Girls golf: Andrews stands second after best team round of season

AUSTIN Winning a third consecutive title certainly is the goal for the Andrews Lady Mustangs in the UIL Class 3A Girls State Golf Championships.

But the reality of their situation was evident after Thursday's first round at Roy Kizer Golf Course.

While Andrews shot a 325 that is its best round of the season and had every golfer break 90 in a round for the first time this season, District 3-3A rival Monahans didn't break stride while turning in a program-record 305.

The mixed bag left the Lady Mustangs pondering a 20-shot deficit out of first and a season peak that gave them a second-place lead of almost the same margin ahead of Yoakum (343).

"If you would've told me we're going to shoot 325 the first of the day, I would've taken that score," Andrews head coach Mark Burgen said. "We played really good on the front and turned at 156 and then had a 169 on the back. That's kind of been the story of us this year. We just haven't found a way to close and Monahans does and that's the difference.

"They've got the veteran team and they've learned how to close and we're still trying to learn."

Morgan Dockery, a senior who has signed with McLennan Community College, is the only returning Andrews player from last year's championship team and shot an 80.

That tied for the team's low round with freshman McKenzie Long, with Meagan Slatton coming in at 82 and senior Kaitlyn Gilbreath firing an 83. Savanna Stavinoha's 85, which would have been the best score for three other teams and used for any other team besides Monahans, was not counted toward the Andrews team score.

"I hope we can repeat it," Dockery said of the team's effort. "If we can just bring it down a little bit, that would be great."

In particular, Dockery had hoped to go a little lower herself after earning all-state honors last year.

She stands in a tie for ninth with her 80, which is exactly where she finished as a junior.

"I hit the ball really well," Dockery said. "I just had several three-putts and I was actually not very nervous. I was trying to calm down my team because they said they were pretty nervous. I struggled on the greens. That was basically it."

While that 80 didn't make Dockery happy, Long was all smiles about scoring the same.

The freshman is the younger sister of Addison Long, who was last year's state medalist champion for Andrews who now plays for the University of North Texas. Big sister was on hand to watch as the family name remained among the Lady Mustangs leaders.

"I was real nervous but I just went out there and had fun," McKenzie Long said. "I felt like we didn't have any pressure on us. We just went out there and had fun and it helped."

Burgen also stressed that this team, with four newcomers to the state tournament, produced its best golf on a day when the stakes are at their highest.

Erasing a 20-stroke deficit to retain the gold will be quite a tough task, but he hopes the Lady Mustangs focus on what they are doing.

"The girls are starting to come around," Burgen said. "We had a good day. We really did."