The California Lady Pintos finished another successful season at the Class 1 State Tournament at Twin Hills Country Club in Joplin last Monday and Tuesday.
Senior Sophie Brant represented California in the tournament, finishing 16th out of 89 golfers. She improved her finish 40 spots from 56th in 2014.
"I figured out how to manage my game and how to manage different courses," Brant said. "In the summer I played in a league, and taking that step kind of helped me. I don't know, just more practice and experience."
Brant shot an 85 during the first round, then finished with an 87 on day two. She played bogey golf on the first nine holes of the opening round before getting comfortable and finished the day on a "par train" as California head coach Ashley Atteberry says.
"She got more familiar as the day went on of the speed of the greens," Atteberry said.
Putting was something Brant battled with all season long, but as the season progressed, she got a lot more comfortable with it.
While she saw a lot more pars during the second round, Brant had more double bogeys, triples and one ball landed in out of bounds.
"Even though I missed all-state by one, I just felt like I accomplished a lot," Brant said about her season.
Atteberry's team this year was completely different than last year's team. She had a lot of girls with experience in 2014 as opposed to just two with former varsity experience and three golfers that were relatively new to the sport.
Madison Ratcliff, Sarah McCord and Maryanne Henley were the three newcomers to the team without varsity experience.
"I think the ones without experience, they gained it," she said. "Even thought they might not of scored great at the District Tournament, just getting that experience is going to help them improve for next season as well."
Renee Roberts had a successful season, but just missed out on back-to-back trips to the state tournament. She and Brant led the team in the tournaments they played in this season, always finishing near the top as Roberts had a second overall finish at the California Invitational last month for an example.
"I know there's disappointment for Renee, because she went to state last year and not being able to make. She just had an off day at Sectionals," Atteberry said. "She still came down to support the team and still played a big part on this team."