AUGUSTA — Monday proved a day of strong finishes for several area girls golfers as they competed in various state championship tournaments around the Augusta area.
Northeast Georgia challengers claimed silver medal performances in the Class A Private and Class A Public fields, while Class AAAAA also featured the third best round for a local competitor.
Flowery Branch's Macie Hurst, a junior, carded a 77 in the girls Class AAAAA tournament at West Lake Country Club to finish just behind low medalist Julianna Collett of Glynn Academy, who fired a 75. Three other golfers tied for second with a 76.
(NOTE: For a complete list of state results from each classification, click here.)
Meanwhile, Lakeview Academy's Alexis Gopfert shot 78 on Monday to finish second behind Galloway's Amanda Doherty (73) in the Class A Private tournament held at Forest Hills Golf Club. Gopfert, who will be playing at Biola University in California in the fall, was the top performer not playing with a team at the tournament.
And, in the Class A Public tournament at Goshen Plantation Golf Club, Towns County's Kenzie Jenkins carded a 93 to finish behind Portal's Faith Reddick, who had the low round of 86.
NORTH HALL BOYS TIED FOR 7th: The Trojans shot their way to a team score of 331 to finish inside the top 10 of the Class AAAA boys championship at Jones Creek Golf Club.
Marist won the event with a 302, followed by Woodward Academy's 305.
Bartley Forrester paced North Hall, shooting a 2-over 74 to finish tied for fourth.
The Trojans standout drained back-to-back birdie putts on Nos. 17 and 18 -- including a 15-foot attempt on 18 -- to charge into the top five.
Buford also shot 335, led by Shyam Joshi's 82.
"We were told this was the second hardest course in Augusta -- we know what the hardest is -- and it definitely proved a pest," North Hall coach Alex Hicks said. "It was in great shape, and you couldn't overpower it; you had to be meticulous.
"Our guys fought very hard. I'm very optimistic about the future. We'll return four of the six guys that played together and three of them were able to break mid 70s."
Michael Kallab also shot 80 for North Hall on Monday.
Marist's Will Chandler was low medalist with a 2-under 70.
GAINESVILLE GIRLS TAKE 10th: The Lady Red Elephants carded a team score of 278 on Monday at Westlake Country Club.
Senior Ashleigh Bishop led Gainesville with a 10-over 82. Senior Julianna Towns also competed, as did junior Arianna Lunsford and freshman Vivian Robinson with a matching pair of 90.
Dalton High claimed the team crown with a total of 241 and Columbus finished second with a team total of 247.
NOTE: Click here for a story on Gainesville's boys and senior Spencer Ralston in their performance on Monday in the Class AAAAA boys tournament.
