With the sun beating on their faces, the crowd whispering, and the thought of missing the small ball, golfers didn’t let these distractions stop them from doing well at the Sachse High School Girls Invitational Golf Tournament at Waterview Golf Club on Valentine’s Day.

Freshman Maddie McCrary shot a one under par 71.

“She was in a three way tie for first with two golfers from Plano West High School,” Golf Coach Bryan Townley said.

In a score card playoff that took six holes to determine a winner, McCrary finished in second place.

“Maddie has really worked hard on her short game,” Townley said, “She has improved tremendously over the last couple months with her confidence around the greens.”

Townley said she has potential to be one of the top golfers in the district this year.

The boys took the greens on Tuesday. They improved their team score by more than 20 strokes from their last tournament, which was last fall. The team placed fourth.

Freshman Eric Valenzuela placed fifth with a 79 and sophomore Chris Black placed tenth with an 82. Junior Dalton Hicks shot a personal best, a 91. Sophomore David Song fought through back pains to shoot a 92, and freshman Brandon Henson shot a 92 in his first varsity tournament.

“All the boys played well,” Townley said, “Our goal this year was to improve each week with our team score and our individual scores. We are looking forward to continuing to improve and try to reach our goal of playing our best golf at the end of the season in April.”