The Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs golf teams opened their 2017 campaign with a couple of road tournaments at Springdale (Aug. 1-2) and Mountain Home (Aug. 7-8) in the last two weeks. Interim head coach Ronnie Sockey was pleased with the overall performance of his players this early in the season.
Sockey is filling in for Head Coach Ronnie Williams, who is in Texas for five weeks getting treatment for a recurring bout of cancer. He hopes to return to coaching by the end of September or early October.
“The girls team really made some big strides in these two tournaments,” said Sockey. “We want to be under 100 [strokes] for each 18 holes, and we achieved that each day, having at least three scores counted for the team.”
As expected, senior Sydnie Gamble was solid for the Lady Bulldogs. She carded a 74 in both rounds at Mountain Home (36 holes) earlier this week, and 75 over 18 holes at Springdale last week. The GHS girls finished in second place in both tournaments.
“[Sophomore] Jordyn Lane has improved from last year,” said Sockey. “She had an 89 at Springdale and 96 and 94 at Mountain Home. [Sophomore] Ella Austin had her best round the final day at Mountain Home to get in on the team scoring with a 99.”
Senior newcomer Jaelee Mohetau had her best score in Springdale with a 90 over 18 holes before carding a first-round score of 98 at Mountain Home. Mohetau moved to Greenwood from Hawaii last year.
At Mountain Home the Lady Bulldogs compiled a two-day score of 535 to finish behind first place Conway (499) by 36 strokes, 27 shots ahead of conference rival Siloam Springs (462) in third place.
Sydnie Gamble was runner-up in the medalist competition with a two-day score of 148, five shots off the lead. Layne carded a two-day total of 190 for 11th place while Austin shot a combined 200 for 13th place. Mohetau tied for 21st place at 215. A total of 32 girls participated in the tournament.
As for the Bulldogs, Sockey said, “The boys have a solid eight to 10 players, so we will have some competition for the 3-4-5 bags all season. Right now [senior] Nathan Munday and [junior] Evan Griffith have been our top two players in both tournaments.
“Nathan shot a 76 in Springdale, then 75 and 74 at Mountain Home to earn a top five finish,” said the coach. “ Evan shot 80 [in Springdale], then played better at Mountain Home with 74 on the first day and 77 on day two, finishing in top 10.
“[Junior] Bradley Brotherton has been our 3-bag and freshman Brady Fein has been the 4th and had a round of 79 at Mountain Home. [Sophomore] Landon Tuck was the 5th player this week for the boys. "
The GHS boys finished fifth at Mountain Home with a two-day total of 647 behind North Little Rock (587), Jonesboro (606), Conway (617), and Little Rock Catholic (632).
After Nathan Munday’s fifth place 149 at Mountain Home, Evan Griffith finished 8th overall with a two-day score of 151. Greenwood junior Bradley Brotherton shot a 176 and Landon Tuck fired a 187
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Both GHS teams will be in action next Tuesday, August 15th, against Springdale Har-Ber at Fort Smith’s Ben Geren park. The nine-hole match will begin at 3:30 p.m. They will also play Alma at Ben Geren next Thursday, also a nine-hole match with the same starting time.