Hornet golf team qualifies for State
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SHERIDAN — After winning just about every regular season tournament a year ago and not qualifying for State at the AAAAA-South Conference championship tournament, the Bryant Hornets, with all but one player returning, were determined to get to State this year.
Mission accomplished.
On Tuesday, the Hornets combined on a team score of 315, one shot shy of co-champs Sheridan and Camden Fairview, to qualify for the Class AAAAA State tourney at Cabot’s Greystone Country Club on Tuesday, April 24.
Sheridan won a two-hole playoff with Fairview to gain team-high honors. The Yellowjackets’ Matt Feimster was individual medalist with a round of 70. Bryant’s Marshall Bettoney was second with a score of 73.
Other team scores were Benton 324, Lake Hamilton 328, Texarkana 342, El Dorado 348 and Pine Bluff 378. The top three teams qualify for state plus the top three individuals on teams that did not qualify. Those were Ryan Green of Benton, who shot a 77; Roger Teat of Lake Hamilton at 79; and Daniel Robinson of Pine Bluff who had to win a two-hole playoff against Benton’s Dustin Hamm and Scott Gottlieb after all three shot rounds of 80.
Bryant qualified but not without a scare. Blake Pennington shot a 78, Dallis Clark an 81, John Bragg an 80 and Caleb Lewis an 84. With those top four scores, the Hornets would’ve finished at 312 and won the tournament but Clark was disqualified after inadvertently signing an incorrect scorecard.
“It was a mental mistake,” mentioned head coach Joe Calhoun, “and sometimes those hurt more than physical mistakes. No one feels worse than Dallis.”
The good news is that Clark and his teammates will play again.
