One of Lady Mustang golfer Lily Allman's goals heading into her senior season at McDonald County High School was to finish in the top eight and make all-state.
Allman was able to achieve those goals at the Missouri State Class 3 Girls' Golf Championships held Oct. 19-20 at Twin Hills Country Club in Joplin, where she finished in a three-way tie for third place with a two-day total of 163.
But after 27 holes, Allman's goals were not only well within reach, she had taken a one-stroke lead over first-day co-leader Grace Claney of Ladue Horton Watkins and a four-stroke leader over Isabelle Thrall of Rockwood Summit, who also shot an 80 on the first day to share the lead with Claney, one stroke better than Allman's 81.
Then on the 10th, Allman looked as though she had taken control of the tournament. Allman parred the tough par 5 while Thrall had a bogey and Claney settled for a nine after hitting her tee shot out of bounds.
With her two playing partners faltering, it was Kiser Pannier of Sedalia Smith-Cotton and Katherine Schreiner, also of Rockwood Summit, in the group ahead that were battling with Allman for the state title.
On the par 3 11th hole, Allman flew over the green with her tee shot where she faced a tough uphill chip to a green running away from her to a pond.
Allman's chip hit at the edge of the fringe and shot across the green, stopping just short of the water. Allman wasn't able to get up-and-down from there, settling for a double bogey to see her lead drop to two strokes over Schreiner.
A bogey on 13 cut the lead to one heading into the 15th and 16th holes, a pair of tree-lined, dogleg par 5s, that ultimately sealed Allman's fate.
Her drive on 15 went right forcing her to play from under some tree limbs. From there it took two more strokes to get onto the green, where a three-putt led to a double bogey.
The 16th went worse, her drive was left, on the dogleg left hole. Her layup attempt crashed into the trees on the left and came down still short of a shot at the green. Her third went through the fairway and ended up behind a tree on the right, forcing a low running chip that came up short. She finished the hole with a triple bogey and instead of fighting for the lead, she was battling to stay in the top eight.
But on both the 17th and 18th holes, Allman showed what she was made of, making a pair of 10-12 foot putts for pars to finish with an 82 for the day after shooting 38 on the front nine.
Pannier rallied from her first day 84 with a 75 on the second day to claim a two-stroke win over Schreiner. Allman tied for third with Claney and Danika Stillwell of Rockwood Summit, the third Lady Falcon in the top six.
"I played really solid the first nine holes," Allman said. "I double-bogeyed the second hole on the back nine and that got me off a little bit. I started coming over the top on my drives and pulling them a little bit. I was getting in a hurry. Those two par 5s were rough. I felt like I wasn't swinging it that bad; it was just something little that was off. It was fun today. It is sad because it is my last tournament at McDonald County, but I know I am going to be able to play college golf so it's not my last competition. I am just glad I had the opportunity to play in high school."
The second round was delayed for an hour due to rain but, after the delay, the rain quit and temperatures warmed enough for a decent day.
"She played a great front nine, but on the back nine, she hit the ball well but just pulled it enough that a couple of tree limbs that stuck out got in the way," said coach Darryl Harbaugh. "Then it just started snowballing. She made a couple of great pars on the 17th and 18th that she really needed. I am so proud of her and everything she did out here. I told her it was a privilege just to be able to walk around and watch her. She is such a good girl that I will sure miss."
On the first day, a steady drizzle in cold weather made for some difficult conditions. Only 14 of the 72 qualifiers shot below 90 and no one broke 80.
"Nobody would have played golf today if they never had to," Harbaugh said. "It was the worst conditions you could get. Drizzling rain that gets everything wet. You're soaked to the bone and it was cold. The way she handled it and just played solid golf through the whole round made me proud of her."
Not surprisingly, Rockwood Summit won the team title with a 675 total, 41 strokes better than second-place St. Teresa's Academy.
