RIVER VALLEY and OZARK AREA — High school golf season is well under way, and several River Valley and Ozark teams should be contending for honors when the post-season begins in mid-September.
Conway St. Joseph captured its third consecutive state championship in boys and in girls last year, taking the Class 2A titles, to lead the RVO effort. But other teams could be on the rise in their respective classifications, such as Heber Springs in Class 4A.
CONWAY ST. JOSEPH
Can Conway St. Joseph's golf teams do it yet again?
Chris Kordsmeier's Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs won Class 3A titles in 2006 and '07 before reclassification put them in Class 2A last year.
The Lady Bulldogs' streak of conference championships dates to 2000. They also won regional titles in 2000, '02, '03, '04, '05, '06, '07 and '08. They finished runner-up in '01.
St. Joseph also won girls state championships in 2000, '02 and '04 and finished runner-up in '03.
The Bulldogs have emulated their teammates, having won district, regional and state titles the last three years. They graduated most of their team last year, but Kordsmeier is optimistic about 2009.
"The chemistry is going very well," he said. "We've played in a couple of tournaments, and we've held our own. Obviously, we've had really good teams the last few years, and these guys have accepted the challenge of following them, and they're looking forward to competing."
The Bulldog lineup includes seniors Marcus Kordsmeier, Jesse Light, Zac Schichtl, Wade Beck and Cash Schichtl, junior Michael Burmester, sophomore Mark Mallett and freshmen Andrew Kordsmeier and Jackson Castleberry.
Bulldog strengths, Kordsmeier said, are team chemistry and competitiveness.
"We've got some guys who are excited about playing and are outthere trying to do their best to live up to the tradition," he said. "But we are inexperienced. Some of these guys haven't played in the state tournament, so that's why we've played in some tournaments (during the season). We've never played in very many tournaments before, so I think that will help us down the road."
The Bulldogs finished third in an early season tournament hosted by Izard County Consolidated at Cooper's Hawk in Melbourne, the site of the Class 2A State Tournament on Oct. 7.
St. Joe will play host to the conference tournaments for boys and girls at StoneLinks in North Little Rock on Sept. 10, the Class 2A Region 3 girls tournament at Conway Country Club on Sept. 16 and the boys regional at Centennial Valley in Conway on Sept. 21.
The Lady Bulldogs wonthe Melbourne tournament at Cooper's Hawk and expect to return there for the Class 2A State Tournament on Sept. 29.
St. Joseph returns five players off the 2008 girls championship team: seniors Brooke Enderlin and Jessie Moix and sophomores Heather Moix, Jennifer Hegeman and Hannah Rehm.
"I think we're going to do just fine," Kordsmeier said. "We've got a good chance to repeat. Obviously, we've got a lot of girls who have state tournament experience. Our big strength is experience, for sure."
Enderlin finished third individually at the state tournament to qualify for the Arkansas High School Overall. Moix was fifth; both earned all-state honors last year.
The Lady Bulldogs finished second behind Conway in theWampus Cat Invitational earlier this season.
HEBER SPRINGS
Gaye Stark is starting her ninth year coaching golf at her alma mater, Heber Springs, and she said she hoped both boys and girls teams would improve on last year's state tournament finishes.
The Panthers finished eighth in the Class 4A State Tournament last year with the Lady Panthers ninth.
But the Lady Panthers have one of the marquis transfers of Arkansas high school golf this year. Katie Webb transferred from Shirley for her junior season; she won the Class 2A individual title last fall and finished second in the Arkansas State Golf Association's Junior Girls Player of the Year race during the summer.
"She's a super kid," Stark said."She's like a sponge, so coachable. She has played all summer, and our girls have embraced her with open arms. She's such a good kid and fun to be around.
"Her short game is her strength, but the main thing she does is she keeps the ball in play, hits it down the middle."
Joining Webb on the Lady Panther squad are senior Brooke Blankenship, juniors Morgan Fires and Ashlee Barbee and sophomore Savannah Thomas. Heber Springs won the conference last year but slipped to third in the regional.
The Panther lineup includes junior Tanner Rockwell, senior Denton Kilgore, sophomore Jackson Thomas, senior Chas Tamburo and junior Nate Bartlett. Rockwell and Thomas gained post-season experience last year as the Panthers won theconference title and finished second in the regional.
Stark said a team strength was experience.
"We've got kids who really like to compete and are golf-minded," she said. "They work very hard, and they're all pretty close together, scoring-wise. We're still learning course management.
"Both our boys and girls have really worked on their short games."
Stark said Batesville Southside would likely provide the biggest challenge to her teams from the 2-4A.
The conference tournament will be at Eagle Mountain in Batesville on Wednesday, Sept. 9. Heber Springs will play host to the Class 4A Region 2 girls tournament at Red Apple Inn on Tuesday, Sept. 15. The boys regional will be at Eagle Mountain, as well the girls state tournament. The boys will play their state tournament at DeGray State Park near Arkadelphia.
River Valley Ozark, Pages 162 on 08/30/2009