Both as a freshman, and as a junior, Cicero-North Syracuse girls golfer Brianna Sovring earned the right to play deep into June and appear in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association championship tournament.
Now, as a senior, Sovring had one more chance to experience the unique pressure of a state tournament, returning to the SUNY-Delhi course to play again in the biggest event of the spring – and coming home as part of Section III’s first-ever team that would claim a state title.
Sovring was part of an experienced Section III roster, with five others – Auburn teammates Larissa Carter, Lindsay May and Kaitlyn Hlywa, plus Baldwinsville’s Katie Walsh and Jamesville-DeWitt’s Molly Hair – all possessing state tournament experience.
Yet that didn’t help Sovring much in Saturday’s opening round. She was only able to make one par on the front nine, at the 8th hole, and turned in 45 before pars on 11 and 12 marked her best totals on the back nine on her way to another 45.
Sovring’s 90 left her tied for 46th place, well off the pace set by co-leaders Chelsea Dantonio (Section VI) and Emily Doyle (Section IV), who led with two-over-par 74. Carter, the two-time Section III individual champion, was one shot off the lead following a first-round 75, with May three shots back at 77.
Those struggles carried over into Sunday’s final round, where in a shotgun start Sovring teed off on 10 and made a triple bogey on 13. She turned in 46, but improved to a 42 on her final nine holes, helped by a birdie on the par-five 3rd hole.
Finishing with an 88, Sovring’s two-round total of 178 moved her into a tie for 44th place, but still helping the Section III team to first place as, at the front, May, just an eighth-grader, was putting on an awesome display.
May was two over through four holes (she started on the 2nd hole), but then played the remaining 14 holes in five under part with four birdies, an eagle on the par-five 9th and just one bogey.
Shooting a three-under-par 69 (a course and Section III record for the tournament), May finished at 146, two over par, three shots ahead of Dantonio, to earn the state individual title.
Carter shared eighth place, with 156, with New Hartford seventh-grader Sydney Bard tied for 14th (160), Baldwinsville’s Katie Walsh tied for 30th (158), with Sovring followed by two more Auburn players, Hlywa (185) and Alayna Slayton (189).
