Lady Indians again sweep golf honors
It was just a year ago that the Hays High School girls golf team swept through the Western Athletic Conference fall tournament schedule, winning the championship, and taking both Player of the Year honors with then junior Taleia McCrae and veteran Mark Watts earning Coach of the Year laurels.
This time, the scenario was nearly identical as the Lady Indians won all five of the WAC tournaments to have a perfect score of 25 points, but this time it was another Hays player, and another junior, Katie Dinkel, who garnered the top WAC honor as Player of the Year. That also earned Watts a repeat COY award.
Watts has been guiding the Lady Indians golf program for more than three decades and it is no surprise that his efforts continue to produce outstanding individuals and teams nearly every season. The 2021 campaign was no exception.
Golf and Dinkel go hand in hand, with her father Jeff being an active player and her older sister Karee having been the WAC Player of the Year in 2017. All in the Family.
Photo Courtesy Brad Nading/Garden City Telegram
“Winning WAC Player of the Year is a great accomplishment for me,” Dinkel said in a telephone interview. “I don’t know if I would have won if Taleia had been able to play all of the tournaments, but it’s good that we still had somebody from our team step up and play well.”
McCrae missed two WAC tournaments due to illness yet still finished eighth to earn a second-team all-WAC award.
“We put in a lot of hard work this season and we’ve had a good run in the WAC,” Dinkel said. “Our team has a lot of depth and we are pretty dedicated at practice and it pays off in the tournaments.”
McCrae is the only senior on this year’s team so the 2022 edition of the Lady Indians will be pretty tough to beat in the conference.
“I’m pretty lucky to have a lot of support from my dad and my sister,” Dinkel said of the family golf dynamics. “I’ve looked up to her and wanted to do as good as her. My dad helps more with my game and Kari is my most supportive person for the mental part of the game. She reminds me to just have fun, which sometimes is difficult to do.”
Dinkel was the individual winner in three tournaments this past season and had two runner-up finishes, one third, one fourth and a fifth. She never finished out of the top 10 in any tournament, closing out her junior year with a tie for ninth at the Class 5A state championship where her team placed second.
She said she had improved in virtually every area of her golf game from her sophomore to junior seasons and looked for continued improvement heading to her senior year.
“The best part of my game during WAC this year was my chipping and putting,” Dinkel said. “But more toward the end of the season it was my ball-striking. Just in time for state, I’m feeling pretty good.”
Dinkel said making strides in golf was sometimes slower than she would like.
“It’s just all the little details that you want to clean up so you can play more consistently,” she said. “Ball position, aiming, those are things that you need to refine.”
Dinkel had high praise for the support she received from McCrae when her senior teammate was out of the lineup.
“She’s just the best teammate and always wanted me to do well and when it was apparent I had a chance, she really wanted it for me,” Dinkel said of her senior teammate.
The race to the Player of the Year award was razor-thin as Dinkel edged out another junior, Garden City’s Ryann Warren, by the thinnest of margins.
In five events, the total stroke differential was only two strokes and that came in the final 9-hole event in Liberal where Dinkel shot a 40 and Warren a 42.
The WAC race awards 15 points for a first-place finish, 14 for second and reduces a point for every placement through 15th. At the end, Dinkel’s point total was 70 and Warren’s was 68.5.
Dinkel’s consistency was demonstrated by the fact that she had only one score all season over 85 while her low score of 76 came in winning the Buhler Invitational. Her season stroke average for 18 holes was 80.2.
Watts has had his fair share of outstanding golfers throughout his coaching career at Hays, and says that Dinkel’s commitment to the game has been one her strongest assets to the program.
“Her season has been great,” Watts said. “She’s placed in the top 10 in every tournament and has been our most consistent player. Being WAC Player of the Year shows how strong of a player she is.”
Watts said that with Dinkel leading the way, his Lady Indians had achieved three of the main goals established for 2021 – winning their own invitational, winning the WAC and winning regional (5A). The runner-up finish at state was icing on the cake.
The Lady Indians scored a perfect 25 points (5 points for each WAC tournament win), with Dodge City placing second with 18.5 points, Garden City third at 16.5, Great Bend fourth with 9 and Liberal fifth with 6 points.
“All six of our girls made first or second team all-WAC,” Watts said. “That’s impressive and just shows how deep our team has been.”
Girls Golf Final Team Standings
| Team | Points | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hays | 25 |
| 2 | Dodge City | 18.5 |
| 3 | Garden City | 16.5 |
| 4 | Great Bend | 9 |
| 5 | Liberal | 6 |
2021 WAC All-Conference Girls Golf
| First Team | School | Class | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Katie Dinkel | Hays | Jr. | 70.0 |
| Ryann Warren | Garden City | Jr. | 68.5 |
| Ashlyn Armstrong | Dodge City | Jr. | 55.5 |
| Abbie Norris | Hays | So. | 53.0 |
| Tiley Fry | Dodge City | Sr. | 50.5 |
| Evyn Cox | Hays | So. | 41.5 |
| Second Team | School | Class | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Claire Humphrey | Hays | Jr. | 40.5 |
| Taleia McCrae | Hays | Sr. | 40.0 |
| Jaycee Oakley | Hays | Fr. | 34.0 |
| Allyson Kaiser | Great Bend | Sr. | 30.5 |
| Allie Sandoval | Garden City | Sr. | 21.5 |
| Emma Ortiz | Garden City | So. | 21.5 |
