The Catawba Ridge Copperheads girls golf team qualified for the 4A state tournament Monday, while both Fort Mill and Nation Ford missed out on the 5A state tournament.
Catawba Ridge shot a 364 as a team with Pickens winning the 4A Upper State tournament at the Links at Stoney Point in Greenwood. The Copperheads were led by an 80 from Katherine Mann, followed by an 82 from Kate Gilmer and an 87 from Eileen Zeoli. Reagan Lynch rounded out the scoring with a 115 for the Copperheads. They will now move on to the state tournament at Crescent Pointe Golf Club in Bluffton for the two-day event Oct. 25 and 26.
The 5A Upper State tournament was held Monday at the Chester Golf Club also, with the top eight qualifying for the 5A state tournament at Country Club of South Carolina in Florence. Blythewood ran away with the tournament shooting a 281 as a team.
Fort Mill finished ninth missing the cut by just one spot, as they shot 346 as a team. The Jackets knew the magic number they need to be under to be in the hunt. That number was 350. Last week at the Region 3-5A tournament, also at Chester, Fort Mill shot a 349 as a team. This week they did better, but still came up several shots short.
“I am happy with it,” said Fort Mill head coach Judd Dye. “I thought coming in at 350 or better would make it. I am disappointed we didn’t make it because of how young we are, I wanted the girls to be able to experience playing in a state tournament, but our future looks good.”
Fort Mill has an eighth grader, a freshman and three sophomores playing in their top five. Leading Fort Mill was Mackenzie Finn with an 83, followed by an 87 from Cayla Cappuzzo and a pair of 88s from Greycen Baker and Kinsley Delcourt.
Nation Ford finished 11th shooting a 355 in the tournament and set a new school record for lowest 18-hole round. They shot a 357 in the region tournament last week and beat it by two strokes Monday.
“We knew we had our work cut out to qualify,” said Falcons’ head coach Amelio Rodriguez. “We are disappointed, but we can’t be too mad when we shot a school best.”
The Falcons were led by Vivian Harris, who will be going to the 5A state tournament playing as an individual, as she shot a 74. Her score was followed by an 88 from Katie Griggs, a 94 from Sara McCaskill and a 99 from Fharren Coleman.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
