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By Rob Patrick

As it turns out, the Bryant High School athletes will continue to compete in the Central Conference after this year.

As part of the usual two-year cycle re-alignment by the Arkansas Activities Association, Bryant had been assigned to the South Conference in a move that mixed Class 7A and Class 6A schools in hopes of saving travel costs.

Of course, even that re-alignment saved some teams travel while increasing others so there was a lot of dissatisfaction expressed about the plan. As it turned out, the schools that would most benefit from the cut-down in travel were those in Little Rock (Hall and Parkview, moving from the East to the Central, and Fair, moving from the South to the Central).

FORT SMITH — Freshman Tyler Green shot a round of 80 over 18 holes to lead the Bryant Hornets at the Class 7A State golf championship at Hardscrabble Country Club on Monday, Oct. 5.

As a team, Bryant finished sixth with a score of 337. Cabot won the title at 303 followed by Rogers (313), Bentonville (314), Conway (316) and Little Rock Central (319). Fayetteville was seventh (350) followed by Fort Smith Southside (351).

Along with Green, Jonathan Kooiman contributed to the team score with a round of 82. Payne Roberts carded and 87 and Austin Harmon turned in an 88. Hunter Alford shot 89.

A native of Hope, Ark., graduate of Henderson State and now member of Professional Golfer Association, Ken Duke held a clinic for upstart golfers in Little Rock. The event was held at The First Tee of Central Arkansas (TFTCA) on Sept. 16. Duke was in town for his own golf tournament in his hometown of Arkadelphia and invited the First Tee Ambassadors to be part of the weekend. Although, the question and answer session was much longer than learning time on the driving range due to the rain, the ambassadors thoroughly enjoyed the visit.

Bryant ambassadors chosen were Tanner Caton, Grant Ferguson, Nick Canale, Brendon Morton, Sophia Canale, and Drew Castleberry. Their ages range from third to seventh grade.

MAUMELLE — With a fourth place finish at the 7A-Central Conference golf tournament at Maumelle Country Club on Tuesday, the Bryant Hornets have qualified for the Class 7A State Tournament. This year, State will be held at Hardscrabble County Club in Fort Smith on Oct. 6.

In addtion, three Lady Hornets qualified individually for State play. Morgan Morehead, Kristen Dudley and Jessica Wilson will compete at the Class 7A State Tournament for girls which will be held at Fianna Hills County Club in Fort Smith on Monday, Sept. 28.

Morgan Morehead fired a nine-hole round of 43 to finish as the individual medalist in a three-team golf match at Longhills Golf Club on Thursday.

Morehead and the Lady Hornets finished tied with Benton with a team score of 151 but Hot Springs Lakeside took team honors at 138.

Morgan Morehead shot a nine-hole round of 44, just four strokes off the pace of medalist Grace Grubb of Mount St. Mary’s Academy to highlight a three-team match at Longhills Golf Club on Tuesday, Sept. 1.

Benton won the team competition among the girls and the boys at the match. The Lady Panthers finished with a team score of 141 to Mount St. Mary’s 153 and Bryant’s 164.

For the boys, Benton finished at 299 to Bryant’s 317. North Little Rock, a conference rival of the Hornets’, was third at 339.

RUSSELLVILLE — In a dual match with Russellville on Monday, the Bryant Hornets got the better of things with a composite score of 160 to Russellville’s 207 in the team competition.

Freshman Tyler Green was the individual medalist with a four-over par 39 over nine holes.

HOT SPRINGS — The Lakeside Rams took top team honors at a three-team golf match on Thursday, Aug. 27 at Hot Springs Country Club. The Rams combined on a score of 304 with Benton just four strokes back at 308 and Bryant at 332.

Benton took top honors in girls play at 133 with Lakeside finishing at 148 and Bryant at 171.

Playing at Longhills Golf Club on Tuesday, Aug. 18, the Bryant Hornets boys golf team finished third in a triangular match against Cabot and Benton.

Cabot took team honors with a composite score of 291 to Benton’s 298. Bryant finished at 313.