Ada High School girls golf coach Ron Anderson would love to know what his relatively inexperienced team is getting itself into heading towards its Class 4A Regional Tournament set for April 27 at the Jimmie Austin Golf Course in Seminole.
But he doesn’t. Not exactly anyway.
“We know about most of the teams in our regional from this area because we’ve seen them in the same tournaments,” Anderson said. “But those teams in our regional from the east side of the state are a mystery. Many coaches will not post their scores as required so we just don’t know.”
Ada — ranked No. 12 in Class 4A — must finish in the Top 3 at the regional to qualify for the Class 4A State Tournament, scheduled for May 5-6 at the Buffalo Rock Golf Course in Hennessey.
Joining Ada in the Seminole Regional will be Catoosa, Madill, Manford, Muldrow, Pauls Valley, Seminole, Sulphur and Tecumseh.
Anderson said he was pleased with the Lady Cougars’ draw, but know they will have to be at the top of their game to finish in the Top 3.
“The OSSAA always throws some curveballs when assigning regionals,” Anderson said. “When assignments were first released, I felt we were in pretty good shape. A week later they add Catoosa and now I have no idea.”
Anderson said No. 5 Pauls Valley is the favorite to win the regional and No. 14 Seminole should be a contender playing on its own home course.
“That leaves us, Manford, Muldrow, Catoosa and Sulphur for that third spot,” he said.
The Lady Cougars played a tournament at Seminole earlier this spring, but that event was rained out after nine holes. Anderson will take his troops to Seminole this week for a practice round.
“We didn’t learn all that much about the course or the teams in it. So as we’ve always done, we’ll travel to Seminole this week for a practice round,” he said. “Just maybe those east teams will not make the long trip for a practice round giving us an advantage.”
The Lady Cougars have played in seven total tournaments and have finished in the middle of the pack each time.
“I’m very proud of our improvement we’ve made this season,” Anderson said. “Unfortunately all other teams’ scores are improving also. Thus, we never really moved up compared to our competition. Now we must work really hard this week focusing on things we need to improve on before regionals.”
