Fort Mill girls capture Region 4-5A golf championship

The Fort Mill Yellow Jackets won the Region 4-5A girls’ golf tournament Monday afternoon at Rock Hill’s Waterford Golf Club.

The Yellow Jackets carded a team score of 346 to edge out the Northwestern Trojans, who shot a score of 353. Nation Ford (383), Clover (402), and Rock Hill (405) completed the scoring. The top four teams advance to the Upper State Tournament next Tuesday at Carolina Country Club in Spartanburg.

“We played this course several weeks ago at the Trojan Invitational, and that plus a good practice round on Sunday really made the difference,” said Fort Mill coach Bryan Zulka. “Every player on our team played better today, and that was the difference.”

The Yellow Jackets played in the Upper State Tournament last year, and Zulka is hoping his team can do well next week.

“We have improved as a team as the year has progressed,” Zulka said. “We will continue to work hard this week, and I am hoping that the improvement will show up on Tuesday.”

Lillie Smith, a senior, led the charge for Fort Mill. She fired an even par 71 to pick up medalist honors and lead the All-Region team as the Region Player of the Year. She carded a 36 on the front nine and came home with a 35 on the back nine.

Clover’s Alyssa Campbell also made the All-Region team. She was second in the individual scoring with a 74. She had a 36 on the front nine and a 38 on the back nine.

Joining them on the All-Region team was Amelia Majcina (Fort Mill), Buggy Reinke (Northwestern), Shae Payne (Northwestern), Zoe Bowers (Nation Ford), Kate Warner (Rock Hill), and Eileen Zeoli (Nation Ford).

Warner’s Rock Hill team did not qualify to move to the next round, but she advanced as an individual player because she was the top performer on her team.

Individual Scores

Fort Mill - Lillie Smith 36-35=71, Amelia Majcina 40-39=79, Ashley Babinchak 45-50=95, Elle Brown 47-54=101.

Northwestern - Buggy Reinke 36-42=78, Shae Payne 42-39=81, Gabby Rowsam 42-51=93, Faith Novak 50-51=101.

Nation Ford - Zoe Bowers 42-43=85, Amber Bellamy 49-52=101, Eileen Zeoli 44-46=90, Felicity Shackleford 56-51=107.

Clover - Alyssa Campbell 36-38=74, Ginger Pitts 49-49=98, Mallory Dover 61-54=115, Taylor Osborne 56-59=115.

Rock Hill - Kate Warner 42-43=85, Pressley Perry 49-45=94, Madison Kirell 57-54=111, Chloe Goodwin 59-56=115.

This story was originally published October 9, 2017 at 5:56 PM with the headline "Fort Mill girls capture Region 4-5A golf championship."