Lily Allman swings golf wins

RICK PECK/SPECIAL TO MCDONALD COUNTY PRESS Lily Allman hits a chip shot at the 2019 MSHSAA Class 2 Girls Golf Championships held Oct. 21-22 at Silo Ridge Golf Course in Bolivar.
RICK PECK/SPECIAL TO MCDONALD COUNTY PRESS Lily Allman hits a chip shot at the 2019 MSHSAA Class 2 Girls Golf Championships held Oct. 21-22 at Silo Ridge Golf Course in Bolivar.

For the last two years, McDonald County High School's only representative in the state finals for any of the six fall sports was a girl who stands under five feet tall.

Lily Allman, after wins in the district and sectional golf tournaments, went on to place 31st at the 2019 MSHSAA Girls' Golf State Championships held at Silo Ridge Golf Course in Bolivar. The district and sectional championships were her second and third titles of the year after winning the Carthage Invitational during the regular season.

"I think I had a pretty good year," Allman said. "I played in a lot of the Southwest Missouri Junior Golf Association tournaments this summer and in the Missouri Junior Amateur and that kind of helped me get ready for this fall. It really helped me with my competitiveness too. I averaged 78, and last year my average was 83. I think it was a good year and to have one more year of high school golf is a good feeling."

Allman said she hasn't played her best at state these past two years. She wants to change that at next year's state tournament.

"My goal is to get all-state (top 15) next year," Allman said. "They are going to go to four classes next year (instead of two). That will help, but it won't necessarily be any easier. It will just give more people the opportunity to make all-state."

With her picture-perfect swing, it looks as though Allman has been playing golf since she could pick up a club, but that's not the case.

"I was going into my eighth-grade year when I started," Allman said. "I am relatively new to the game. I just kind of decided one day that I wanted to try it out. I really enjoyed it. I wasn't too competitive at first; it was just a fun thing to do. Then when I saw I could be kind of good at this I got serious."

She said that her uncle (Kirk Allman) and her dad (Mark Allman) taught her the game. Her parents, Mark and Julie, have also provided Lily opportunities to play at some of the best courses from coast to coast.

"I have been to Torrey Pines and Pelican Hills in the San Diego area," she said. "We've played at several courses in North Carolina and South Carolina. We went to Utopia (Texas) last year. It's a course written about in a book (Seven Days In Utopia) that has inspired me. I really enjoyed that book and we went down and played the course."

This upcoming summer in preparation for her senior year, Allman said she is going to some bigger junior tournaments.

"I want to do those so I can get more exposure," she said. "I am looking at doing more of the Missouri junior tournaments instead of just Southwest Missouri."

Currently, Allman is looking at continuing her golf career at the collegiate level following graduation. She said she has been in contact with Missouri Southern, Columbia College, Fontbonne University in St. Louis and wants to reach out to Baker University.

"I have a few visits scheduled for this winter," Allman said. "I am going to try to go to those schools. I am excited about those visits. I do want to play college golf. I think that would be a fun experience."

Sports on 11/14/2019