Cameron sets school record in NHS golf debut

Friday, September 3, 2021
The Nevada High School golf team poses after competing in a tournament hosted by Springfield Catholic on Wednesday. FROM LEFT: Libby Barrett, Katie Pennington, Emree Cameron, Paige Hertzberg, Riley Severance.
Photo courtesy of Brian Leonard

Here's how good Springfield Catholic High School is at golf: Nevada freshman Emree Cameron shot a program-record 1-over-par 72 in the team's season-opening tournament at the Bill & Payne Stewart Golf Course on Wednesday — and it was still only good enough for fourth place behind three Lady Irish.

Not only that, Catholic's Reagan Zibilski, last season's state champion in MSHSAA Class 2, shot a 4-under-par 67 on Wednesday and went home with a silver medal. Teammate Lyla Louderbaugh topped the field with a 5-under 66 (including an eye-opening 31 on the front nine). Kyleigh Pfizner, another member of the defending state champion Lady Irish, had the same score as Cameron (72) but edged her out for third place on a scorecard playoff.

Needless to say, Catholic won as a team with a combined score of 284. New Covenant was second at 381, followed by Nixa (383) and Nevada (384).

With the difference between third and fourth place coming down to just one stroke — plus the unlikelihood that any team in the field had a chance to shock Springfield Catholic — NHS head coach Brian Leonard was satisfied with his five-member squad's fourth-place debut.

"We played some seriously tough competition today but the Lady Tigers held their own," Leonard stated. "I was very pleased with our finish today and can't wait to see how we can improve throughout the season."

For Cameron, one of the top-ranked junior golfers in the state, the first meet of her high school career contained some of the toughest competition she will face all year (at least until Nevada meets Springfield Catholic again in the Big 8 Conference tournament).

Playing in the same group as Pfizner and Zibilski, Cameron shot an even-par 35 on the front nine and a 1-over 37 on the back. Her round of 72 (+1) shattered the previous Nevada girls golf 18-hole record of 80 (set by Jennifer McCullough in 1989) — and will likely be broken by Cameron again before season's end.

Zibilski took the early lead by chipping in for eagle on the par-5 no. 2, but Cameron shaved a stroke off her own card with a birdie on the next hole (also a par-5). She had a 25-foot downhill putt from the back of the green and, on the advice of Leonard (who called the hole a "sucker pin," one of several greens on the course that are notoriously unfriendly to visiting players), took a more cautious approach to avoid sending her ball rolling past the cup and down the front of the green.

After safely tapping in for birdie, Cameron made par on her next five holes — before finding herself in four inches of grass on the fringe of the par-3 no. 9. She ended up bogeying that hole.

Cameron's putter betrayed her on the par-3 no. 10 (bogey), and a pine tree got in her way on the par-5 no. 12 (another bogey), but she recovered on the par-4 no. 13 thanks to one of her best chips of the day from 15 yards in front of the green, a shot that set her up for an easy three-foot birdie putt.

"She held her own," Leonard said of his star freshman. "She knows she left a few more birdies out there, but she was pleased with her 1-over-par. I told her, 'You're going to have some bogeys here and there,' and she said, 'I know that.' 'But you're also going to have some birdies in there, too.' Anytime she shoots close to par in a girls' high school tournament when Springfield Catholic is not involved, she will be in the top one or two."

Meanwhile, sophomore Paige Hertzberg shot the best round of her high school career with a 102, which tied for 20th along with junior teammate Riley Severance. Katie Pennington shot a 108 (T-36th), with fellow senior Libby Barrett contributing a 111 (T-41st).

Although the team left the course with only one medal, Leonard said he took away several aspects of the game that each player can work on going forward — and that he thinks the Lady Tigers have a legitimate shot at winning the Class 2 District 3 team title.

Especially since the Lady Irish got bumped up to Class 3.

"Honestly, I don't care about Springfield Catholic anymore since they're not in our district," Leonard said. "So, we've got a chance to win districts as a team, if we can keep Paige and Riley in the low 100s or upper 90s, and get Katie into the 90s. I saw several things that all of them can work on. It's mainly just consistency."

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