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Golf: Thothong sings state song: Megan's strong second round punches her ticket to Austin
BY Kevin Hageland, khageland@starlocalnews.com
Plano West golf head coach Rick Hardison first met sophomore Megan Thothong when she was in eighth grade.
"I'd heard of her, but I hadn't met her until one day when I was golfing with my son," he said. "This girl walked up and said, 'excuse me, are you coach Hardison?' I said, "yes I am, what can I do for you?' She just smiled and said, 'my name is Megan Thothong and I'm going to play golf for you next season.'
"I just loved that confidence."
"Megan played her heart out," Hardison said. "She really wanted this."
But qualifying for state individually wasn't the exact goal Thothong set entering regionals as the Lady Wolves were in the field after finishing second at the District 8-5A Tournament. That goal took a hit on Day 1 as West shot 333 and sat in eighth place, 27 strokes back of a three-way tie for first between Southlake Carroll, El Paso Eastwood and eventual regional champion Allen.
"It was really similar to how the boys tournament played out a couple days earlier," Hardison said. "It was windy on Day 1, but the weather was looking better for Day 2 so we challenged the girls to make a jump up like the boys (going from 10th to fifth place)."
And as their male counterparts had, the Lady Wolves showed improvement.
The quintet of Thothong, junior Ally Jones, sophomore Sara Kim, freshmen Joann Chung and Kaitlyn Fritz cut 18 shots off on Day 2 (315).
"Three of our girls had never been to this level before, so we were a little tight on Day 1 and that cost us," Hardison said. "But we played really well on Day 2 and got some good experience, especially being a younger team."
Unfortunately for West, plenty of other squads in the 16-team field improved their scores too, leaving the Lady Wolves tied for eighth.
While it became clear the team wouldn't advance to state, it was looking more like Thothong could.
"I talked to Megan before the round and told her with the good conditions she was really going to have to take it low," Hardison said. "I watched the scores coming in and it looked like she was in position. I caught up to Megan at the 15th hole and she said she was 2-under par, so I told her I needed another one or two shots."
Thothong carded a 70, tied for the third best score of the tournament, for a two-day total of 146.
"It was a nail-biter," Hardison said. "I was adding up all the scores in my head trying to figure out if she had made it."
Thothong's score was enough as she finished fourth and qualified for state.
"Megan was literally jumping up and down," Hardison said. "I knew she was not happy with that 76 on Day 1, but she was rolling on Day 2. It was something to watch, especially from a sophomore. And Megan is such a neat kid too, so to see her make it to state ... it's just a really great moment."
For Thothong, the focus now shifts to April 30-May 1 when the Class 5A State Tournament commences at Onion Creek Club Golf Course in Austin.
"State is at a new course this year and I hear its pretty tough," Hardison said. "But we aren't going to change a whole lot over the next week; we will continue to focus on all aspects of Megan's game."
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