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Tigers take top honors
9/30/2009
By CONOR NICHOLL
cnicholl@dailynews.net
Fort Hays State University sophomore Kiley Johansen has been the Tigers' top golfer this season and was an all-state player at Hays High School. Johansen, though, could never break 79 for 18 holes.
"I have always said I have this curse of 79, because every time I break 80, it's a 79," she said.
On Monday, Johansen broke through, firing a 78 in the first round at the Fort Hays Invitational at Smoky Hill Country Club. On Tuesday, Johansen shot 79 for a 157 and won the tournament by 11 shots over Sara Wissing from University of Nebraska-Kearney.
Johansen was the lone golfer in the three-team field of Fort, UNK and Regis (Colo.) University to shoot in the 70s in any round.
"It's awesome when your team wins," Johansen said. "Really good feeling and then when you win, I won a tournament last year and it's just a big surprise. It's just amazing. I didn't win much in high school and in college, I am like, 'I just won a college tournament, that's cool.' "
Fort Hays, which won the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference championship last spring, took home team honors with a 699. Sophomore Samantha Nielsen finished third with rounds of 82 and 88 to finish at 170.
"She is really hitting the ball well, I think we will see some good scores out of her," Tiger coach Rich Guffey said. "Good competition between her and Kiley right now. They are both playing really well."
Junior Melinda Schremmer collected a ninth place finish with a 185, while freshman Carmen Thompson was 10th at 187.
Regis shot a 713, while UNK fired a 744. At one time, Guffey was expecting more teams.
"We started this tournament a little late and I was hoping to get four or five," Guffey said.
"Because there wasn't anything close by, we thought we would decide to have our own and see if it would work. It didn't work for a lot of people, but we like this day and we are going to try to keep it on the calendar."
Johansen, who finished tied for 19th out of 54 players at the season-opening Northeastern State Women's Classic and tied for 15th in a 52-player field at the Colorado State University-Pueblo meet, defeated 14 other golfers to win Fort Hays' meet.
"Even if it is small, I think sometimes it is almost harder to win the small one because sometimes people will ask you, what place did you get," she said.
"(I'll say), 'second.' (They'll ask) 'how many teams? 'three,' she said. "It's almost harder because you either did the best, the worst or shot OK."
The win was Fort Hays' first this fall. Johansen had now improved in every tournament, shooting a 180, 174 and 157 and has led the Tigers in the last two meets.
"I think she is just starting to get a good feel for it and seems like her competitiveness has been up a little bit," Guffey said. "She is starting to play how we expected her to. I think she has just more consistent overall. She is just really hitting the ball well. She has lipped out some putts (Monday). I think she could have been much lower if a few putts would have gotten lucky. She is starting to hit it well."
Johansen has made several adjustments and improvements this season. She received a new set of Ping G5 Irons last year, along with a Ping driver and a Ping hybrid.
""I am a Ping girl all the way," she said with a smile. "That is how I have been raised."
In addition, Johansen has practiced often with her father, Tom, a Fort Hays professor and a longtime golfer. The two have played since Johansen was in elementary school.
"I really started to hit my irons solid, and so I hit those pretty solid (Monday) and I think just right around the greens have really improved," she said. "Me and my dad have been practicing a lot on my short range and that has definitely helped.
"(Sunday), when we played our practice round, I made a bunch of pars and I was like, it's really easy even when you miss the green, just to chip it up close and make the putt," she added. "I think my short game has really improved so far."
Johansen has played Smoky Hill since she was young and played the course every day in high school with Hays High. She has spent more time at Smoky Hill than any of the golfers on the three teams at the tournament.
"I've been everywhere on this course, it seems like," she said. "On six, if I go way right, I know how to play it and it's not hard to get out of trouble because I have played it so many times, and I have had my fair share of trouble. I think it is probably a little bit of an advantage."
On Monday, though, Johansen was rarely in trouble. Johansen knew she was playing well, but didn't know her score. On the 18th hole, she had a birdie putt.
"I kind of jokingly said through my mind that this putt is probably going to be for a 78 and I'll miss it," she said. "Then I go up and make it, and I had no idea what I was shooting. I didn't know the numbers, I hadn't added it up, so I try not to. I added it all up for a 78 and I was like, 'awesome.' That's really exciting."
| Scoreboard | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sport | Date | Opponent | Score |
| 2/18 | SW Baptist | L 66-53 | |
| 12/1 | Oklahoma - Panhandle | L 66-60 (OT) | |