By Don Eskins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
The Springfield Catholic Fightin Irish, behind Grace Tiedemann’s 65, carded a team-low 305 to capture this year’s MSU Relays Golf Tournament.
The tournament took place at the Bill & Payne Stewart Golf Course in Springfield on Thursday, Sept. 5. 13 teams competed in the event.
Runner-up honors went to the Glendale Falcons who posted a 320. Page Bowman led the Falcon effort with a 4-under par 67.
The MSU Relays was the first tournament of the new season for Catholic. But the Irish were undaunted in their effort to grab this year’s tournament.
“I was really proud of our girls today,” said Catholic head coach Frank Gallant. “We knew we had a pretty solid team this year, today our kids played like it. But this was just our first meet of the new season, there’s a lot more golf ahead of us.”
“Carding a 305 was a great start for our kids, but we’re a Class 4 school now. If we’re going to keep pace with other big schools in the state we’re going to have to get better every day,” he said. “Today we were looking for deficiencies in our games, things we’re going to have to improve on in order to make a run at district and hopefully state.”
Grace Tiedemann, en route to carding her six-under par round of 65, recorded seven birdies and one bogey. Her 65 earned her this year’s MSU Relay top medalist honors.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE TOURNAMENT
“I felt good about my round today. But I also felt good about my teammates rounds as well. I was proud of them all,” said Tiedemann. “We’re a very close group of girls, we work hard and have fun. It’s an atmosphere coach Gallant has created for us and I love it.”
Rounding out the Irish’s scorecard were Ava Tiedemann 74, Sarah Han 80, Sydney Walker 86 and Chloe Calvert 86.
Although Grace Tiedemann’s 65 paced the Catholic effort, the Irish junior said Thursday’s biggest rounds may just have been recorded by their number four and five players.
“In order for teams to be great on the high school level you have to get good play from your number four and five players. Today we didn’t just get good play from ours, Sydney Walker and Chloe Calvert, we got great play,” she said. “They work hard every day at practice. Both of them posting rounds of 86 today shows just how hard they’re working.”
Glendale entered the MSU tournament fresh off a victory at the Camdenton Invitational. Although they came up short in their bid to make it back-to-back victories it’s been a big week of golf for the Falcons.
“I’m really excited about our girls. They’re putting in a lot of time and hard work at practice and it’s really beginning to show,” said Glendale head coach Ron Yocum. “Page Bowman, Aedin Lackey and Audrey Duvall are all returnees from last year’s team that competed in the state tournament. They’re our leaders, they know what it will take for us to get back to state, and they’re doing their best at practice to help us do just that.”
“We’re also seeing some good things from our fourth and fifth girls, Laica Dishman and Aden Brown,” he said. “Laica is just a freshman and hasn’t played much but she’s learning and improving every day and that’s fantastic for our team.”
Glendale’s Page Bowman said, even after firing a 67, she felt like she could have played better. However, she was very pleased with the effort her teammates put out.
“I don’t think I played as well as I’m capable of playing today. My game is off in a couple of areas right now and I’m working really hard at cleaning them up,” said Bowman. “But my teammates were amazing. I think three of them recorded PR’s, or personal bests. Those are very positive things for us.”
Rounding out the Falcon’s scorecard, along with Bowman’s 67, were Audrey Duvall 75, Aedin Lackey 76, Laica Dishman 102 and Aden Brown 105.
MSU Relays Results
Team Scores
1, Catholic 305
2. Glendale 320
3. Kickapoo 347
4. Central 376
5. Rolla 360
6. Logan-Rogersville 396
7. Kickapoo JV’s 401
8. Webb City 437
9. Republic 442
10. Willard 450
11. Glendale JV’s 455
12. Hillcrest 490
Medalists
1. Grace Tiedemann-65-Catholic
2. Page Bowman-67-Glendale
T3. Phoebe Lin-71-Central
5. Sara Trotman-73-Kickapoo
6. Audrey Smith-71-Rolla
