Emporia High’s golf team had 18 years between trips to the State tournament, which gave Monday’s Regional a feeling of a new era in Spartan golf.
The EHS girls, led by a freshman, had the best tournament of their season and finished second to qualify for State for the second year in a row.
“This was by far our best performance of the year,” EHS coach Rick Eckert said. “This was the first time that we’ve had four scores that have been consistent. This is the first time I can remember us shooting below 420. It was a very good tournament for us and a great day to have it to happen.”
Freshman Amber Mechtley was one of the first golfers to finish and posted a 101 for the Spartans, good for sixth place and a score to take some of the pressure off of the Spartans’ older players.
“There was definitely a lot more riding on it,” Mechtley said. “I felt a little more obligated to do good.”
Mechtley has been one of the most consistent golfers for EHS this season and her finish near the top was only a surprise because of her age. Melissa Heinitz, who finished ninth with a 103, came into the tournament struggling with her game and did not play in Emporia’s final tuneup last week at Manhattan.
Makenzie Harder had also been struggling and she finished in 13th place with a 108, giving the Spartans four players in the top 13 with Hannah Watkins finishing 11th with a 107.
“I was extremely happy with Makenzie and Melissa,” Eckert said. “They hadn’t been playing real well the last couple weeks and they stepped it up when they needed to.”
Watkins shot a 102 at State last year and was Emporia’s top returning golfer this season. She’ll be looking for a little bit of redemption after a somewhat disappointing round on Monday.
“I definitely could have taken a lot of shots off of my game,” Watkins said. “I had some really stupid mistakes. For the most part, I was happy with it, but I also had some shots I wish I would have never taken.”
Andover won the Regional with a 375. Emporia was comfortably in second with a 419, followed by Newton, the final team to qualify, with a 438.
Eckert said his team benefited from playing on its home course at the municipal golf course.
“That’s why you host tournaments like this, to give your kids an opportunity to succeed on your home course,” he said. “That gives you an advantage. You get used to the course. You know what the greens are like. We took full advantage of that, which is good to see.”
The Spartans’ goal next week at State, which is on Monday at Brookridge Country Club in Overland Park, is to finish in the top 10. Last year, the Spartans finished in 12th place, the last spot for teams that qualified.
“The girls were nervous,” Eckert said. “It was the first time in what seems like forever we’d gotten to the State tournament and they were nervous, but hopefully now we have five girls back that have had that experience and hopefully now we’re ready for it.”
Regional
Monday at Municipal Golf Course
Team scores
1. Andover 375
2. Emporia 419
3. Newton 438
4. Topeka West 442
5. Shawnee Heights 461
6. Topeka Seaman 463
Leaders
1. Kaylee Rudolph, TW, 84
2. Audrey Meisch, AND, 86
3. Brittanie Dillon, NEW, 88
4. Sarah Morris, AND, 90
5. Whitney Ronshagan, AND, 96
6. Amber Mechtley, EHS, 101
7. Morgan Miller, SH, 102
8T. Melissa Heinitz, EHS, 103
8T. Victoria Kirk, AND, 103
10. Jessica Woodward, SEA, 104
Emporia scores
11T. Hannah Watkins 107
13. Makenzie Harder 108
27T. Kelsey Burenheide 129
31. Rachael Clopton 133