The Waynesville High School Girl's Golf Team got its season underway today as they participated in the Jefferson City Helias Invitational at the Meadow Lake Acres Golf and Country Club in New Bloomfield. The tournament featured 17 area teams and 75 total golfers.

The Lady Tigers have a smallish roster this season with 7 girls on the team, of which, 4 have less than 3 weeks experience. The nucleus of the team comes from returning 4 year senior Hana Hosick and 3rd year Junior players Karissa Keyes and Victoria Hooker. Hooker is a state sectional qualifier from a year ago and our anchor.

The golf course and weather were terrific early on today, but play was suspended for nearly 2 hours to allow a thunderstorm to pass. In the early play I got to watch my newest players Paiton Quinones and Catherine Roman experience their first few shots. Early jitters and nervousness were soon transformed from dubbed tee shots to a few quality shots to playing very consistent from tee to green. They understand they have a long way to go from their 143 and 142 scores, but their new gained experience will give them more purpose at practice. Needless to say, I am pleased with their willingness to learn and be coached over the last 3 weeks as they mold their games to become the leaders of this team over the next few years.

Illness struck my senior, Hana Hosick, before the match began, so I had to scratch her from competition. Her score was sorely missed as the team finished in last place with a score of 504. Junior Karissa Keyes carded a 128 as she battled early with hitting solid shots, but as the round progressed she was able to work out many of her faults and played much better over her last 6 holes.

Junior Victoria Hooker led the ladies with a 91, which tied for fourteenth place. This was 8 strokes better than her score here last year and shows the hard work she has put in over the off season is paying off. She was disappointed in her tee shots and putting today, but battled and kept her composure. Victoria is very driven to succeed and normally doesn't accept my goals for her because she feels she can play better than what I am asking her to do at each match. What a great problem to have, right?

The lady tigers will tee it up again tomorrow at the Missouri State University Relays at the Bill and Payne Stewart Golf Course in Springfield.