As is the case with most sports, the Region 2-5A girls golf tournament is generally one of the most competitive in the state.That was once again the case on Monday and Tuesday, where five teams rose to the top of the leaderboard in the battle to finish within the top 3 teams and advance to the State Tournament.
After day 1, Frisco Centennial and Frisco Wakeland separated from the rest of the field leaving Lovejoy alone in third, 7 strokes ahead of Frisco Liberty and leading Frisco High by just 1 stroke. But Day 2 saw Liberty and Frisco make their push. The three teams traded shots all day, Liberty scoring better than Lovejoy but, Lovejoy had entered the day with a seven-stroke edge. Battling against the heavy winds coming off Lake Sam Ray Hubbard, it was Lovejoy and Liberty who were the two left standing, tied for third place at the end of regulation play. In thrilling fashion, after a team sudden death playoff lasting just one hole, Lovejoy emerged, capturing the Third Place Title and is the first team to advance to the State Tournament in Lovejoy school history.
“So excited, so proud,” Lovejoy head coach Brooke Donovan said. “It is always hard when a program changes hands, especially on those returning players. But I’ve got such a great group of girls and they’ve totally bought into the culture and what we’re trying to do here. They probably thought I was crazy when I came in Day 1 talking about State. Since then, we have talked so much about being in a position to fight for a spot to the State Tournament but I never dreamed it would be in the most dramatic and intense of fashions, a team playoff. This is really the first time these girls have been in a high stakes, high pressure situation and I am so proud of how they handled themselves.”
The Regional Team was made up of seniors Emma Blair and Katie Haeussler, sophomores Katelyn Coleman, Sofia Denham and Emily York, and Freshman Jordan Wheelis.
The Class 5A state tournament is scheduled for May 15-16 at White Wing Golf Club in Georgetown.