ELK CITY BOYS TEAM SUCCESSFULLY DEFENDS WESTERN REGIONAL TITLE

Tim Ellison, Elk City Boys Golf Coach, must be a happy man!

Three of the top four golfers in Elk City played very well and very consistent, but in the end, Elk City needed team work help to squeeze a second win in a row in the Western Regional Tournament, as Brock Walker, playing with a hurt hand, finished with a 92 in the second round after an opening 78 in the morning. With Weatherford having scored only one shot higher in the morning round than  Elk City (294 to 295), and not all scores in the afternoon, and knowing that one of our top four players was having a hard time on the course, it made our fifth bag's score, a much important card to wait for....

Coach Ellison: Time to Rebuild

However, the worry was over when Cameron Marcum, our fifth man on the team, entered the scoring area with a confident smile. Cameron closed with a solid 77, to help Elk City clinch first over Weatheford by ten shots. In the afternoon, Weatherford  who could not sustain the consistent play of the morning. It was reassuring to know that you could count on team work in our team of four seniors and a 10th grader, which will brings me to the closing thoughts after the results.

Cameron Marcum: "Is there any other
way?" (when told that he always swings
100%)

With a 294, Elk City led the morning round by only one over Weatherford. In the morning round, Elk City's top 4 scores were: Logan Gore - 70; Joby Gray - 71; Berek Dyson - 75 and Brock Walker - 78. In contrast, Weatherford;s morning round was rounded by Quade Cummins - 71, Bryson Ridley - 71, Brock Bell - 75 and Sam Wollman -78. Now, if you had to count all five scores, it would have been a tie, as Cameron Marcum from Elk City finished with an 84 and Ryan Stark from Weatherford finished with an 83! How close can two teams be?

Berek Dyson: Quiet Confidence.
Good luck at OSU!!

Clinton High School, despite their #1, Garrison Mendoza's opening 68, were far back at 316, other morning scores from Clinton were: Blake Clanton-79, Zach Calfer-80, Grant Lee and Andrew Lantz with 89's.

The afternoon round brought a steady wind of 20 mph with gusts of up to 35 mph, which made scores go up in general, and made "patience" the number one requirement to stay in the hunt. Both, Elk City and Weatehrford should be happy for their team's play.

Brock Walker: Fiery!!

From Elk City, Joby Gray matched his morning score with another very solid 71; Berek Dyson came only two shots back at 73; Logan Gore shot 75, and Cameron Marcum came in with a 77.  From Weatherford, Bryson Ridley scored a 73, Quade Cummins-76, Brock Bell-74, Sam Wollman-81. When only three scores were in, it made the fourth score very important as only 6 shots separated the two teams, and in high winds, anything can happen. In the end, the fourth bag added 4 more shots to Elk City's margin of victory: Elk City scored 589 and Weatheford 599, making it the only two teams under 600. Next came Clinton, 38 shots behind 2nd with a 637. All three teams qualified for the State Tournament next week.

Logan Gore: Growing in the game!

The top four players in the field, regardless of whether their school qualified for the State Tournament or not, are recognized and invited to the State Tournament; these 4 players were:

1st Garrison Mendoza, Clinton-138 (68-70);
2nd Joby Gray, Elk City-142 (71-71);
3rd Bryson Ridley, Weatherford-144 (71-73)
4th Logan Gore, Elk City-144 (70-74) (*)

(*) Bryson won a sudden death playoff to win third place.

The last three individual qualifiers for the State Tournament (the top three golfers in the field whose team did not qualify for the State Tournament) were:
Jason Hogland, Tuttle-158 (77-81);
Jake Welch, Tuttle-166 (86-80) and
Sean Glass, Newcastle-169 (87-82).

I close this column by encouraging all of you to go watch and cheer for our kids (both, boys and girls) in the State Tournaments: girls will play May 1-2;, boys will play May 6-7. Coincidentally, both teams have more seniors than players that will remain on the team, so both teams will have to build from the ground up.

Joby Gray: We will miss your evening
visits to hit 100's of balls! Your 7:00am
rounds. Your invitations to watch you
"hit a few". Seriously! You know more
than anyone: "the secret's in the dirt!"

While the boys' team leaves a mark with their excellent play the last four years (with one first and never finishing worse than 4th in the previous three years, and once more qualifying for the State finals), and the girls having qualified for the finals the last two years, I can assure you that what I will remember the most, is their happy faces, their excitement, their camaraderie, their respect for the club and the game... the time they shared with us! We wish all seniors, boys and girls, a successful and productive life, wherever you do and go to, and we hope that we get to see you and hear from you often!

Kids.... THANK FOR THE MEMORIES!!!

Now, Logan, Carter (Muncrief) and Kelsi (Wilson), it will be your turn to take the baton an lead!

P.S. A special thanks to Bill Weatherly, Athletic Director at Elk City High School, Sara Peffer, Girls Golf Coach Ellison's wife, Shawna, Interbank, Ramona Alvarez, Al Carnes and the Elk City Golf & C.C. Board for their support and help during these Regional Tournaments, all turned out great for everyone!!