6A STATE GOLF: Bentonville leads 6A golf after first round

ROGERS -- Daniel Taylor could not imagine a tougher start to the Class 6A boys state golf tournament Wednesday.

The Bryant junior started his round on No. 10 and promptly double-bogeyed the hole. Taylor said his confidence never wavered, knowing that he had plenty of golf remaining at Shadow Valley Golf Club.

"I knew there were a lot of birdie holes ahead of me," he said. "That double really should not have been a double. I just made one mental mistake in the fairway. But I just knew I had a lot more golf ahead of me."

Taylor regrouped and finished out the back nine with birdies at No. 15 and No. 18 to get back to even-par. Over the front nine, Taylor added back-to-back birdies at No. 2 and 3, added another at No. 7, then parred the final hole to finish a solid round at 2-under 70 to take a one-shot lead for individual medalist.

His round also locked up the 6A-Central Conference medalist slot and helped his Hornets capture the team conference championship by three shots over Cabot. Bryant shot a 315 and Cabot, which was tied with first-round leader Bentonville at one point Wednesday, finished at 318.

Taylor said the course in Rogers sets up well for his game, and he took advantage of his driver.

"Recently my driver has been my best club in the bag," Taylor said. "This course is pretty tight, so I think I can get some strokes there. The fairways are also very firm, so if you hit the driver good, you're going to have short wedges into the holes."

Rogers golfer Andrew Fakult was the exact opposite of Taylor as the senior Mountie had back-to-back eagles at No. 2 and No. 3 to leap to 4 under after just three holes.

Fakult said that's not his best two-hole stretch.

"I actually have done better at my home course at Lost Springs," Fakult said. "I went ace-eagle there once, and that kind of made my year and I'll probably never do that again.

"That gave me a lot of confidence in my driver, and I hit a really good 3-wood onto the green at No. 2, then followed that up with a great drive on No. 3. I felt great all day. I got some good putts in, and that boosted my confidence as well."

Fakult ended his round at 1-under 71, one shot behind Taylor heading into today's final round. His opening round secured the 6A-West Conference medalist title.

Fakult had bogies at No. 5 and 6, then birdied No. 8 and No. 12 to get back to 4 under. He hit a tough stretch with a bogey at No. 14, a double bogey at No. 15 and a bogey at No. 18.

Defending state team champion Bentonville positioned itself in prime shape for a repeat. The Tigers will carry a 12-shot lead over Bryant into today's final round after opening with a 303. That also secured the 6A-West Conference championship for the Tigers.

"I was pleased with how we played for the most part," Bentonville golf Coach Kent Early. "We had a rough patch on about hole 13 or 14, and Cabot played really well. Hole No. 9 was kind of the equalizer today for everybody. At one point, half of our strokes that we were over happened on No. 9. So it was the equalizer for everybody."

The leaderboard is loaded with Bentonville golfers who will be looking to repeat with the team trophy, and several are in contention for the individual title as well.

Alexander Apolskis is three shots off the lead after his 1-over 73. Michael Senn is five shots back with a 3-over 75, and Phisher Phillips is sitting seven shots back after a 5-over 77. Murphy Allard rounded out the group with a 6-over 78 as all four Tiger golfers are sitting in the top 10.

When the Tigers struggled, which was rare Tuesday, they struggled together.

Senn, Phillips and Allard all bogeyed No. 1, with Allard getting a double. All three bogeyed No. 5. At the challenging No. 9, Apolskis, Senn and Phillips all double-bogeyed the hole. All four Tigers bogeyed No. 13.

Cabot pulled even with the Tigers at 15 over, but Bentonville seized control over the final five holes to build its cushion.

"I thought we played well today considering the pressure that comes from hosting the tournament," Early said. "I know it's their home course and they should be relaxed and yes they know the course, but the greens today were unbelievable and they were so fast."