Walton, Walker girls earn second-place finishes

John Bednarowski, Marietta Daily Journal, Ga.
·3 min read

May 18—The Walton girls golf team had its best state tournament showing in its history following the Class AAAAAAA tournament Tuesday at Chimney Oaks Golf Club in Homer.

The Lady Raiders finished a program-best second after shooting a two-day total of 20-over par 452. They trailed only Lambert, which won its third straight state title by shooting 9-under 423 to dominate the field.

Harrison (572) finished ninth and Hillgrove (596) was 12th.

"We were in the wrong state (Tuesday)," Walton coach Richard Myrick said. "Our score of 452 was the winning score the last time we played the state tournament at Chimney Oaks.

"(Lambert) deserved to win. We played really well. We have nothing to hang our heads for."

Walton shot 227 on Monday and came back with 225 — both scores bettering their previous best round at state, which was 239 at Chimney Oaks in 2019.

Heading into this week, the best single round score by any Walton player at the state tournament had been 76. That score was bettered three times as Annika Gomeyac (79-70, 5-over), Saanvi Venkatesh (73-78, 7-over) and Tatum Thompson (75-77, 8-over) finished sixth, seventh and eighth individually.

Lambert's Sara Im shot 71-67, finishing 6-under to win the individual title. Teammate Averi Cline (70-71) also finished in the red to claim second place.

Walton's Kat Euston (85-81) finished in a tie for 14th, and Olivia Packer (90-85) was 21st.

Olivia Kirkman led Harrison with rounds of 95-91, followed by Dana Melby (97-96), Haven Blank (96-97), Alexa Reinhardt (108-107) and Maddie Masoudpour (107-110).

EmmaCates Richardson had rounds of 94-90 to lead Hillgrove. She was followed by Elizabeth Shafer (97-111), Rebecca Shafer (105-105), Charli Carder (103-111) and Ava Black (113-107).

The Walker girls also posted a second-place finish in the Class A Private tournament held at Governor's Towne Club in Acworth. The Lady Wolverines shot a team score of 297, seven shots behind winner Savannah Christian. Whitefield Academy (369) finished ninth.

Anna Klass led Walker with rounds of 68-78, finishing 2-over and ranking sixth individually. Ella Stoll (75-76) finished seventh.

Darlington's Ther Kotchasanmanee won the individual title with rounds of 61-66 to finish 17-under, five shots over Savannah Christian's Mary Miller (65-67). Holy Innocents' Haven Ward (69-73) was the only other player under par at 2-under.

Kathryn Shuler (86-97) and Katherine Jones (95-99) rounded out the scoring for Walker.

Whitefield was led by Elizabeth Morris (88-90), who finished 17th. Emily Dunn (88-104), Marin Eckerson (100-103) and Mary Chris Cella (103-107) completed the Lady Wolfpack's scores.

The Allatoona girls earned an eighth-place finish in the Class AAAAAA tournament on the Indian Mound course at Jeykll Island Golf Club.

The Lady Buccaneers shot a team total of 575, 143-over. Glynn Academy (484, 52-over) won the event over runner-up Creekview (495). Johns Creek (503) finished third.

Brooke Warner led Allatoona with a 21st-place finish individually, with rounds of 85-95 to finish 36-over. Richmond Hill's Hannah Barrett won with scores of 74-76 to finish 6-over, while Creekview's Lindsay Wayland (78-79) was second by seven strokes.

McCary Chastain (95-97), Abby Adams (108-103), Madison Sanford (100-114) and Lauren Clark (108-116) rounded out the scoring for Allatoona.

Lassiter's Piper Shook shot rounds of 99-90 to finish in 28th place.