McCallie, Baylor seek state golf glory

Arkansas-SEMO Live Blog

Ensworth ended Baylor's historic streak last year at the Division II-AA state golf tournament.

It clipped a run of 16 straight state championships for the Lady Red Raiders, which still has them tied with Xavier Prep in Phoenix.

The Baylor girls' team will attempt to start a new streak of state titles Monday and Tuesday at Manchester's Willowbrook Golf Club.

"We experienced all the pain and badness of losing last year," senior Blakesly Warren said. "We don't want to feel that way again. We feel that we can be the best and start a new streak."

McCallie already has a start on a state-title streak by winning the last two boys' championships. The Blue Tornado won this year's East/Middle Region championship by shooting a 297.

They'll face challenges from all across the state, including from Memphis University School, which won the West region with a 288.

"I'm most concerned with our team playing team golf," McCallie coach Tony Meyers said. "If we shoot our best and lose, then we can't say anything. I think it's going to be a strong tournament."

McCallie junior Gordon Hulgan earned medalist honors last year. He'll be playing out of the five-spot this week because he had the worst score in the team's region win last Monday. Senior Andrew Weathers will play out of the top spot.

"I want this group of seniors to go out knowing we left it all on the table," Meyers said. "We have five guys who can play golf. Each one of them, at some point, has had the low round for us. If they're all able to do it all at once, then we'll have some excitement."

The goal is to keep the streak going.

"Obviously we have a lot of high expectations because we've won the last two seasons," Case White said. "All of these teams are hunting for us and want to upset us because they know McCallie is the team to beat."

The Baylor boys team topped McCallie in two of three stroke-play events this season and earned the fourth spot out of the region this year.

The Red Raiders didn't reach the state tournament last year, but they could win this year. They beat every team in the field during the Baylor Preview at the season's beginning.

"It was the worst feeling ever last year," Baylor senior Mikey Feher said. "You feel like you disappointed everyone and a year's work had gone down the drain.

"This year, depending on how we played during the year doesn't reflect anything at state."

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