By Don Eskins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
The Ozark Lady Tigers, led by senior Elizabeth Freeman’s 78, fired a 354 at the Fremont Hills Country Club Golf Course on Thursday to claim this year’s Central Ozark Conference Tournament Championship.
Picking up runner-up honors at the COC tournament was the Carthage Lady Tigers. Carthage, behind Hailey Bryant’s 81, carded a 379. Third place went to the Nixa Lady Eagles who came in at 397. Tops on the scorecard for the Eagles was Mia Farrar who registered an 87 on the day.
“We knew coming in today that the weather could affect the outcome of the tournament. And as we expected we got some very cool temperatures this morning and a lot of wind through the middle of the day,” said Ozark head coach Dan Mullis.”But I knew if our girls showed up and played the kind of golf they’ve been playing all year we’d have a chance to win today’s conference tournament. Our girls did show up and today they’re COC tournament champions.”
Mullis was especially pleased with Freeman’s performance in leading the Lady Tigers to this year’s 2020 COC tournament title.
“Elizabeth has always given us her best effort,” he said. “And under the conditions she played in today I’d have to say her performance was very impressive.”
At the end of the day Freeman’s 78 sat at the top of the COC tournament’s leaderboard giving her this year’s top medalist honors.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE TOURNAMENT
Freeman says her 78 was the best score she’s posted all year. But it took some pretty big shots to get it.
After struggling on her first hole of play she came back to eagle Fremont’s par 5, 422 yard No. 2.
“I had a rough start so as I moved on the second hole I told myself that I had to get my game together,” said Freeman. “I hit my drive well to start off play on No. 2 but I left my second shot short. But I was able to chip it in from there and I was back on track.”
Hailely Bryant, tops on the scorecard for runner-up Carthage registered two birdies in carding the tournament’s second best score of 81.
“I feel like I played pretty well over all today. But I ran into a few problems over the final two or three holes which proved to be very costly for me,” said Bryant. “My drives were good but my short game just wouldn’t allow me to hold my game together.”
“But my team played hard today and although we may have come up short we gave it our best effort,” she said. “Now we have to start getting ready for district.”
For Ozark, Thursday’s victory made it three Central Ozark Conference Tournament Championships in a row.
“We have four seniors on our team that have set a goal to win the COC championship each year they’ve been with us,” said coach Mullis. “They’ve played very hard over the past few years to achieve that goal and today they did it again. They’re a very special group of young ladies.”
“But as happy as we are to win this year’s COC title for the third straight year, we have to start getting ready for district and state,” Mullis said. “We still have some work to do.”
Scorecards- Top 3
Ozark: 1. (Sr) Elizabeth Freeman 78/ 2. Maddie Greenlee 91/ 3. (Sr) Katie Marshall 91/ 4. (Sr) Georgia Fraser 94/ (Sr) Emma Bassett 101.
Carthage: 1. Hailey Bryant 81/ 2. Rylee Scott 92/ 3. Shaely Garrison 102/ 4. Caitlin Derryberry 104/ 5. Aubri Fisher 112.
Nixa: 1. Mia Farrar 87/ 2. Kalley Tate 103/ 3. Macy Pierce 103/ 4. Shelbi Miller 104/ 5. Hannah Ellerman 108.
COC Tournament Results
1. Ozark – 354
2. Carthage – 379
3. Nixa – 397
4. Republic – 426
5. Webb City – 433
6. Joplin – 436
7. Willard – 438
8. Branson – 443
9. Carl Junction – 460
Medalists
1. Elizabeth Freeman – 78 – Ozark
2. Hailey Bryant – 81 – Carthage
3. Mia Farrar – 87 – Nixa
4. Clara Fronabarger – 90 – Republic
T-5. Maddie Greenlee – 91 – Ozark
T-5. Katie Marshall – 91 – Ozark
7. Rylee Scott – 92 – Carthage
8. Georgia Fraser – 94 – Ozark
9. Laya McAllister – 95 – Webb City
10. Regan Holmes – 98 – Republic
