Season Preview: 3-1A Girls Golf

The Colby girls golf team was in danger of folding when Rick Williams first took over the program 15 years ago. 
 
"They basically told me if I didn't take the girls golf job, we were dropping it," Williams said. "I went out to my first practice, and I had two girls out."
 
Until 2010, the Eagles had produced just one state medalist in program history. 
 
But Williams started to notice a turning point about five or six years ago. 
 
The program's numbers were gradually increasing to where the Eagles had 10 to 15 girls golfers out each year. The local youth golf program had also been helping develop players from an early age. 
 
Now, the Eagles are well on their way to becoming perennial state contenders.
 
Colby returns three state medalists from last year, including Class 3-2-1A individual champion Anna Starbuck. The Eagles have finished as the state runner-up in each of the last two years and took fourth the year before that.
 
"We're excited about what we have coming back," Williams said. "We've been the runner-up two years in a row, and we haven't felt bad about that either time. Last year we posted the best score we've ever posted in school history.
 
"Our expectations are to be in the hunt. We don't like to set goals like 'We're going to win a state championship,' because you can't control what other people do. You can't play defense in golf. But we think we can go lower than we did last year, and that's certainly the goal, and hopefully that's good enough."
 
Starbuck burst onto the state golf scene with a phenomenal freshman season. She won regionals on Colby's Meadow Lake Golf Club with an 84. She capped things off by winning the state tournament at Cherry Oaks Golf Course in Cheney, firing a two-day total of 158. 
 
"You don't ever put that kind of expectation on a freshman, thinking she's going to come in and be a state champion," Williams said. "But I knew the tools were there. She's been an incredibly hard worker since she was a little girl. She plays a ton of golf."
 
Starbuck carded a 77 to take a four-shot lead after the first round at state. She handled the pressure with ease on the second day, following up with an 81 to win the tournament by seven strokes over Plainville's Corbyn Marquess.
 
"I knew she had skills and I knew she had a beautiful golf swing, but you don't know how mentally tough (freshman are) going to be -- and she's really tough," Williams said. 
 
"To go down and play under that pressure, and sleep on a lead, that's pretty tough. It takes a pretty tough-minded freshman to pull that off. She did a great job handling all that."

Brinley Sims took eighth for the Eagles at state last year as a sophomore after finishing 40th as a freshman in 2019. 

"She's the most improved athlete I've ever coached in any sport," WIlliams said.  "(The improvement) from Brinley's freshman to her sophomore year was incredible.
 
"When the pandemic hit, and we got out of school in the spring, she decided she was going to play golf a bunch. She just played golf a ton. Brinley definitely has the ability to be a top-five medalist for us in her junior year."
 
Colby's Mya Betz took home an 18th place medal at state last year, despite missing a good chunk of the season because of COVID-19 protocols. 
 
"I was impressed that she medaled last year because I think the state tournament was only her fourth or fifth tournament of the year because she basically missed the bulk of our schedule with her quarantine," Williams said. "She'll be our senior leader and I expect her to have a good year."
 
The Eagles also return Jalyn Sabatka, who placed 26th at state last year as a junior. 

"She's actually only been golfing since she was a sophomore," Williams said. "Just a really good athlete, puts in a lot of time and work. I think she has a good chance to be a medalist. We have a really good chance to have four top-20 medalists. That will be the goal for the four girls that return from that state team last year."

The biggest question for Colby will be what classification the Eagles will compete in. Williams is expecting the Eagles to be right on the bubble between Class 4A and 3A, thanks to a large incoming freshman class.  
 
If Colby stays 3A, Pittsburg-Colgan could remain the Eagles' biggest threat to a team state title. The defending champion Panthers return a pair of top-five placers in Ali Scripsick (third) and Greta Ison (fifth). 
 
"Obviously at the state level, our competition is Colgan," Williams said. "They've got two really good players coming back."
 
Plainville's Marquess will look to contend again for an individual state title after finishing runner-up last year and tied for fifth in 2019. 

"She's definitely the real deal."

Williams expects Cimarron to be the Eagles' biggest challenger in the Great West Activities Conference. Cimarron took third at state last year and returns two players who played in the state tournament -- Kennedy Jarnagin and Brielle Lynn. 
 
Colby will open the season Sept. 2 in the Hugoton Invitational at Forewinds Municipal Golf Course. 

"The girls have put in a ton of time this summer," Williams said. "This is probably the best summer we've ever had."