Aggie Golfers Compete in Season-Opener at McPherson

McPherson, Kan.—The Panhandle State men’s and women’s golf teams entered their first tournament of the season, taking to the Turkey Creek Golf Course for the 2018 Central Kansas Classic hosted by Central Christian College in McPherson Sept. 10-11.

The Aggie men’s team turned in a seventh place finish among the nine-team field, with sophomore Chandler Evans carding the team low over three rounds with scores of 79, 78, 83 to finish T34 individually. Senior Sergi Teller placed T37 with scores of 78, 84, 79 followed by senior Lucas Heathington who marked a team low score in round two with a 77; Heathington placed 45th overall with a collective score of 245. Rounding out the Aggie men’s team, sophomore Karsten Harrison turned in scores of 87, 85, 90 to place 54th individually. Dodge City Community College won the tournament for the men with a team score of 843 over three rounds; Saksit Jairak posted the lowest overall score for the first place finish (68, 62, 71).

Two freshmen led the Aggie women’s team in their debut performances as Jacey Steel (27) and Emilee Smith (T28) tallied team lows. Steel held a 93 in round one and a 97 in round two, while Smith marked a day one score of 99 and shaved off seven strokes to card a 92 on day two. Veteran Rylee Higgins stood at T30 with scores of 93, 102 followed by Ashley Branch (T32-106, 91) and Kylie Moore (38-103, 105). The Aggie women took sixth as a team among the six teams competing with Southwestern Christian’s women taking the top spot as a team (319, 323) and individually. Madelyn Lehr marked 76 and a tournament low 73 to earn the title.

The Panhandle State golf teams compete again next week in the Northwestern Oklahoma State Invitational in Enid, Okla. Sept. 17-18.