GOLF: Lady Panthers pleased with progress

Mar 03, 2013 (Odessa American - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- MIDLAND About three weeks before the District 2-5A tournament begins, the Permian girls golf team finished well behind two of its league counterparts.

But the Lady Panthers weren't discouraged by their scores at the Midland Girls Invitational this weekend, because their best players weren't all working together.

First-year Permian head coach Rodney Roman said he wanted to put pressure on his players leading up to the most important part of the season, so he split his best golfers among the program's two squads. Some of the top Lady Panthers competed for Permian I, and some played for Permian II, and those teams placed third and fourth, respectively, in the 36-hole tournament held at Green Tree Country Club on Friday and Hogan Park Golf Course on Saturday.

Midland Lee won the Division I field with a two-day score of 648, finishing 20 strokes ahead of second-place San Angelo Central. Permian I shot 724, and Permian II finished at 728.

"We're going to be stacked, and we're going to bring it," said Permian senior Bailee Cook, who shot 81 and 89 for Permian I and led the program with an eighth-place finish individually. "San Angelo and Lee better be ready. Those scores will be a lot smaller than what they are now at district." Permian II was ahead of Permian I by one stroke after Friday's first round, but Permian I ended up four strokes ahead of its teammates with final-round 89s from Cook and Meagan Jones. Lee held a 12-stroke lead after the first day and extended it thanks to another impressive round by senior Ali Cowan.

Cowan shot 2-under-par (70) for the second day in a row and finished five strokes ahead of Central's Kamryn Cummings. Lee's Libby Thomas and Midland Christian's Christian Curnutte both finished at 8-over 151, with Thomas winning a playoff for third place.

"This is a good indicator of what district's going to be like," said Cowan, referring to a field that included six of the district's nine schools. "And as a team, we didn't do the best we could. So I know district is pretty much in the bag for us." Odessa High was in eighth place after the first day and put into Division II for Saturday's final round. The Lady Bronchos began the day second in the division behind Midland High, by one stroke, and rallied to win the division by 19 strokes after a second-round 386.

Mallory Jones and Reygan Rodriguez both finished at 180 for the Lady Bronchos, with the sophomore Jones winning a scorecard playoff for second place in Division II. Odessa High played without its best golfer, senior Alyssa Carter, who has a vascular infection and said she hopes to compete in the district tournament that starts later this month.

"We all improved from what we did yesterday," Jones said. "We just had a really good day today. The team is great, and I think we deserved first place." Contact Adam Zuvanich on twitter @OAzuvanich, on Facebook at OA Adam Zuvanich or call 432-333-7649.

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