Tough competition expected in Overall golf championship

Jonesboro junior Wil Gibson will defend his title today as the boys high school Overall champion, but he is expected to get a stiff test from Little Rock Catholic senior Miles Smith.
Jonesboro junior Wil Gibson will defend his title today as the boys high school Overall champion, but he is expected to get a stiff test from Little Rock Catholic senior Miles Smith.

Wil Gibson is the favorite to repeat as the Boys High School Overall champion, but the Jonesboro junior can probably expect a stiffer challenge than he experienced a year ago.

The high school golf season’s finale for both the boys and girls will be played today at challenging Pleasant Valley Country Club in Little Rock. Gibson cruised to a seven-shot victory in 2015, firing a 3-under 69 on the 6,785-yard course.

The first boys group will tee off at 8 a.m. The first girls group will tee off at 9:30 a.m.

Little Rock Catholic senior Miles Smith is not experienced at playing the Overall, but he is familiar with Pleasant Valley.

“I play it two or three times a month,” said Smith, the medalist of the Class 7A state tournament last week at Centennial Valley Country Club in Conway. “I know it well. You have to find the fairways.”

After a sixth-place finish in the 2015 Class 7A state tournament, Smith has turned into an Overall contender. Smith’s two-day score of 6-under 138 last week earned him a one-shot victory over Cabot sophomore Connor Gaunt.

“I played well. I had a great tournament,” Smith said. “As far as the Overall, I’m ready to go. I’m ready to rock-and-roll right now.”

Gibson earned the right to defend his title by winning the Class 6A state tournament last week at Mountain Home, also shooting a 6-under 138, but winning the event by nine strokes.

Smith, Gibson and Valley View’s Craig Benson, who won the Class 5A state tournament, will be in today’s top-seeded threesome.

The 21-player field includes six players — Gibson, Hayden Lassiter of Warren, Paxton Templeton of Mayflower, Jacob Webb of Concord, Thomas DePriest of Buffalo Island Central and Hunter Hickingbotham of Baptist Prep — that played in the 2015 Overall.

Casey Ott also returns to defend the girls Overall title, but the Conway junior is not the top seed. Bentonville senior Kate Robertson won the Class 7A state tournament and will join Mary Claire Meredtih of Jonesboro and Elizabeth Moon of Forrest City in the top-seeded threesome.

Ott shot a 4-over 76 to win the Overall title a year ago. She won by one stroke over four others, including three that also are making a return trip to Pleasant Valley. Hannah Bakalekos of North Little Rock, Katelyn Dunstan of Baptist Prep and Moon all fired 77s at last year’s event.

There are 13 girls returning from last year’s Overall in today’s event.

Today’s tee times

at Pleasant Valley Country Club

Little Rock

BOYS

8 A.M. Dalton McGinnis, Deer; Garrett Davis, Spring Hill; Logan DePriest, Marshall

8:10 A.M. Hunter Hickingbotham, Baptist Prep; Noah Minton, Valley View; Chance Copeland, Jonesboro

8:20 A.M. Whit Parker, Conway; Cody Workman, Izard County; Thomas De-Priest, Buffalo Island Central

8:30 A.M. Ty Johnson, Clinton; Canon Cothran, Shiloh Christian; Logan Greer, Harrison

8:40 A.M. Evan Griffith, Greenwood; Connor Gaunt, Cabot; Jacob Webb, Concord 8:50 A.M. Grant Shelman, Hazen; Paxton Templeton, Mayflower; Hayden Lassiter, Warren

9 A.M. Craig Benson, Valley View; Wil Gibson, Jonesboro; Miles Smith, Catholic

GIRLS

9:30 A.M. Mariana Larson, Shirley; Graycee Barham, Spring Hill; Michaela Ball, Two Rivers

9:40 A.M. Allie Weiner, CAC; Olivia Parker, Greenbrier; Brinkley Beever, Siloam Springs

9:50 A.M. Hanna Bakalekos, North Little Rock; Alyssa Hagewood, Abundant Life; Sidney Pigott, Camden Harmony Grove. 10 A.M. Anna Pearrow, Bald Knob; Bailey Dunstan, Baptist Prep; Audrey Pulliam, Pulaski Academy

10:10 A.M. Sydney Gamble, Greenwood; Casey Ott, Conway; Mikayla Kish, Izard County

10:20 A.M. Christi Chambless, Spring Hill; Josie Love, Melbourne; Katelyn Dunstan, Baptist Prep

10:30 A.M. Elizabeth Moon, Forrest City; Mary Claire Meredith, Jonesboro; Kate Robertson, Bentonville

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