Bert Luallen
Liberal High School Girls Golf participated in two separate tournaments on Thursday; Varsity traveled to Hutchinson to participate in the Hutchinson Invitational, while JV went to Dodge City for the WAC JV Tournament.
Hutchinson had 20 teams, including four of the top ten teams in the state. The top-ranked Manhattan Indians took the team title with a score of 314 behind Kat Ball (73) and Maddie Myers (74) taking the individual Gold and Silver. Manhattan had four players finish in the top ten for the day.
TEAM RESULTS (Top 10):
Manhattan – 314
Buhler – 333
McPherson – 343
Garden City – 349
Hays – 394
Goddard-Eisenhower – 403
Maize South – 406
Winfield – 409
Dodge City – 412
Arkansas City – 412
The Lady Redskins, with only three varsity golfers, didn’t fare as well as they had hoped, as they began a grueling end-of-season stretch with four tournaments over eight days to finish out the 2025 regular season. “We just couldn’t seem to get much traction,” Coach Bert Luallen stated. “Not making excuses, but perhaps it was because our girls started the tournament on two of the toughest holes on the course.”
Addy Lopez and Scarlett Carr began their day on hole #14, which was the toughest hole on the course; while Cali Gonzales started on 15, which was the third hardest hole. Hole 14 is a 353 Yard Par 4 that played into a nearly 20 mph wind on Thursday.
Senior Addy Lopez finished the day with a score of 111, while Sophomores Scarlett Carr and Cali Gonzales had 126 and 141 respectively. “Certainly not our best outing of the season,” Luallen said. “I think we learned a few things we can work on going forward.”
The JV side of things were a bit different in Dodge City. Sophomore Valeria Gandara Vega finished in a tie for ninth with a career-best 58. Freshman Aniya Stegman also recorded a career-best score of 61 in a 4-way tie for 13th, while recording the first competition-birdie of the season for LHS. Freshman Maddie Vermillion carded a 68.
“I’m so proud of these girls,” Assistant Coach Brent Lansden said. “They really played well. It’s exciting to see the future of our program doing so well.”
Liberal returns to action on Saturday with four golfers going to the Lakin Invitational.
KSHSAA released the 2025 Girls Golf Sub-State assignments on Thursday. Liberal will travel to Dodge City (Mariah Hills Golf Course) for the Western Sub-State.
A major change from the previous year’s “Regional Tournaments” to the Sub-State system is that the top twelve teams will be divided equally among the four Sub-State venues. The purpose behind this move is to try to ensure that the best teams and players are represented at the State level.
The top three teams to finish in each Sub-State will go on to participate in the 2025 KSHSAA 6A State Tournament at Hesston on October 20-21. Also, the top six individual golfers at each Sub-State Tournament who are not on one of the top three qualifying teams will qualify for the State tournament.
DODGE CITY SUB-STATE (6A Ranking):
Manhattan (1)
Garden City (6)
Wichita Southeast (9)
Derby (17)
Dodge City (18)
Campus (19)
Liberal (26)
Wichita South (NR)
“We certainly have our work cut out for us,” Coach Bert Luallen said. “I believe we have a couple of young ladies who are capable of making it to State. But they’re going to have to perform well at Sub-State in order to qualify.”