AUSTIN – By his standards, Cory Whitsett came undone at the end of the 5A state golf tournament Friday.

Typically reserved outwardly, Memorial’s sophomore phenom yelled “birdie!” as he sank a short putt on No. 18 at Jimmy Clay Golf Course, raised both arms in the air in victory and gave coach Cameron Sands two solid high-fives.

Though Whitsett often has said he wasn’t stressing about improving on his second-place finish from a year ago, he made sure he enjoyed the most of his first individual state championship.

Whitsett shot 3-under 69 Friday after an even-par round Thursday, overcoming a two-shot deficit to edge Strake Jesuit’s Ben Thorseth and first-round leader Ryan Dagerman of Plano West by four shots.

“It’s definitely a goal I had,” said Whitsett, who won the Junior Amateur championship last summer. “The way I looked at it, I just wanted to go out and play good and hit good shots. I did that today. (No.) 18 kind of epitomized that. I hit a good drive, had a good second shot and a good putt.”

Whitsett birdied six holes and took the lead for good on No. 11, which he birdied and Dagerman bogied.

“He played smart today. He hit the shots when he needed to hit them,” Sands said. “I told his mom when he hit the final shot that was the most emotion I’ve seen from him in a while. It is important to him. After last year he said his goal was to win state. He’s been working hard; it’s fun to watch. It’s great to be a part of a team like this, then have (Whitsett) do this. It’s not just the talent. It’s the way he manages the course.”

Memorial shot 597, tying The Woodlands for second but losing a two-hole playoff. Plano West won by two shots.

Jes Schneider shot a two-day total of 147 for the Mustangs. Freshman Greg Rochna finished at 152, followed by Tyler Gann (157) and Lawrence Chang (159).

“We were little up and down at times but we held on,” Sands said. “Jes was 1-under at one point and then had a triple-bogey and a double-bogey and still shot a 74. Greg Rochna shot well in his first time. And we’re all gonna be returning next year. That’s exciting.”

Strake Jesuit was fourth, one shot behind Memorial.

Thorseth improved by seven shots from Thursday, from 76 to 69, and lost his individual two-hole playoff for second with Dagerman.

Nicko Dodd shot 147 for the Crusaders, followed by Chris Lauinger (152), Robert Mills (155) and Garrett Velarde (163).

“We were hoping to go lower but we just couldn’t get a whole lot of putts to fall,” Strake Jesuit coach Larry Finke said. “(Thorseth) was getting the ball closer to the pin than he did (Thursday) and he didn’t really have any bad stretches. He had some real short birdie putts and he did well on the par-5; (he) eagled one of them.”

Southlake Carroll won the girls championship, its first, by six strokes, 631-637 against Lubbock Coronado.

Powered by Portland Rosen and Brittany Butler’s rounds of 80, Fort Bend Clements’ girls placed fourth. The Rangers shot 645.

Katy Cardno paced Clements with a 157. Rosen and Megan Ray both totaled 160.

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Athlete’s Connection is not permitted to sell photos from UIL state championship events.
***
5A golf state championships
at Jimmy Clay Golf Course, Austin

BOYS TEAM SCORES: Plano West 595, The Woodlands (won a playoff) 597, Memorial 597, Strake Jesuit 598, San Antonio Reagan 599, Dallas Jesuit 608, Austin Westlake 611, Southlake Carroll 612.

Medalist: Cory Whitsett (Memorial), 141.

Other Memorial scores: Jes Schneider 147, Greg Rochna 152, Tyler Gann 157, Lawrence Chang 159.

Strake Jesuit scores: Ben Thorseth 145, Nicko Dodd 147, Chris Lauinger 152, Robert Mills 155, Garrett Velarde 161.

GIRLS TEAM SCORES: Southlake Carroll 631, Lubbock Coronado 637, Plano West 644, Fort Bend Clements 645, College Station A&M Consolidated 648, Austin Westlake 662, Clear Creek 698, Mission Sharyland 698.

Medalist: Casey Grice (A&M Consolidated), 144.

Clements scores: Katy Cardno 157, Portland Rosen 160, Megan Ray 160, Brittany Butler 168, Stephanie Nguyen 192.

Subscribe to this comment's feed