DIRECT LINK TO PAIRINGS AND RESULTS JUNE 28-29
ROUND 2 RECAP by Karen Raithel, MWGA Director of Women’s Golf
The 36-hole championship began at 7:30 on Wednesday morning with overcast skies and a threat of rain. The players and teams went out with great intentions to catch the Iowa team who were 17 shots in the lead over 2nd place team Kansas. Followed by Missouri with 337 and Nebraska with 338.
We did finally get some rain but we think the hilly terrain of the back nine at St. Joseph Country Club proved to be a battle for most. However, 10 of the players did improve from their round 1 score. The low score for round 2 was Megan Whittaker of Elkhorn, Nebraska with a 4 over 76 with trouble again on the par 3, 13. However on the par 5 hole-8 she made a par where the day before she double bogeyed.
Team Nebraska came back with a vengeance! They shot a team score of 338 Round 1 and 327 for Round 2. 4 out of the 5 players shot at least 4 shots better the second day. Team Kansas was consistent and tied Nebraska for 2nd with a two day total of 333/332. Team Missouri finished behind with a two day total of 337/340 677, 47 shots back of Iowa. The girls were very disappointed but were all new to the event and are hoping to regain the trophy back from 2015!
The 2017 Girl’s Four State will be held the same time next year and Kansas will be the host.
ROUND 1 RECAP by Danna Phillips, MWGA Director
Round 1 of the 2016 Junior Girls Four State championship got off to a roaring start today at St. Joseph CC in St. Joseph, MO. Unfortunately, the roar was coming from huge black storm clouds as they let loose a deluge of rain and lightening. Play was halted as players, coaches and spectators took shelter in the historic old clubhouse. Luckily, the storms moved through quickly and play resumed after about 40 minutes.
The hilly par 72 course played tough today with only 4 scores in the 70’s and no scores under par. Two of those scores belonged to team Iowa who leads with a team total of 316 after the first round. Iowa’s Brooke Broadman had the day’s low score with a 75 followed by teammate Karli Kerrigan with a 79. Allison Olberding added an 80 and Paige Seiser contributed an 82. Both Kerrigan and Seiser are playing Four State for the second year in a row.
Kansas in second place is holding a slim four shot lead over TEAM MISSOURI. Anna Pool shot a 76 to lead her team to a total of 333. Maggie Moody contributed an 82 and 12 year old Julia Misemer shot an 85. Rachel Stous’ 90 completed the Kansas scores. Anna and Rachel are also back from last year’s Kansas team.
TEAM MISSOURI’s scores were all closely grouped in the mid 80’s. Ari Acuff led the team with an 83, followed by Taylor French with an 84 and a score of 85 from both Emma Solovic and Melanie Wolf. All five of TEAM MISSOURI are playing in their first Four State championship.
The Nebraska team trails Missouri by just one shot. Hanna Hunke posted a 79 followed by an 83 from Megan Whittaker, an 86 from Brandi Lemek and a 90 from Lacie Fox. Nebraska has two girls who have previous experience in this tournament.
To review complete hole by hole results for each player visit the results link above.
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Congratulations Ladies!!
Team Missouri will compete against Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska at the St Joseph Country Club and will be defending their title. The two-day championship’s format consists of individual stroke play each day with the four low scores of each team added each day and totaled after the final round to determine the winner.
2016 Schedule of Events for Four State
Team Missouri are players who finished in the top 10 of the 2016 MWGA Junior Amateur held June 9-10 at Tanglewood GC in Fulton. See results here
You can see how Missouri has fared in each Championship since 1969 by going here.
Mindy Hennrich
Mindy recently graduated from Lafayette High School and is going to be playing golf for Columbia College for the next four years. She is planning on majoring in Pre-Dental and hopefully become a Pediatric dentist down the line. This is the first year Mindy has qualified to be on the Four State Team. Besides loving golf she likes anything that you can do outside on a gorgeous day! Her favorite person to reference is her former high school golf coach because he always told her to “keep grinding” no matter what. Mindy also was a 2016 MWGEA Scholarship Recipient
Emma Solovic
Emma will be a senior at Seckman High School in the fall. She plans to continue her golf career in college. Emma was a medalist for the Four State competition and had the lowest score for the tournament with a 71. This will be the first year Emma will be on the Four State Team. Besides golf, she likes to hang out with her friends and being outside. Emma’s favorite quote is from her golf coach “Don’t count every shot. Make every shot count”.
Taylor French
Taylor is a senior at Westminster Christian Academy and is a four-year member of the Varsity Golf Team. She is a three-sport athlete and represents Westminster Christian on the basketball court and soccer field as well. This is the first year Taylor has qualified to be on the Four State Team. Besides loving golf she enjoys reading a great book, spending time with family and friends, and exploring the outdoors. Taylor appreciates the impact that all of her high school coaches have made on her – “they not only push me to be the best athlete I can be but they inspire me to be the best person I can be too.”
Melanie Wolf
Melanie Wolf recently graduated from St. Joseph’s Academy in St. Louis. She will be attending and playing golf for Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, IL and hopes to pursue a physical therapy degree. Melanie started playing golf her Freshman year at SJA and was able to make the varsity team her Junior and Senior years. In 2015 she lead the SJA Angels to Second Place at State with a personal 11th place finish and won the Jr. Gateway PGA 18 Hole Final Championship. During her high school career Melanie was also active in basketball and racquetball. In addition, Melanie loves to paint, cook, and be outside on a gorgeous day.
Ari Acuff
Aristelle Acuff is a senior at Kickapoo High School in Springfield, Missouri. Aristelle is a 3-sport varsity athlete. She was the runner up at the Class 2 MSHSAA State Golf Tournament in 2015. She loves being outdoors and playing golf. Her favorite quote is Michael Jordan, “Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen.”