By Mike London
mike.london@salisburypost.com

GREENSBORO — East Rowan’s girls golf team placed third in the 3A Central Regional held at Greensboro National on Monday and qualified for next week’s state championships at Longleaf Golf & Family Club in Southern Pines.

East shot 265.

Seniors Camryn Corriher and Carmen Fraley fired 82s and tied for eighth place.

“They played smart, strategic golf,” East head coach Rhett Teems said. “They were steady. They avoided trouble on a course where there’s a lot of potential trouble. There’s lots of water and a lot of fairways are lined with woods.”

The top three scores count toward the team score. East’s third scorer was senior Hailey Fesperman, who shot 101.

Also competing for East were Megan Graham (106) and Victoria Lewis (114).

Competing as individuals, Carson’s Sophia Brown shot 92, while Kaiya Addison shot 98. Brown was one of 17 individual qualifiers to advance to the state event.

Northwood’s Katharina Floyd, who tied for second in the state meet in 2017, shot 71 for individual honors.

Northern Guilford shot 233 to pace the team scoring. Rockingham was second at 239. East finished third by six strokes over fourth-place East Chapel Hill (271).

Teems said the Greensboro National course was in surprisingly good condition after the hurricanes. He commended those who worked to get the course in shape.

The front nine is easier than the back. There also was a considerable amount of wind to deal with when the Mustangs reached the back nine.

“The girls handled the wind beautifully,” Teems said.

Corriher’s putter was cold early, but she got that under control.

It was fairways and greens for Fraley, who sailed along with very few issues.

“This was probably the most complete 18 holes I’ve ever seen Carmen play,” Teems said.

East was able to qualify Corriher and Fraley for the state tournament as individuals last year, but the Mustangs didn’t make it as a team.

This time Fesperman gave them the third score they needed.

“On the back nine here, you have to hit it really straight or you want to hit a fade (left to right),” Teems explained. “Hailey’s tendency is to hit a draw (right to left), and she was finding some trouble. She had a few rough holes on the back nine, but she hung in there and played steady. She gave us a good team score.”

It’s been a banner year for the Mustangs, the North Piedmont Conference and Rowan County champs, and now it continues.

The 3A championships are next Monday and Tuesday.