FAYETTEVILLE — The pursuit of a fifth consecutive Class 7A State Championship begins in earnest today for the Fayetteville Lady Bulldog golf team.
Fayetteville boasts an undefeated match record heading into today's 7A-West Conference golf tournament at Bella Vista Country Club. If it posts its typical 220-230 aggregate, it should win its seventh-consecutive conference championship by a comfortable margin.
The sprained left wrist of sophomore Olivia Lavy could be the Lady Bulldogs' biggest obstacle. Lavy, who was an all-state golfer as a freshman, injured her wrist when her club struck a protruding tree root this summer.
The pain subsided after a two-week layoff, allowing Lavy to be in good form for August's AJGA Arkansas Junior at the Blessings Golf Club in Johnson. She finished 11th in a field studded with some of the nation's best junior golfers.
Last week the pain reemerged, idling Lavy for the Lady Bulldogs' last two matches. She wore a brace on her wrist Tuesday during the Lady Bulldogs' match with Bentonville at Bella Vista Country Club. Lavy said her wrist shouldn't be a hindrance today or on Monday, when the topfour teams from the conference tournament compete at the 7A State Tournament at Fianna Hills in Fort Smith.
"Really the onlything that can help it is taking time off," Lavy said Tuesday. "I'm trying to rest it until conference and state."
Lavy's 75.0-stroke average leads the Lady Bulldogs, followed by junior Micah Radler's 77.0 average. Sophomore Shelby Daniels is third with an 82 average. Alex DelSol will be the fourth playerin coach Kyle Adams' lineup today.
At 4,932 yards, Bella Vista Country Club will be a short track for the girls but will play considerably longer for the boys. They'll tee off fromthe tips, where the course unfurls to 6,805 yards. Wet fairways will reduce roll, making it play even longer.
"It's going toplay a little bit longer and be kind of soft," said Chuck Ritter, the tournament manager at Bella Vista Country Club.
That doesn't augur well for a young Bulldog team wanting in distance.
"It's going to be a tough test [today]," Adams said. "With rain in the forecast, the course isn't going to dry out any sooner. Wereally don't have any big hitters, which is going to make the course a little bit longer for us."
Freshman Sam Hudson's 81.1-stroke average leads the Bulldogs. Sophomore Ethan Tisdale is close behind with an 81.3 average. Both players shot 5-over 41s Tuesday on Bella Vista's outward half during a dual match with Bentonville.
Juniors Alex Hoffman (82.5) and Justin McDonald (83.4) respectively rank third and fourth in stroke average. Adams said securing a spot in the state tournament is contingent on one of the Bulldogs' top-four players going low. The top four teams advance to state.
"I'm hoping for a topfour finish," Adams said."Somebody's going to have to shoot better than their average for us to qualify, because Rogers is really good and Bentonville is really good; especially on their home course, they're going to be even better. Rogers Heritage and Springdale Har-Ber are also good teams."
Bella Vista Countr y Club opened in 1965. The parkland layout features large greens and uninviting no-mow zones that can ensnare errant shots. The greens were aerated early last week, but Ritter said "they're coming along pretty good."
Bella Vista general manager Andy Mar said he hasn't tested their speed, but he surmised that the greens are rolling between 7 and 8 on the Stimpmeter.
Sports, Pages 9 on 09/25/2009