Hard work is starting to pay off for the Siloam Springs girls golf team.
The Lady Panthers picked up their first victory of the season Wednesday when it defeated Springdale Har-Ber in a nine-hole match at Siloam Springs Country Club.
The Lady Panthers shot a team score of 137 to best the Lady Wildcats' total of 144 in the count-three format.
"Really proud of the scores the girls put up today," said Siloam Springs golf coach Michael Robertson. "Each of them had moments of really good play. I can definitely see improvement with each of them."
Junior Brinkley Beever shot the match's low round of 42, and that score was high after Beever struggled on her first hole.
"Good to see Brinkley play better," Robertson said. "Take away No. 1 and she shoots 37 or 38."
Senior Bailey Turner and sophomore Kaitlyn Robinson shot a 47 and 48, respectively, for the Lady Panthers' top three scores behind Beever.
"It's fun to see Bailey playing so well as a senior," Robertson said, "and lots of extra time put in is paying off for Kaitlyn."
Sophomore McKenzie Blanchard had a 51, senior Halle Hevener and sophomore Jaelee Snyder 61 to round out the Lady Panthers scoring.
Blanchard also had a couple of bad holes early but rebounded to play well over the rest of the match.
"Just a couple holes keeping her from putting up some great rounds," Robertson said of Blanchard. "I see it coming for her."
Har-Ber's Kennedy McNeal shot a 45 to lead the Lady Wildcats, while Kirsi Grafton shot a 49, Kailey Fender 50 and Sam Markavich 53 to round out Har-Ber's scoring.
It was Siloam Springs' first victory of the season in a match, but not their first time to place ahead of Springdale Har-Ber.
At the Wildcat Invitational at Springdale Country Club in the opening match of the season on Aug. 2, the Lady Panthers shot a team score of 312 to finish fifth while the Lady Wildcats shot 352 and finished sixth.
Siloam Springs returns to action at 3 p.m. on Tuesday against Fayetteville at Paradise Valley Golf and Athletic Club.
On Thursday, Siloam Springs will play Greenwood at Vache Grasse Country Club.
"Now we start settling into the two-match-a-week part of our schedule and I think we will start to see some really good play from both groups," Robertson said.
NOTES: The Siloam Springs golf program held its annual Lyle Licht fundraiser tournament at Siloam Springs Country Club on Saturday. Results of the fundraiser were not available at presstime. "It's always such a great event," Robertson said prior to the event. "It's always fun to see our kids play with friends and family and see players from the past."
Sports on 08/21/2016