White Plains earns substate sweep
- Updated: May 5, 2015
[corner-ad id=1]Wildcats, Alexandria to duke it out for girls state title after finishing 1-2; Dyar, Travis medalists
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
Layne Dyar always does what her coaches tell her and because she did Tuesday the White Plains junior is heading to the state championship brimming with confidence as a sub-state champion.
The Calhoun County girls medalist shot a 3-under-par 68 to win the individual title and lead White Plains to the 4A-5A North Sub-State team crown and its first ever trip to the state finals.
The Wildcats shot 7-over 220 as a team at Twin Pines GC in Russellville, 15 shots better than runnerup Alexandria. Both teams advance to the state finals at Magnolia Grove in Mobile starting Monday, setting the stage for an anticipated Calhoun County shootout for the state crown.
Meanwhile, the White Plains boys made it a sub-state sweep, shooting 295 at Valley Hill CC in Huntsville with all five scores in the 70s. They won by 27 shots.
They were led by county champion Dustin Travis’ seven-birdie 1-under 70. They also counted 74s from Trevor Lane and Dylan Griggs and 77s from Layton Bussey and Drennen Beam. Travis got his medalist-winning round started with a hole-out from 80 yards for birdie after hitting his opening drive in the hazard and taking a drop.
Dyar won by six shots over Valley Cubs senior Jordan Gregoria. The Wildcats also counted a 75 from Morgan Prickett and a 77 from Raegan Thompson. Alexandria got an 80 from Morgan Mayfield and 81s from Katie Roberts and Abby Stevens.
“She played excellent,” Wildcats coach Marcus Harrell said. “Any time you shoot 68 on any course it’s a big moment, but to do it on a big stage, it’s really special. I knew after 13 holes she had a chance to do something special today.”
Dyar’s previously low competitive round was a 72 in the Chesley Oaks Invitational earlier this season. She bounced back from both her bogeys Tuesday with immediate birdies, but the highlight of the round was the three consecutive birdies on 11, 12 and 13 at the urging of her coach.
She had just made a two-foot birdie on 11 when Harrell told her she needed birdies on the next two holes. He left to observe another player and when he returned to his No. 1 the first thing she said was “I did exactly what you told me to do.”
Dyar hit it to 10 feet on 12 and two-putted for birdie on the par-5 13th.
“I felt like I did what I was supposed to do,” she said. “I just knew if I played my game I’d be OK, and that’s what I did.”
Now, Dyar and the Wildcats and Gregoria and the Valley Cubs are expected to battle it out in Mobile for the state title. The Cubs got the best of them in the Calhoun County and sectional tournaments.
“Most of the time the two teams battling for state are never from the same county,” Harrell said. “This is very neat — and very special.”
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