By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
After a start delayed by an earlier extreme heat cancellation, the Southern Hills Athletic Conference got the 2026 Girls Golf Tournament in last week, Round one at Buckeye Hills on September 16 and the final round on September 18 at Hilltop. It was one of the tighter team races in recent history, coming down to the final few holes before the Manchester Lady Greyhounds pulled out a four-stroke win over second-place North Adams, West Union placed third overall giving Adams County the top three finishers.
After the first nine holes at Buckeye Hills, the Lady Hounds held a slim three-stroke lead over North Adams (203-206), with West Union lurking in third at 209. The Lady Dragons struggled at Hilltop and fell off the pace, while Manchester and North Adams battled it out, with the Lady Hounds hanging on to capture the SHAC crown.
The race for the individual champion and title of “SHAC Player of the Year” was also a tight one between Peebles’ Alyssa Smalley and Fairfield’s Kelsie Crowder. The two were tied at 39 after the first nine holes, but Smalley pulled away in the second round by shooting a 40 while Crowder carded 48, giving the Peebles senior the SHAC individual crown.
For the team champion Manchester, their top golfer in the tournament was junior Peyton Hayslip, who went a consistent 46-46 for a 92 total for the tourney, leaving her fourth overall while earning All-SHAC honors. The top 15 golfers earned All-Conference honors and joining Hayslip in that group were Bayleigh Spires (49-49-98), Hayden King (53-53-106) and Kenlee Truesdell (55-55-110).
“I’m super proud of this team,” said Manchester head coach Chaz Mack. “We’ve shown steady improvement all year. Most of the girls are multi-sport athletes so their time is stretched very thin. Over the last couple of weeks, the team decided they really wanted to make a run at the SHAC title and buckled down. We shot a 242 our first match of the year and ended with rounds of 203 and 200 in the SHAC matches. Which is a testament to how good these girls can be.”
“We had three girls (Bayleigh, Kenlee, and Hayden) all set personal bests in those matches. Some of them did it twice. Peyton was our steady presence at the top all year and she continued to be that for us this week. Joselyn Lucas is improving every day and she battled back in round 2. This is a very talented group of young ladies and they are great kids. I’m just thankful for the opportunity to coach them and super thankful to the parents for supporting and for the support from our administration.”
Congratulations to North Adams for an amazing effort and runner-up finish and to Alyssa Smalley for Player of the Year,” Mack added. “ I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do at sectionals and very fortunate to be bringing all of these girls back next year!”
Runner-up North Adams was led by the solid play of senior Brooklyn Mahan, who finished fifth overall with a total score of 93 (46-47). Mahan was joined on the All-SHAC Team by teammates Lilly Parker (50-47-97) and Brynlee Willett (52-46-98).
Third place West Union placed three girls on the All-Conference, led by the feel-good story of Raeghan Rothwell, who finished third on the overall individual leader board, shooting a 91 for the tournament (45-46). The Lady Dragons also placed senior Geneva DeMint (47-48-95) and Kelsey Mack ( 55-61-116).
All of the county girls golf teams were back in action on Tuesday, September 22, starting the postseason in the Division II sectionals, back at Buckeye Hills.
2026 SHAC Girls Tournament
Team Standings: Manchester 403, North Adams 407, West Union 426, Eastern Brown 498, Ripley 517
All-Conference Team: Alyssa Smalley, Peebles (79); Kelsie Crowder, Fairfield (87); Raeghan Rothwell, West Union (91); Peyton Hayslip, Manchester (92); Brooklyn Mahan, North Adams (93); Geneva DeMint, West Union (95); Lilly Parker, North Adams (97); Bayleigh Spires, Manchester (98); Brynlee Willett, North Adams (98); Hayden King, Manchester (103); Danica Kirk, Eastern Brown (105); Kenlee Truesdell, Manchester (110); Carissa DeWitt, Fayetteville (112); Olivia Smith, Ripley (115); Willow Smith, Lynchburg (116); Kelsey Mack, West Union (116)
Leave a Reply