Another year, another Brown as girls’ state golf champ; Marshall dominates team play
If you only heard about the results, you might have thought there were two repeat winners of the girls’ state golf championships at Bowling Green Country Club.
But this year, it was Bullitt East’s Macie Brown who took home the hardware in addition to another runaway team victory for Marshall County.
Macie Brown, not to be confused with this year’s defending champion Macey Brown of Apollo, shot a 3-under par total of 141 over the two-day event — carding an even-par 72 on Tuesday and a 69 on Wednesday at the 2021 Leachman Buick-GMC-Cadillac KHSAA Girls’ State Golf Championships.
Marshall County’s team of Trinity Beth, Megan Hertter Savannah Howell, Katie Roberts and Cecilia Ray, combined the best four scores among them each day for a team total of 614 or 38-over par for the school’s second girls’ state title, defending their crown by 38 strokes over second place Madison Central (+76). Sacred Heart (+88) finished third. Marshall County won the 2020 team title by 39 strokes.
The 614 is the second lowest team total ever in a girls’ state championship bettered only by the ridiculous 541 recorded by Kentucky Country Day in 1974 at London Country Club.
Macie Brown, a junior, was the only player under par for the tournament and finished in front of Marshall’s Beth (+2) by five strokes. Lyon County’s Cathryn Brown placed third at 3-over, followed by defending champion Macey Brown of Apollo, Madison Borders of Thomas Nelson and Claira Beth Ramsey of Madison Central, all at 4-over par.
Macie Brown began the day tied with Ramsey for the lead after the first round where she birdied three holes on the front nine and bogeyed three holes on the back, including Nos. 17 and 18. On Wednesday, she took the lead with a birdie on No. 1 and added birdies on No. 6 and No. 14 to pad her advantage. She teed off Wednesday morning with three of her chasers — Borders, Macey Brown and Cathryn Brown — and about an hour ahead of Beth and Ramsey, allowing her to set the pace.
All four of Marshall County’s counting scores on Wednesday were in the 70s, a feat no other team could match.
While Lexington Christian brought four individual qualifiers to the tournament, their combined scores did not count toward the team results due to KHSAA rules.
Had they been allowed to count their scores, C.A. Carter (T11 +11), Mary Keene Marrs (T13, +13), Maryssa Phillips (T33, +22) and Carter Lankford (T54, +27) would have finished as team runner-up in the event at +73, three strokes ahead of Madison Central. Rules regarding how players and teams qualify for state were altered by the KHSAA in 2019 to allow only region champions to advance to the state tournament. In prior years runners-up like LCA advanced as well.
Lexington Catholic’s Bella Brooks finished in a tie for 15th at 14-over par.
The boys’ state tournament tees off Friday at the same venue.
Team results
1. Marshall Co., 614 (306-308); 2. Madison Central, 652 (326-326); 3. Sacred Heart, 664 (335-329); 4. Madisonville, 674 (333-341); 5. Cooper, 690 (350-340).
Individual results
1. Macie Brown, Bullitt East (72-69—141); 2. Trinity Beth, Marshall Co. (75-71—146); 3. Cathryn Brown, Lyon Co. (73-74—147); T4. Macey Brown, Apollo (73-75—148); T4. Madison Borders, Thomas Nelson (73-75—148); T4. Claira Beth Ramsey, Madison Central (72-76—148); 7. Isabella Wiley, Shelby County (75-76—151); 8. Jenna Estravillo, Whitefield Academy (74-78—152); 9. Megan Hertter, Marshall County (77-76—153); 10. Izzy Christy, Paintsville (79-75—154).
Complete girls results online: https://bit.ly/3ahcLAK
Boys’ tournament information online: https://bit.ly/2WShgyO
This story was originally published October 7, 2021 at 8:04 AM.
