Fountain Lake nipped Magnolia by two shots Monday to win the 29th annual Simmons Bank Wildcat Invitational, hosted by the Lion’s Club. The Cobras shot 310 followed by Magnolia (312), El Dorado (330), Parkers Chapel (355), Sylvan Hills (359), EHS JV (392), Camden Fairview (408), Hamburg (417) and Lake Hamilton (419).
Fountain Lake swept the event with the Lady Cobras shooting 275 to beat El Dorado (304) and Magnolia (370).
“They really played well all day across the board,” said El Dorado coach Chris Ezell. “Magnolia also performed well with a second place (boys) finish, just two shots back. Both schools are in 4A and will be contenders there.”
Magnolia’s Landon Sawyer claimed medalist honors after outlasting Fountain Lake’s Kolt Carden after a three-hole playoff. They were tied at 73 1-over 73 after 18 holes. Both made clutch up-and-down saves on the first two holes before Sawyer made a putt to claim the title on the third hole.
El Dorado’s Peyton Yarbrough and Magnolia’s Knox Stephens each shot 77 followed by Fountain Lake’s Treyton Gray (78), Magnolia’s Landon Heinze (79), Fountain Lake’s Dillon Dettmering (79), Sylvan Hills’ Britton Lynch (79), Parkers Chapel’s John Hall (80), Fountain Lake’s Nathan Noernberg (80) and Fountain Lake’s Brodie McMillon (80).
Yarbrough led the Wildcats followed by Isaac Aaron (83), Caden Meadows (85), Michael Moore (85) and Tate Meadows (89).
“(Yarbrough) played solid all day long,” said Ezell. “One bad hole kept him just out of contention for a medal.”
Jay Reep led the JV Wildcats with 91 followed by Mason Moore (94), Clifford Wilson (96), Sawyer Swint (102), Walker Williamson (111) and Jackson Lee (113).
Following Hall for the Trojans was Hunter Cheatham (87), Jaxon Waggoner (88) and Chandler Boykin (100).
Fountain Lake’s Jaylen Cameron was the girls’ medalist, shooting 84. She was followed by El Dorado’s Daphny Chen (90), Parkers Chapel’s Lorali Barnes (92), Fountain Lake’s Meagan Tillery (94), El Dorado’s Lucy Whitten (97), Fountain Lake’s Sophia Wyatt (97), Crossett’s Raegan Blankenship (98), Sylvan Hills’ Taylor Adams (103), Fountain Lake’s Bailey Bean (104), Crossett’s Ava Smith (104) and El Dorado’s Avelyn Chen (117).
“The tournament went pretty smoothly. We were able to use the AAA Golf Wanamaker scoring app, which really made getting scoring and the awards presented quickly,” said Ezell. “I think all the coaches were surprised at all of the information the app provides during the event as well as the results. Special thanks to Rob Robinson, Leslie Carroll, and Gage Parker of Simmons Bank for their continued support of our golf program. Next year will be the 30th tournament they have sponsored. It really has been an event the coaches and high school kids look forward to each season. Thank you to the Lions Club staff. They really have the golf course in great shape and I received lots of positive feedback from the coaches on everything about the tournament. Also, thank you to Savannah Skinner for providing her services as our athletic trainer for the event.”