GEORGETOWN — Under normal circumstances, a second-place finish at the UIL state golf tournament would have a bittersweet taste. But that wasn’t the case for the Vandegrift Vipers, who finished three strokes behind Coppell in the Class 6A tournament Tuesday at White Wing Golf Club.
Truth be told, Vandegrift wasn’t expected to compete for gold this year. Coming off two straight 6A state championships, this was supposed to be a rebuilding year for the Vipers, who returned only one golfer from last year’s championship team.
Coppell’s Alicia Bellendir finished as the individual champion with a two-day score of 142 (69-73), two strokes ahead of Vandegrift’s Michaela Partridge (73-71). For the record, Coppell’s overall score was 607 (302-305). Vandegrift settled for second at 610 (302-308). Lake Travis earned team bronze with a score of 620 (320-300) while Westlake was fourth at 622 (309-313).
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Vandegrift, which trailed almost the entire afternoon, had a one-stroke lead entering the final hole as sophomore Addison Bandelier made birdies on Nos. 17 and 18. Bellendir helped ice the championship for Coppell with a birdie on the 18th.
If there was disappointment with Vandegrift, coach Aaron Ford didn’t let it show.
“Silver is always good,” Ford said. “We played our tails off. The girls gave it everything they had. We got beat by a great Coppell team. If you had told me at the beginning of this week if we would have had a chance to win it in the back nine, I would have taken it. We played our best golf at the end of the year. We came up a couple shots short, but I’m super happy for our team.”
About 10 minutes after her round ended, Partridge received hugs from her parents and showed a brief smile. But part of her was still disappointed she didn’t close out with the individual victory.
“It was a little bit disappointing, I’m not going to lie,” she said. “I’ve been working super hard the past few weeks and was looking forward to this tournament. But I’m not going to complain about being second overall in the state.”
Vandegrift should have another solid team next year with four players coming back: Navya Modi, Tiffany Wong, Bandelier and Partridge. The only player not returning is senior Shelly Areepitak.
“Our core is all coming back with our freshmen and sophomores returning,” Ford said. “We have a very talented eighth-grader (Ava Frazier) who will join us next year. It’ll be exciting to have her. She already knows our girls.”
As for Lake Travis, Grace Hall led the Cavaliers with a two-day score of 151 (75-76). Kaleigh Babineaux was next at 156 (80-76). Isabel Emanuels, who finished tied for fifth place, was the top Westlake player with a two-day score of 150 (71-79) while Ava Osborne finished at 151 (75-76).
Looking ahead, the UIL boys state tournaments will be Monday and Tuesday at White Wing.
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