The Lady Tiger Golf team competed at the UIL district tournament on March 29-April 1. The Tigers competed against six other teams and won the tournament by 43 strokes with seniors Graci Henard placing second individually and Kenzie Parker finishing fourth.

The first day of the tournament proved to be a challenge for the team due to the rain and 35mph wind. The weather affected ball flight and distance, making the course longer than it actually was.

“I struggled hitting shots in the wind because it changed what club I should hit,” Henard said. “Because of this, I had to be very strategic and guess how many clubs to go up or down. The wind was blowing so hard into me that when I had a 110 yard shot, I hit the club that goes 145 yards.”

After the first day, the team was leading the tournament by 27 shots, giving them some cushion going into day two. Seniors Henard and Parker were in second and third place. The two seniors planned on going out with a bang, and they did just that.

“I was nervous but very excited for my last District,” Parker said. “I knew we had all been playing our best game in a while and I knew we would do well. I was excited for Graci and I because we had both been playing very well in the recent tournaments, and I knew both of us wanted to do really well in our last district.”

The team’s mindset included playing smart, and ultimately, winning District. Going into the second day, the team was excited and anxious to fulfill the goal of advancing to Regionals.

“Of course we all had ideas of what we wanted our scores to be going into the tournament, but our primary goal was to win district and continue to play at Regionals,” junior Angie Parrott said.

The team had many motivations to win that included advancing to Regionals and also remembering their late coach, Jay Brewer, who passed June 9, 2019. Brewer left an imprint on the team, and they planned to win for him, even when they didn’t have their A game.

“I pushed through all my bad shots and bad breaks and tried to think of the overall picture,” Parker said. “I thought of what Jay would tell me if he was here and what I had been working on and just focused.”

The team was one of three to advance to the next stage, and will compete at Regionals on April 19-20 at Rockwall Golf and Athletic Club. 

“I was really excited about the win and it made me even more excited for regionals,” senior Johnni Hueter said. “The win has motivated me to practice more and focus on improving my game for regionals. I can’t wait to get back out there.”