he said. “This is a hard venue to play and we don’t have a lot of 18-hole experience as a team or group. I was proud they were able to battle through and play some good holes.”
