All five Lady Tigers setting sights on state golf

FROM LEFT: Nevada High School golfers Riley Severance and Libby Barrett play a practice round at Frank E. Peters Municipal Golf Course earlier this month.

Photo by Hank Layton | Daily Mail Sports Reporter

Each golfer at Nevada High School has something different about her game she is focused on improving this fall.

Senior Katie Pennington, for example, is looking for better consistency off the tee box. Sophomore Paige Hertzberg wants to work on her putting. Even freshman Emree Cameron, one of the top-ranked players in the state, has been shoring up her pitch game.

One thing the Lady Tigers all agree on, though, is that this should be a special year for the program.

Pennington, Hertzberg, and junior Riley Severance are all returning state qualifiers from a season ago, with their sights set on another trip, while Cameron is an accomplished junior player who will likely be the favorite to win every round she plays in her high school career.

Even the team’s fifth golfer, senior Libby Barrett, has lofty expectations for 2021.

“I want my senior year to be the first year I go to state,” she said.

FROM LEFT: Nevada High School golfers Katie Pennington and Paige Hertzberg play a practice round at Frank E. Peters Municipal Golf Course earlier this month.

Photo by Hank Layton | Daily Mail Sports Reporter

Nevada head coach Brian Leonard shared his team’s optimism, that four, if not all five, golfers could compete for a state championship. But as much fun as the last tournament of the season might be, the first one could feature more fireworks.

“It’s going to be a good test, a good competition, which I like to see,” said Leonard, whose squad will open the season on Sept. 1 at a tournament hosted by Springfield Catholic, which has one of the best golfers in Class 3 in reigning state champion Reagan Zibilski.

Fortunately for the Lady Tigers, they’ll be in Class 2.

That means Cameron won’t have to worry about battling Zibilski (who she knows but has never played against) or for that matter Audrey Rischer (one of her best friends who plays at Father Tolton, also 3A) for an individual state title.

Then again, Cameron has bigger goals than just winning tournaments and MSHSAA championships — such as breaking school records and hitting her first hole-in-one.

Nevada High School golf coach Brian Leonard joins Emree Cameron for a practice round at Frank E. Peters Municipal Golf Course earlier this month.

Photos by Hank Layton | Daily Mail Sports Reporter

At the same time, she’s looking forward to just being part of a team.

“This summer, I played on the Missouri four-state team and it was really enjoyable,” Cameron said. “So, I’m hoping to see how being on a team this year will be for college, and to have fun. I’ve been looking forward to it.”