Girls golf will compete in the 6A state championship tournament on May 15-16 at Legacy Hills in Georgetown, Texas. On day one, the teams’ tee times will take place between 8:10 a.m. and 8:50 a.m.

“[The team] has worked very hard,” assistant coach Kurt Grawunder said. “We’ve improved tremendously from the fall season, and to be able to qualify has been really exciting. Nobody in the state thought we could do it after we lost four seniors from last year’s team, and to qualify has been really rewarding.”

To prepare for state, the team has been participating in daily practices after school. The practices usually last around three hours, during which the team completes a variety of drills.

“I feel like we were kind of the underdogs [with us] having so many seniors leave last year,” team captain Stalee Fields said. “A lot of people didn’t expect us to do well this year, but I fee like we just stayed in our zone. We have this mindset that we may not win, but we’re going to do our best and continue to work hard.”

Despite the challenge of competing with a younger team, the girls worked hard to ensure their success by consistently practicing and forming a good team bond.

“I think the more [the team] played together, the more that they learned that they could really be good,” Grawunder said. “They embraced that challenge rather than thinking, ‘oh my goodness, we’re replacing a team that won state two years ago.’ There were a lot of expectations on hammering home, and that was the biggest hurdle.“

The team has celebrated its state qualification by having team dinners and making t-shirts. Fields said the team is uplifting and supportive of each other.

“We’re like a family,” Fields said. “We’ve been playing together and practicing together. We’ve created this bond, and we all really enjoy being around each other [while] practicing and working together.”