Katie Hamilton says winning the Central Ozark Conference golf championship never occurred to her – until she’d done it.
Hamilton shot an 82 at Horton Smith Golf Course in Springfield Wednesday, out-distancing the rest of the field by two strokes to win the individual title. She was also part of a Republic team that posted its best score of the season – a 359 – to finish second, seven strokes behind Nixa.
“I started off bad, so the entire day I was trying to get better,” Hamilton says. “I didn’t really know what to expect, but as the day went on, I kept grinding at it and focusing on my goal, which was to do the best that I could. I didn’t have a goal of winning. It never even crossed my mind.”
Hamilton and Nixa’s Beth McDonald were playing in the same group, and were even after 17 holes. Hamilton parred #18 to secure the victory. Hanna Aherin of Ozark and Kimberly Sager of Carthage tied McDonald for second place.
“I couldn’t be more happy for Katie,” says coach Curt Plotner. “She puts in so much time at the golf course and has had an excellent year. It was fitting that her hard work was rewarded with the individual title.”
Hamilton didn’t tally her scores as the round progressed, so she had no idea where she stood in comparison to everyone else until she stepped off the 18th green and Plotner informed her.
“I actually had no idea. I didn’t know what to expect, but then Plotner told me after that I had beaten the girls I was playing with, so it was kind of a shock,” she says.
Hamilton was the only medalist for Republic, but the Lady Tigers’ balance paid off as it has all season. Caroline Blanford finished with a 90, just one stroke out of the medals. Alexus Mitchell shot a 93. Madison Beckham finished with a 94, and Emma Blanford shot a 98.
“Nixa has beaten us by 25-30 strokes all season, and I challenged (the team) yesterday to go out and play their best and see what happens,” says Plotner. “We shot our lowest team score of the year and gave Nixa a good run. It was a great time to shoot such a good team score, and I think that we have a chance to advance to sectionals if we can post another good number on Monday.”