HAYS — The Great Bend High School girls’ golf team braved high winds and rain to finish in third place at the Class 5A regional golf tournament at Smoky Hills Country Club on Monday.
The Lady Panthers finished with 457 as a team, trailing first-place Hays, which had 408, and second-place Salina Central, which finished with 418.
“It’s always going to be nerve-racking for the girls at regionals,” GBHS head coach Troy Stein said. “Just the added pressure of it being regionals and there are markers all around keeping track. I thought the girls did a good job overcoming that pressure.
“We got off to a rocky start. We had a few bad holes at the beginning, but we were still in third place after nine holes.”
McKenna Mauler earned a medal, finishing in fifth place with a 105.
Michaela Cape carded a 110 for 10th place.
Alissa Kim of Hays won the individual title, shooting an 81.
Stein said that he thought his team had a chance of finishing in the top 3 to qualify for the state tournament, which will be held at the Tex Consolver Golf Course in Wichita on Monday.
He wasn’t about to tell his team that, though.
“I was pretty sure that if we played like we had the past few weeks, we had a good chance,” Stein said. “I didn’t tell them that. I didn’t want to get inside their heads. The girls have been playing well lately.
“We didn’t have the best scores, but with the rain and the wind, no one else was having good scores either.”
Taylor Mohr finished with 119, Hannah Mauler and Maddie Vest each carded a 123 and Kacee Kasselman shot a 125.
Great Bend stayed ahead of fourth-place Newton, which turned in a final score of 470.
“I was getting a little nervous heading into the final nine holes,” Stein said. “We were ahead, but we struggled a little bit, but the girls were able to pull through.”

                                              — Kevin Price

HIGH SCHOOL GOLF
Class 5A Regional Tournament

Monday

At Hays
Smoky Hill Country Club

Team scores
1. Hays, 408; 2. Salina Central, 418; 3. Great Bend, 457; 4. Newton, 470; 5. Salina South, 509; 6. Liberal, 541

Top 10 medalists
1. Alissa Kim, Hays, 81; 2. Lexie Shaben, Hays, 93; 3. Lexi Pauls, Newton, 95; 4. Katie Brungardt, Hays, 100; 5. McKenna Mauler, Great Bend, 105; 6. Taylor Deboer, Hays, 105; 7. Emily Ewing, Salina Central, 106; 8. Analisa Bridge, Salina South, 109; 9. Elissa Jensen, Hays, 110; 10. Michaela Cape, Great Bend, 110

Great Bend results
Taylor Mohr, 119; Hannah Mauler, 123; Maddie Vesta, 123; Kacee Kasselman, 125