ON COURSE FOR STATE: BHS Lady Bruins nail down berth at 6A golf finals
A year ago, few expected the Bartlesville High girls golf program to qualify as a team for state — but they did.
Twelve months later they cruised to the Big Dance.
Energized by Lisa Brown’s round of 78, Bartlesville bolted to third place (351) in the large field at the Ponca City Country Club.
Bartlesville only needed to finish in the top six teams in order to get back to state.
Brown powered to the second-place individual medal.
Taylor Price and Emilyn Rainbolt both snapped off rounds of 90, followed by Campbell Craig with 93 and Grace Lumpkin with 102 to round out Bartlesville’s results.
The same quintet also competed in the 2021 Class 6A girls championship tourney.
They faced higher expectations coming into the 2022 campaign and met them with a colorful flair.
“I’m just proud of the girls and just their diligence and hard work,” said Bartlesville head coach Carl Holmes. “These girls have played year round the past two years.”
Since the statewide virus spring sports shutdown of 2020 — which robbed them of a season — the Lady Bruins have committed themselves to excellence, Holmes said.
“They’ve put in the time … I’m just happy for them, not to mention they’re all 4.0 students,” Holmes continued. “They are a group of overachievers. They never flinch at what we ask them to do.They trust their coaches, they trust each other and have shown great perseverance. … I think last year’s experience gave them a taste of what to work for this year. … They knew it wasn’t going to be handed to them.”
Brown, Craig and Lumpkin are each seniors.
The state meet is set for May 4-5 at the Lincoln Park West links in Oklahoma City. Bartlesville girls golfed there in a mid-season test.
This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: BHS Lady Bruin linksters power into 6A finals