Cowgirl golf ready for first state tournament team appearance since 2015

COPPELL, TX – Coppell head girls golf coach Jan Bourg saw something from her Cowgirls last month at the Region 1-6A Tournament that she hadn’t seen in quite some time: confidence.

The players believed in themselves and every shot that they hit was with a purpose in mind. That belief gave the Cowgirls the momentum that they needed to finish on top.

Trailing Hebron by one stroke after the first day of the two-day tournament, Coppell rallied past the Lady Hawks on day two and then held off a strong charge by Southlake Carroll to finish with a two-day total score of 606. The Cowgirls defeated the Lady Dragons (614) by eight strokes to capture first place in the team standings.

“Of course, we were excited to win,” Bourg said. “It’s always nice to beat your rivals in district and Southlake has always been Coppell’s rivals. But the first thing that I noticed, in a long time, is that they got their confidence back.  They didn’t like losing by 24 strokes at districts. They knew they could play better. It was just a matter of going out and doing it. I’m hoping that we can carry it over into the state tournament.”

Coppell traveled to Georgetown on Saturday and will get in a practice round today at Legacy Hills Golf Club before teeing off in the Class 6A state tournament at 9:10 a.m. Monday.

Familiarity with that course should benefit the Cowgirls. Sunday’s practice round will mark the sixth time that these group of Cowgirls will have played at Legacy Hills, including three times for the state preview tournament.

But, for all of the time that Coppell had to acquaint itself with Legacy Hills, this week will mark the first time that this group of Cowgirls will participate there for a state tournament.

Coppell is at state for the first time as a team since 2015 and the last time that the Cowgirls had an individual participate at the state level came back in 2017. Coppell alum Grace Do, who is currently in her senior season playing women’s golf for TCU, qualified for the final high school tournament of the season for the fourth consecutive year.

Do was a sophomore when Coppell reached the tournament in 2015.

Coppell was in the lead going into the final few holes but was overtaken by eventual champion Austin Westlake, which bested the Cowgirls by eight strokes. It was the third straight year that Coppell had placed in the top four, placing fourth overall in both 2013 and 2014.

Bourg believes that this year’s team has the chance to be just as good.

“I knew three years ago when this year’s juniors were freshmen that we had the chance to be good,” she said. “I already had two solid sophomores and then I had this group of freshmen come in. I was like, ‘Wow, we’ve got some real potential.’”

Coppell flashed its potential at regionals. Seniors Chelsea Romas, a Texas Tech signee, and Jamie Welsh, an Oklahoma City University pledge, both shot 148 and placed third and fourth, respectively, after a playoff. Juniors Mia Gaboriau (154) and Lauren Rios (156) each carded rounds of 80 or less. Sophomore Rylie Allison wasn’t too far off that pace, posting scores of 85 on day one and 81 on day two.

Bourg said that Hebron, Carroll, The Woodlands, Katy Seven Lakes, San Antonio Reagan and Austin Westlake are all expected to challenge Coppell for supremacy at the state tournament.

“If we medal at state, I think that every girl would be satisfied with that accomplishment,” Bourg said. “Winning it all is not easy. But, if we finish in the top three, I think that we would be proud of that. I would call that a successful season, a successful three-year run.”