photo by: Nick Krug

Lawrence High's Beatrice Lopez watches her drive from the 14th tee box on Monday, Oct. 3, 2016 at Lawrence Country Club.

Lawrence High sophomore golfer Beatrice Lopez overcame a difficult course on Monday at the Lawrence Country Club, carding her personal best score and the team’s lowest score of the season.

“For the first time ever our top golfer broke 100 today,” LHS coach Jennifer Schmitt said. It was the first score under 100 by an LHS golfer since 2013. “Making great gains from last week’s score at a much more difficult course.”

Lopez’s mark of 99 at the Free State Invitational was good enough to tie for 30th and ended up being eight strokes better than her score last week at Eagle Bend Golf Course for the Lawrence Invitational. Lopez shot a 121 in her first event of the season.

For her third varsity tournament of the year, Lopez had to deal with a tougher course. She overcame more narrow fairways and faster greens by consistently getting strong drives throughout the 18 holes.

“My drives were really good today,” Lopez said. “My putting wasn’t so good but I feel like my other shots made up for it. It’s my personal best and I’m really happy about that. I can only improve from here, so I’m really excited.”

Similar to last week, Lopez’s mindset going into Monday’s invitational was to just improve. She would go onto notch a 51 in her first nine, while punching a 48 in the back nine. Her back-nine mark is her lowest nine-hole feat of the season.

But Lopez wasn’t the only Lions golfer to shave off a few strokes. After shooting a 118 in her first varsity debut last week, Emily Johnson posted a 114 this time around. Johnson shot a 54 through the first nine holes but recorded a 60 on the back half.

“She did great,” Schmitt said. “She had some low holes out there where she didn’t let the difficulty of this course affect her. She just played through 18 holes quite well.”

Anne Goebel places 10th

Free State senior Anne Goebel shaved off three strokes from her previous personal best score of 90 — which was set last week at the Lawrence Invitational — en route to a 10th-place finish Monday.

“I think I did really well,” Goebel said. “It’s a personal-best score for me so I’m pretty happy. Then again, there is always something you can improve. Putting was kind of an issue but other than that, I’m pretty happy with how things turned out.”

photo by: Nick Krug

Free State's Tori Hoopingarner watches her drive from the 14th tee box on Monday, Oct. 3, 2016 at Lawrence Country Club.

Goebel shot a 45 on the first nine and a 42 in the back stretch to finish with an 87. Free State coach Layne Meyer said the biggest difference in her recent success has been her mindset as she’s playing more relaxed.

However, for the second straight week Goebel has left a chance to further lower her score with troubles on the green. Goebel struggled with a finding a rhythm putting all afternoon as she adjusted to the speed of the greens.

Junior Tori Hoopingarner joined Goebel as the only other Firebird golfer to shoot below a 100, with a mark of 99. Meanwhile, seniors Macie Reeb and Claire Yackley each carded a 116 and a 126, respectively.

Reeb finished tied for 69th while Yackley tied for 87th to help Free State to a ninth-place finish.

“As a team we did well,” Meyer said. “This course plays tough but on the whole, I’m proud of what they accomplished today.”

Free State Invitational

Monday at Lawrence Country Club

Team results: Shawnee Mission East 335, Topeka-Washburn Rural 351, St. James Academy 357, Olathe Northwest 368, Saint Thomas Aquinas 368, Mill Valley 369, Blue Valley West 379, Blue Valley NW 407, Free State 428, Blue Valley 430, Shawnee Mission NW 434, Olathe South 438, Olathe North 439, Blue Valley SW 451, Bishop Miege 467, Olathe East 471, Shawnee Mission South 487, Leavenworth 509.

Medalists: 1. Caroline Klemp, St. James, 73; 2. Megan Lucas, WR, 80; 2. Abby Glynn, WR, 80; 2. Haley Bell, SM East, 80; 5. Jessica Parker, SM East, 81; 6. Teagan Noblit, SM East, 83; 7. Rosie Klausner, Olathe NW, 84; 8. Victoria Klausner, Olathe NW, 85; 8. Molly Saporito, Blue Valley West, 85; 10. Anne Goebel, Free State, 87; 10. Tatum King, Aquinas, 87.

FSHS results: 10. Anne Goebel, 87; 30. Tori Hoopingarner, 99; 69. Macie Reeb, 116; 87. Claire Yackley, 126.

LHS results: 30. Beatrice Lopez, 99; 66. Emily Johnson, 114.