‘In my heart, we won’

They refused to let them see their tears.

As angry, upset and disappointed as they were, the Kingfisher High School girls golfers early Thursday evening walked into the clubhouse of Cushing’s Buffalo Rock Golf & Venue with their eyes dry and their heads high.

But it wasn’t easy. The Lady Jackets had just suffered defeat to Hilldale on the second hole of a team playoff to finish as the Class 4A state runner-up.

“I am so proud of all of their team and individual accomplishments, but the way they handled themselves in the playoff is something that I will never forget,” said KHS girls golf coach Audra Smalley. “I hated the way things ended and how it ended is another story.”

It ended with Hilldale’s Karlie Kirkhart making a par putt on the par-3 second hole. It was the only par by any of the 10 golfers and gave the Lady Hornets their second consecutive state title.

It was the events leading up to that hole that still stick with Smalley and her team members.

A team playoff consists of all five members of each team playing a hole with only the four best scores counting toward the team total.

Three members of one team - in this case, Kingfisher - play in the first group with two members of the other.

The second group consisted of three Hilldale players and two from Kingfisher.

Kingfisher was in good shape after the first group due in part to Maddi Kamas’ birdie on the long par-5.

It appeared – to some – the Lady Jackets were state champs after the second group finished the hole, but Hilldale’s reported numbers put the teams back into a tie.

There was a dispute about one of those scores, but no tournament official from Buffalo Rock was on the course during the playoff, only after the dispute had occurred.

Once the three Hilldale players and two KHS players who were in the final group conferred with the official, the tie stood and the second playoff hole commenced.

Once there, Hilldale won the title.

“To say that I am still upset how everything played out in the playoff is an understatement,” Smalley said on Monday.

“I could not sleep that night because I was so hurt for my girls. They worked so hard and for things to be decided that way is not fair to them or to the sport of golf. “I cannot believe that

“I cannot believe that there was not an official present during the playoff. That would have solved every problem that we had.”

KHS entered the twoday, 36-hole tournament as the top-ranked team.

The Lady Jackets found themselves trailing Hilldale by eight strokes after the first day.

Maddi Kamas kept her team in it as she shot an opening-round 1-under-par 69 en route to winning the individual title (see related story).

Kari Shepard came in with a 92 and Olivia Wilcox a 95. Katey Brickman fired a 100 and freshman Kylie Hood a 114.

Hood rebounded on Thursday to shoot a 99.

“She did a fantastic job in her freshman year. I know it’s not easy to be on a team full of seniors and to come in and compete like she did is really amazing,” Smalley said.

“She did not have the best first day of the tournament. It shows her mental toughness that she came back and improved her score 15 strokes the second day. That came in huge for our team score.”

Brickman shot a 105 and Shepard a 99 on Thursday.

“Katey has been such a pleasure to coach,” Smalley said. “I met her in softball and she had been going to the course with Maddi and we convinced her to come play two years ago.”

Brickman and Hood hadn’t played state tournament golf before. Shepard and Wilcox dipped their toe in it along with Kamas in 2019, but all missed out last year due to COVID-19.

Smalley knew this year’s team had a chance to contend, so she tried to prepare her golfers for the experience.

“I intentionally made our schedule very tough this year,” she said. “We played in 6A tournaments; we played with all the bigtime golf programs in the state. “I did that so my girls would be prepared for the state tournament. I know state is very stressful and nerve-wracking, but they had played under those circumstances in those tournaments.”

Shepard, a four-year team member, was one of the team’s more consistent players over the two days.

“She is the silent assassin,” Smalley said. “She never gets rattled and always works hard and has a smile on her face.”

Shepard had been fighting a sore back for two weeks leading to state.

“She never complained,” Smalley said. “She just put her head down and had the second best score on the first day.”

Wilcox struggled out of the gate on Thursday and carded a 54 on the front nine. She came back with a 44 on the back for a 98.

“Olivia has been such a difference maker for our team this year. She amazes me how she can play 18 holes and then go to a pitching lesson, or play in the state tournament and leave directly for a softball tournament.”

Smalley could see Wilcox’s frustration after her front-nine.

“I told her to forget about the front,” Smalley said. “I told her to focus on the last nine holes of her high school golf career. She turned it around and shot a 44 on the back. That sums Olivia up right there.”

Still, KHS faced a considerable deficit with the No. 1 golfers from Kingfisher, Hilldale and Wagoner coming up the 18th hole.

Wagoner, which shot 368 on Day 1 had overtaken KHS for second while Hilldale had increased its lead.

But neither of those teams had Kamas.

In her final high school tournament, Kamas birdied her final two holes to shoot a 3-under-par 67.

That allowed Kingfisher to jump past Wagoner and work its way into a tie with Hilldale once the final tallies were made.

That meant extra golf, which led to a full range of emotions from both sides over the next hour.

Once the winner had been determined, the teams had to return to the clubhouse for team and individual trophy presentations.

Smalley gathered her team together before walking in.

“Many girls had tears running down their faces,” Smalley said. “I told them we are not crying. We will not give anyone the satisfaction of seeing us upset.

“I told them in my heart we won, and that’s how we will carry ourselves.”

After the presentation, the team members posed with their runner-up trophy and medals at different locations on the course.

It wasn’t the trophy they wanted, but they were making the most of it.

“I have to say that I love these girls and we have spent a lot of time together the past three years,” Smalley said. “I am so proud of this team to focus on what we can control.

“They handled things the way that true champions would.”

Class 4A Girls Golf

Team Totals

Hilldale* 348-371–719

Kingfisher 356-363–719

Wagoner 368-357–725

Cushing 387-379–766

Elk City 395-390–785

Ft. Gibson 402-404–806

Tuttle 403-404–807

Pauls Valley 404-408–812

Weatherford 409-405–814

Seminole 438-419–857

Muldrow 448-429–877

Newcastle 453-440–893

* Won 2-hole playoff

Kingfisher

Maddi Kamas

69-67–136

State Champion

Kari Shepard

92-99–191

Olivia Wilcox

95-98–193

Katey Brickman

100-105–205

Kylie Hood

114-99–213