Friday, April 25, 1997

Baird girls looking to make name in golf

Not to be outdone by Tigermania, the Baird girls golf team is looking to carve its own niche in the golfing world.

Picking up where the Baird boys team left off, the Lady Bears will seek to achieve the state champion status that the boys gained twice in four consecutive trips to the state tournament.

If there was any doubt that coach Gary Roan's team could claim a Class A state title, the Lady Bears erased that this past Tuesday when they culminated two days of sizzling golf at Maxwell Municipal Golf Course.

Baird, which had not shot better than 365 in any round this year, fired a 337 in Monday's first round and bettered that with a scorching 329 in the second and final round. The Lady Bears' 666 winning total was 32 strokes better than Robert Lee, the defending Region II-A champion and last year's state runner-up.

To put into perspective how good the Lady Bears' final round score for a Class A school was, here are a few tidbits:

-- Midland Lee, which won the Region I-5A title, shot a 325 in its final round and District 4-5A champion Abilene High, which qualified for state, had a best round of 322.

-- Snyder, in winning the I-4A regional crown, had rounds of 326 and 317.

-- Class 3A Wylie had rounds of 367 and 342 in winning the I-3A crown.

-- Class 2A Quanah had rounds of 338 and 335 in claiming the I-2A title.

In simpler terms, Baird's performance this week ran neck-and-neck with the best of them.

"Right now, these girls feel they're invincible," Roan said. "And they should. They've reached one of their goals which was to get to state. Now they want to win it. They've got me convinced they can do it."

Freshman Kyla Neal was the backbone of the team at the regional tournament, shooting rounds of 75 and 72 after never having shot better than 91 at Maxwell Municipal Golf Course.

She finished second in the medalist race, and Pam Mason took third, shooting rounds of 89 and 80. Other team members contributing to the regional triumph were Kari Roan, Annie Gilliland and Heather Barry.

Why are the Lady Bears so good? One reason is probably because they play regularly at Shady Oaks Golf Course, while most Class A schools don't have access to a course nearly as tough.

"We've had a lot of practice on that course and I think it prepares us very well," Barry said. "You have to keep the ball in the fairway. If you don't, you get practice hitting out of the rough and out of the sand."

Senior Roan agreed.

"Shady Oaks is a tough course. There are so many trees out there," she said. "It definitely prepares us for any course we play. This course (Maxwell) seemed easier after playing at Shady Oaks."

Gilliland said playing in Baird has helped her game considerably.

"It really helps your short game because so many times you have shots from 100 yards on in. There's a lot of rough, a lot of bunkers and a lot of trees here.

"All of our hard work paid off. A bunch of girls were driving a lot of the greens here and you can't do that at Shady Oaks."

Coach Roan was convinced that his team's home course was a deciding factor in Baird getting to state.

"I thought it gave us a real big advantage. You just can't afford to get into trouble there (Shady Oaks). I think it has made us put a premium on hitting fairways," he said.

And that should pay dividends when Baird tries to contend with a tough, tight, hilly Morris Williams Golf Course in Austin.

"It's finally nice to get to state," said Barry. "We've been to regionals three of four years. We would have been pleased just to shoot 365 both days here (Maxwell). Now, I think we've got a good shot at winning the gold."