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ERIC X. VICCARO/Guymon Daily Herald
Guymon High School golfer Landon Hyer putts on
the green during a practice round Monday at Sunset Hills Golf
Course.
Every golf course presents its own dangers.
The par-71, 6,079-yard Sunset Hills Golf Course
is no exception. The course plays roughly 1,000 yards shorter
for the girls, but that doesn’t mean they’ll be worry-free.
“Our greens are fast,” Guymon head boys’ coach
Jerry Cooper said. “They could have trouble getting used to
them.”
The greens have become faster since first-year
head professional Justin Haid aerated them recently.
Thursday, the Guymon High School girls’ golf team
will play host to its own invitational at Sunset Hills. Friday,
it will be the Tigers boys’ team to play the role of host. The
tournaments will begin at 9 a.m. on both days, with a shotgun
start.
There will be other concerns for the golfers,
especially if they don’t hit fairways in regulation.
“There’s dirt on every hole and they could hit
off the hard pan,” Cooper said. “There are tough areas to
negotiate.”
Golfers could very well either top shots or hit
them fat, which often makes even seasoned players cringe.
But, thankfully for the Tigers, Sunset Hills is
their home.
“We’ve played the course and we know what its
like,” Guymon girls’ coach Jerry Hill said. “We know what we can
do on it.”
Cooper said Guymon loves playing host to a
tournament.
“It’s fun to play host to a tournament,” the
coach commented. “There will be different degrees of talent out
here. And our kids usually play well on their own course. There
is a confidence factor.”
The girls’ field will feature the following
schools: Mooreland, Woodward, Turpin, Hooker, Texhoma, Boise
City, Yarbrough, Forgan and tentatively Laverne.
With Forgan playing here, it means the girls’
medalist title could come down to Guymon’s Jade Cruzan and the
Bulldogs’ Ashley Underwood.
Both Cruzan and Underwood have been medalists
this past week. Cruzan was the medalist at the Laverne
Invitational Saturday. Underwood took top honors on Monday at
Pioneer in Pleasant Vale.
“Jade’s cracked the ball well lately,” Hill said.
“She’s been in contention in every tournament.”
Chelsea Montano and improving first-year player
Cytorie Clark will also represent Guymon on the course tomorrow.
On the boys’ side, Mooreland, Forgan, Woodward,
Turpin, Hooker, Liberal, Texhoma, Boise City, Yarbrough,
tentatively Laverne and Dodge City (Kan.) and Garden City (Kan.)
will be bringing their junior varsity squads.
In the race for the boys’ team title, Cooper
thinks it could very well come down to Guymon and Liberal, Kan.
The Tigers won the Liberal Invitational by four strokes at
Willow Tree last week, and the Redskins will surely want to
return the favor here.
The boys will be seeking to beat their
personal-best 18-hole rounds.
Trey Fankhouser carded a 79 at Boise City more
than one week ago. Dakota Wilson posted an 85 and Andrew
McCulloch an 88 at Liberal. Caleb McMurry fired a season-low 91
at Boise City. These would be ideal scores to post again.
Landon Hyer, Josh Edenborough, Trever Lutz, Chad
Huckins and Ethan Novak will also play for the Tigers in the
tournament.
“We should be favored since we are playing on our
own course,” Cooper added.
During the round, there will be a hot dog and
hamburger feed for the golfers.
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