ROGERS -- Lilly Thomas' first and only bogey Tuesday afternoon made her more determined to play better.
The Bentonville senior responded with three birdies over her final seven holes and finished with a 4-under 68 to take the lead after the first round of the Class 6A girls state golf tournament at Shadow Valley Country Club.
Tuesday’s results
6A-West
Team Scores
Bentonville* 258
Fayetteville 282
Cabot% 286
Rogers High 289
Springdale Har-Ber 289
FS Southside 302
Mount St. Mary 303
Bryant 320
North Little Rock 321
Bentonville West 353
Conway 358
Little Rock Central 415
*6A-West champion
% — 6A-Central champion
Individual results
Lilly Thomas, Bentonville 68
Mackenzie Lee, North Little Rock 70
Terry Uhm, FS Southside 81
Grace Kilcrease, Har-Ber 84
Lauren Loeb, Mount St. Mary 85
Amanda Sakalares, Rogers 88
Anna Ziegler, Fayetteville 88
Hannah Heflin, Cabot 90
Kinslee Miller, Bentonville 90
Anna Retchin, Fayetteville 90
Holly Heslep, Cabot 91
Isabel Chaidez, Mount St. Mary 95
Erin Culhane, Rogers 97
Abbey Ott, Har-Ber 97
Caitlin LaCerra, Bryant 98
Chloe Ellis, Bentonville 100
Elizabeth Atchley, Fayetteville 104
Jade McKnight, Rogers 104
Sydney Billington, Bentonville 105
Kelsie Taylor, Cabot 105
Brooklyn Waller, Bryant 105
Alexa Chapin, FS Southside 106
Macey Wyler, Har-Ber 108
Sam Lisowski, Rogers 109
Evie Marx, Fayetteville 110
Sam Steiner, Conway 111
Claire Bowden, Har-Ber 114
Starling Ledbetter, Fayetteville 115
Molly Myers, Bentonville West 115
Katie Settle, FS Southside 115
Megan Cook, Rogers 117
Meredith Medford, Bryant 117
Anya Tillman, Bentonville 117
Cierra Boren, Bentonville West 119
Katie Eddy, Bentonville West 119
Kaycie Merrell, Cabot 119
Reagan Hodson, North Little Rock 121
Mary Mosley, Conway 122
Lily Wewers, Mount St. Mary 123
Lauren Baker, LR Central 125
Maggie Baston, Conway 125
Katrina Miranda, FS Northside 126
Erica White, Bentonville West 127
Kate Pillow, Conway 128
Lilly Harrop, Har-Ber 130
Anna Reed, Conway 131
Bianca Lane, Springdale 132
Chloe Chappelear, Rogers Heritage 133
Loretta Turner, Cabot 134
Lizzie Hutson, LR Central 136
Haylie Girvin, Van Buren 137
Emily Ellis, Mount St. Mary 140
Alyssa Ledbetter, FS Southside 140
Miriam Rodas, FS Southside 140
Virginia Claire Jackson, Mount St. Mary 143
Claire McElroy, Springdale 145
Dixie Taylor, Van Buren 149
Ashlin Sorrows, LR Central 154
Thomas capped her front nine with a birdie to go 2-under, but her bogey came on the ensuing hole. She came back and birdied No. 12, then followed that with birdies on Nos. 15 and 18 to complete her round.
"I wanted to be more under, so I had to fight back for that," Thomas said. "With this course, I had to have an aggressive mindset and not be content with where my score was. I kept trying to reach out and trying to get a lower score.
"I didn't worry about what the other golfers did. Actually, I wrote 'your game' on my wrist this morning to remind me to play my game and not worry about what everybody else was doing."
The strong finish gave Thomas a two-stroke lead over North Little Rock's Mackenzie Lee heading into today's final round. They were the only golfers to break par Tuesday. Fort Smith Southside's Terry Uhm was a distant third with an 81.
Golfers were split up by conference in Tuesday's round, with 6A-West Conference teams starting on the front nine while 6A-Central teams began on the back nine. So while Thomas was flourishing on the back nine, Lee actually was right with her at 4-under through 14 holes before she bogeyed Nos. 6 and 8 -- a pair of par-3 holes.
"Toward the end of the round, I started losing my concentration," Lee said. "Other than those two bogeys, I played really well.
"My shots were working really well, but I was missing some of my putts by just a little bit. Obviously, this course is a lot more hilly. It doesn't affect my game that much, but it affects my stamina."
Thomas' performance helped Bentonville claim the 6A-West title, as well as build a healthy lead in the state team standings. The Lady Tigers finished with a team score of 258, followed by Fayetteville at 282 and 6A-Central champion Cabot at 286, while Rogers and Springdale Har-Ber tied for fourth at 289.
Southside rounds out the group of teams for the final round as the Lady Mavericks scored a 302, one stroke better than Mount St. Mary. Lee will be one of eight golfers that will play the final round as individuals, as well as Lauren Loeb and Isabel Chaidez of Mount St. Mary, Caitlin LaCerta and Brooklyn Waller of Bryant, Sam Stiener of Conway and Meredith Manford of Bryant.
"It was a tough day out there," Bentonville Coach Lindsey Davis said. "The course was very difficult, and we had some really high scores out there. We were able to keep our other scores in the median area, but I think we'll have a pretty good shot.
"The girls had to go out and do what they do best. We did have a few meltdowns on a few holes and got into the sand a few times. I think they'll come back and play their game."
Sports on 09/26/2018