Un-Lily Like Start

Lily Allman wasn't at her best at the 2019 MSHSAA Class 2 Girls Golf State Championship held on Oct. 21-22 at Silo Ridge Golf and Country Club in Bolivar.

But even not her best was good enough for Allman to take 31st out of the 90 state qualifiers with a two-day total of 172 in the extremely tough conditions at Silo Ridge.

Allman opened the tournament with an un-Lily like 89 before coming back on the second day with an 83 to jump over 20 places in the final standings.

"It was really tough conditions," Allman said. "It was very wet, windy and cold the first day. The second day was better, but it was still windy and cold."

Allman got off to the worst start imaginable, taking a triple-bogey 7 on No. 10, her first hole of the tournament. Her drive found the left rough and her approach caught an overhanging limb of a tree, dropping down directly behind the tree.

"It was a bad way to start the round," Allman said. "I tried to be positive and finished the nine with a 43, which wasn't all that bad considering my start."

But her second nine started just like the first, a triple bogey on the first hole.

"I hooked my second shot and it hit the cart path and went out of bounds," Allman said. "I kind of fell apart the rest of the way."

Starting the second day on number 10 again, Allman avoided the trees down the left side and went on to make a par 4, cutting three strokes off her first round.

She made the turn in 39 before taking a double bogey on the fourth on the way to a 44 on the front nine for an 83.

"I came back today and told myself it was my last tournament of the year, so just relax," Allman said. "I was playing with Susannah Blackwell (Springfield Glendale). She is a good friend and that helped me relax and I had a much better day."

This was Allman's second trip to state in the two years McDonald County has had girls' golf. As a sophomore last year, she finished in 40th place.

McDonald County coach Darryl Harbaugh agreed with Allman's description of the conditions.

"It rained about three inches the night before the tournament," Harbaugh said. "It was wet and the wind was blowing 30 to 35 miles an hour. It was one of those days most people wouldn't have went out and played unless they had to. Lily wasn't sharp at all on Monday and when the conditions are that tough, it just magnifies how you are playing."

Brooke Bierman of Lafayette (Wildwood) High School won the individual championships with a 143 total. After shooting two over on Monday, Bierman came back with a 69 on Tuesday to edge Megan Propeck of Notre Dame de Sion by two strokes.

St. Joseph's Academy won the team title with a two-day total of 607.