RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas –
Two Randolph High School golfers had respectable showings in their first state tournament last week.
Brother and sister Jared and Jessica Cornish finished in the top 20 and top 30, respectively, at the Class 2A state golf championship held May 5 and 6 at Roy Kizer Golf Course in Austin.
Jared, a senior, finished 17th in the boys division with a total score of 163 by shooting a 79 in the first round and an 84 in the second. Jessica, a junior, ended up 27th in the girls division with a first round score of 94 and an 87 in the second, for a total of 181.
Jared and Jessica were the first Randolph golfers to advance to state since the early 1990s.
Randolph coach, Mike Miller, said before the state tournament he hoped both brother and sister would have good memories of state.
"I look forward to them having a good time and enjoying the experience, which is a once- in-a-lifetime thing," Miller said.
Before teeing off his first shot at state, Jared said he went in with the attitude that he was not going to hold anything back while on the course.
"Since I am a senior, I can't say that I have until next year," he said. "I need to go out there and leave it on the course."
Jared and Jessica advanced to state after finishing as the second-place boys and girls individual qualifiers, respectively, at the Region IV-2A tournament held in San Marcos, Texas, at Quail Creek Country Club April 21-22.
At the regional tournament, Jared earned his ticket to state with a 73 in the first round and a 79 in the second, for a total of 152. He ended up five strokes behind the first-place individual qualifier, Douglas Mach of Boling, Texas, who finished with 147.
Jared said his putting game enabled him to shoot a 73 the first day and finish strong on the back nine in the second round at the regional tournament.
"I wanted to keep my scores in the 70s," he said. "The first day I was nervous on the first holes, but I started to shoot some birdies and I got into a groove. I had six birdies that day, so that helped."
Jessica came on strong the second day of the regional tournament by improving her first day score by six strokes. She shot a 94 in the first round and came back with an 88 in the second, for a total of 182. Jessica's second day finish was enough for her to beat out another girl by one stroke for the final state individual qualifier spot.
Miller said Jessica was not bothered by her struggles early in the regional tournament and was able to pull herself together in the second round.
"She had a lot of confidence in herself and used her course management well," Miller said. "If she made a bad shot, she took her medicine and went on to the next shot."