The Prescott Cardinals girls golf team traveled to Madison on Monday to play in the state tournament at University Ridge Golf Course.

This is the Cardinals’ fourth straight year reaching the state tournament, having won the last three in a row, and scores were generally higher than the team would have liked in their first round. Head Coach Chad Salay said he’s happy with the results as Prescott was actually down five strokes going into day two of tournament play at this time last year.

“Today, we finished with a 12-stroke lead. At the end of the day, that’s all that matters is having that lead versus having a deficit,” Salay said. “I feel like we could have stretched maybe a little bit more, but it's a lead, so we'll take it.”

Salay said the course has played differently this year than they’ve seen in years past when it has been generally a wetter course compared to how dry it is this year, but he thought they were in a really good spot heading into the second round.

“It really wasn't like the course was playing necessarily harder, but we just put ourselves in hard situations by hitting some shots that we don't normally see out of us,” Salay said. “For round two we're going to take some different clubs off tees on a couple of holes, just to play it a little bit more safe and kind of get around without making some of those big numbers that we made today. We have a good plan overall, it's just some sometimes you need to adjust a little bit.”

Prescott number one golfer Gabbi Matzek led the team in score on Monday shooting an 85 and tying for seventh overall. She played especially well on par 3’s and 5’s where she posted just +4 on the day on those holes.

Jeanne Rohl finished with an 89, tied for second on the team with Layla Salay. These two golfers made their hay on the long holes on Monday with Salay finishing first in the tournament in score on par 4’s and Rohl finishing fifth on par 5’s.

“The wind was so unpredictable. On hole 17 the coaches and I were talking about what club we should hit because the wind would push it and then it would come back and then push it again. It was a challenge today,” Rohl said.

Macy Reiter and Lydia Feran rounded out Prescott’s starting five, shooting 94 and 91 respectively. Reiter mentioned the weather as a detriment but sayid there’s an element of high-pressure situations and nerves in her first state competition as well.

In total, the Cardinals have three golfers playing in their first state competition including two freshmen, Salay and Reiter. Even though this was Rohl’s second year playing at the highest level, it is her first year as one of the upperclassmen and leaders for the Cardinals.

“Last year, we kind of were under the wings of our three seniors, and it's been a lot different, but in a good way,” Rohl said. “I don’t even worry about these girls, I know they have my back. That was one of our main points of this year, that we play for each other and support each other, and we’re going to stay positive no matter what happens. And, I mean, we’re not losing any seniors next year, so I think the experience is really what was special for us today.”

Competition continues in Madison on Tuesday after the Journal’s press time with Prescott needing just one more good round to win state for the fourth straight year. See next week’s edition for a full report.