BISMARCK -- There was lots of exhaustion but few surprises at Tuesday's Class 3A state girls golf tournament.
Baptist Prep senior Bailey Dunstan won medalist honors for the third consecutive year, and Bismarck won the team title for the second consecutive year, and third time in four years.
Dunstan, who was 5 under through 10 holes, finished with a 1-under 71 on the hilly, 5,115-yard DeGray Lake Resort State Park Golf Course.
Dunstan finished 11 strokes ahead of Bismarck junior Makenna Norris, who shot a 10-over 82 to lead a Lions team that had three players under 90.
Dunstan, Norris and Bismarck senior Gloria Berry (87) advanced to the state Overall golf tournament in two weeks at Pleasant Valley Country Club in Little Rock.
Sophomore Hannah Collie finished fourth with an 89, the only other girl in the field to break 90 on a 93-degree day over a difficult-to-traverse layout.
Collie, Berry and Norris accounted for Bismarck's team score of 258, 36 strokes ahead of Dunstan-led Baptist Prep (294). Smackover finished third in the team standings at 307.
The results may sound free of drama, but Norris said the Lady Lions weren't as jovial on the driving range as they were at the awards ceremony.
"There was pressure on us," Norris said. "I mean, it's our home course, and we won last year. There's a target on our back."
Bismarck Coach Tony Hardage said he noticed some edginess about an hour before the 9 a.m. shotgun start.
"I could tell by the way they were acting on the range that they were feeling the pressure a little bit," Hardage said. "We talked about it. We settled down.
"They didn't necessarily have their A-game today. They grinded through out there, battled the heat. I was proud of their effort."
Dunstan had her A-game for the first 10 holes, scoring an eagle on the par-5 third hole, then posting birdies on the par-5 seventh hole and the par-3 eighth.
Dunstan said she was thinking about beating the 6-under 66 she posted last year at Mountain Ranch Golf course after she birdied the par-4 10th to move to 5 under. But the heat and increasingly slow pace of play took its toll.
Dunstan said a 3-foot missed putt for par on No. 16 triggered her bogey-bogey-double bogey finish.
"I think I was getting tired," said Dunstan, who will play golf at Samford University in Birmingham, Ala. "I think everybody was getting tired from being on their feet for six hours."
Norris and Berry were tired but happy to qualify for the Overall tournament, no matter how long it took.
"For me personally, it was a goal at the beginning of the season to make the Overall," Norris said, "but I'm just really glad we won. It's exciting."
Sports on 10/02/2019