Published: April 30, 2008 10:28 am            

Lady Demons set to defend state title

DHS refines chip shots

The Duncan Lady Demons begin their Class 5A state title defense today at Surrey Hills in Altus.

The biggest difference in this season is that last year’s top two golfers (Jillian Gregston and Morgan Totty) are playing collegiately.

Sarah Harper, Mackenzie Gray and Rachel Graham return from the state title team and are head coach Chuck Croy’s top three heading into the Surrey Hills clash. Despite three returnees, Croy said that consistency has been lacking from this year’s group.

“It’s been our nemesis this season,” Croy said. “We are a lot better than our scores show, and I’m hoping that is the case over the next two days.”

Harper and Gray will fill the one and two holes for DHS, but Croy knows he must get solid play from his three through five spots to have a shot at bringing home a second-consecutive crown. Graham, Laura Clark and Jill Spradlin fill the three, four and five spots.

“Once you get to state, everyone has good players, so no one can fall off,” Croy said.

Croy noted that club selection and ball position will be two keys to the Lady Demons having a successful two-day stretch. Also, the two-day tournament will present a challenge.

“It can be tough on the girls because the only time they’ve done that is when we’ve had two tournaments on back-to-back days,” Croy said.

The Lady Demons played at Surrey Hills on April 10, but wind and rain plagued the tournament, so DHS didn’t get a good feel of the course, Croy said.

“It poured down, and we didn’t play the sand traps because they were filled with water,” Croy said. “It should be better conditions this time around.”

Croy added that Surrey Hills features fast greens and an abundance of out-of-bounds areas.

“John Conrad and Lakeview are sort of similar to Surrey Hills, and we took third at both of those, so I think we’ll do fairly well,” Croy said.

DHS spent Saturday at The Territory working with Tim Johnson on chipping, an area the Lady Demons have struggled in lately.

“Our putting has been good, but we were leaving ourselves long putts with bad chips,” Croy said. “They got some work and hopefully that will translate into getting some putts to fall.”

DHS was to tee off at 10 a.m. today.

Notes: The Lady Demons enter the state tournament with some good news after being named Academic State Champions.

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.