As soon as she finished her 18 holes, Free State High sophomore Kelly Morris wrung out her drenched golfing towel.

“It was pretty wet out there,” said Morris, who shot a 115. “It was pretty tough. It was freezing outside. My hands kept on slipping off the clubs.”

Twenty-two Kansas schools, including Free State and Lawrence High, played through Thursday’s rain at the Lawrence High School Invitational at Alvamar Golf Course.

Golfers noted the difficulty in gripping their clubs. Players had to transfer their scores to a new scorecard because their old ones became soaked. Saturated greens slowed down each putt.

Despite that adversity, two local players notched their career bests.

One week after posting a 94 at the Firebird Invitational, Free State junior Katy Hoffman tied her all-time mark.

“I was actually surprised to hit that well with the weather,” Hoffman said. “I thought my shots would be off.”

Hoffman had never played in rain before. Although she said she would need to improve her approach shots, she accomplished her goal by hitting a 94.

“She matched her career low on a demanding course and under very demanding weather conditions,” Free State coach Craig Hershiser said. “That speaks pretty well for her.”

Playing in the same group as Hoffman helped junior Kalli McClure achieve the best LHS score of the day with a 96. Did the LHS-Free State pairing lead to bitterness?

“There’s not really much rivalry at all,” said McClure, who has known Hoffman since the duo went to school together at Southwest Junior High. “We had a fun group, so it was pretty relaxed.”

McClure and her teammates practiced at Alvamar, and she said that her familiarity with the course helped Thursday.

“I knew the course pretty well,” she said.

McClure used woods instead of a driver, but her short game fueled her performance. She called her putting “the best it’s ever been.” The junior ignored the conditions and focused on her game instead. As a result, she shot 20 points lower than ever before.

“I’m very impressed with the way she came out and played,” LHS coach Mike Lewis said.

Tournament officials never suspended play. If lightning had appeared, they would have done so.

“You have a lot of people walking around with a lot of steel in their hands,” Hershiser said.

During the Lawrence invite, each team put the scores of the four best individuals toward its cumulative score, and LHS finished with a team score of 429. Besides McClure, Samantha Hayes posted a 100, Katie Grom posted a 118, Libby Queen posted a 132, Kristen Ohlimeier posted a 139 and Charli Garzillo posted a 115.

Free State totaled 435, with Grace Brahler scoring 109 and Weatherly Butler scoring a 117 in addition to Morris’ and Hoffman’s scores.

Manhattan, Blue Valley North and Overland Park Aquinas posted the best three team scores, respectively, and Blue Valley North’s Rachel Halloran had the best individual score with a 76.

The local girls did not earn medals but displayed their mettle by slugging it through environs better suited for football than golf.

“Under tough conditions our kids went out and competed fairly well,” Hershiser said. “It was a learning experience.”