Survive and advance: Hoover girls golf heading back to OHSAA state tournament
CUYAHOGA FALLS — The Division I girls golf district tournament is always a beast.
Hoover's reward for surviving it is another trip to the state's biggest stage.
The Vikings finished fourth in a grueling round Wedneday at Brookledge Golf Club. A 345 was just enough to earn the final qualifying spot to next week's state tournament at Ohio State's Gray Course. They finished three strokes ahead of Aurora.
"We did enough to survive," Hoover head coach Scott Snyder said. "That's all that matters."
Kylie Porter led the Vikings with an 82. Ava Kemp shot 84, Ellie Hutzler finished with an 87 and Alyssa Evans came in at 92 to round out the scoring.
Snyder believes this is the eighth straight year Hoover has qualified its team or an individual to state. On a day when they weren't at their best, the 2023 Vikings found a way to hold on.
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"I thought we came in with a good game plan today," Snyder said. "It was all about team golf. We were just trying to make pars ... nothing crazy. I think we were 21 strokes ahead of Aurora after nine holes.
"We had two good stretches and two really bad stretches today. Unfortunately the bad stretches outweighed our good stretches. We're definitely capable of playing better than we did. I think the nerves and pressure got to them a little bit."
Porter, Kemp and Evans are all juniors. Hutzler will end her freshman season as a state qualifier. The lone senior is Olivia Pfannenschmidt, Hoover's No. 5 player Wednesday.
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Familiar surroundings at state may help ease some of the nerves. Porter, Kemp and Evans played on the Gray Course last year and helped lead the Vikings to an eighth-place finish.
"It's the highlight of the season," Porter said. "There are amazing players. Being around that environment with all those people and just playing on a really nice course is fun.
"Experiencing it before, will be better going into this year. We know different things on the course. The experience of being there and knowing we made it back there is the best part."
What will some of Hoover's goals be at state? One thing Snyder hopes the Vikings can do is break the program's 36-hole scoring record.
"We're realistic," Snyder said. "We know what other teams are like down there. We're trying to put our best foot forward."
Kemp was Hoover's top player at the Federal League and sectional tournaments. She shot 75s in both events, was the medalist at the league tournament and shared medalist honors with Jackson's Cara Murphy at sectionals.
Porter led the way this time. Earlier in the afternoon, she was in contention for medalist honors.
"It was a mental game," Porter said. "I started off really strong on the front. I had a couple of iffy holes, but just battling through and coming back really helped."
Reach Mike at mike.popovich@cantonrep.com
On X: @mpopovichREP
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Kylie Porter helps lead Hoover girls golf to OHSAA state berth
