Ash Grove senior Allred takes third place at state, falls just short of fourth state title; Pirates golf prodigy to continue career at Pitt State University

Ash Grove senior Rylee Allred, three-time state champion in girls golf, finished third at the Class 1 state tournament at Paradise Point golf course last week, Oct. 19-20, breaking her streak of three straight state titles.
 
Allred, who has stacked up an impressive resume in the sport, will continue her golf career at Pittsburg State University next year. 
 
Coming into the 2026 girls golf season, Allred was on track to potentially become the first female golfer in the state to claim the championship four times in a row, but things were different this year, she said. 
 
“I’ve played with those girls before and they’ve beat me and I’ve beat them,” Allred said. “So honestly, it was anybody’s tournament.”
 
Coming into the tournament, heavy expectations were placed on Allred because of her past performances. Local media outlets also picked up the story as Allred’s story were broadcast on KY3, the Springfield News Leader, the Springfield Daily Citizen and others. They all spoke of Allred’s potential to make history. 
 
Allred said in an interview with the Commonwealth following the tournament that the widespread attention contributed to her nerves. 
 
“I was kind of trying not to think about it,” Allred said. “I was trying to just go into it thinking ‘this is just another tournament’ just to keep the nerves down.”
 
On the first day of the tournament, Allred was fairly happy with her performance. There were a couple of shots that didn’t go her way, she noted, but overall, she exhibited a strong showing, shooting two strokes over and finishing at 74 on the day. She was second place at the time, behind Laylah Bates, who shot for par at 72. 
 
Allred said that on the second day, the pressure started to get to her. She shot 81 strokes the next time around the course, which, despite falling short of her own expectations, still netted her an impressive third place finish at the championship. 
 
“[Coming into] the second day, I was down by two, so I think more thoughts were circling in my head,” said Allred. “So, the second day wasn’t as good … I had three doubles on the front, which, that’s obviously not what you want … I just think the pressure from that second day just made everything a lot worse.”
 
Allred finished behind first place, Bates, of School of the Ozarks and Heng Zhang, of Whitfield. Her final score was 155 strokes, positioning her one short of Zheng and just four strokes away from the first-place score of 151.
 
Allred was happy with her podium finish, but not necessarily her performance in the tournament, despite the stiff competition. 
 
“I’m not really going to be a sore loser about it because … a lot of people would love to be third place.”
 
Though her high school career has run its course, Allred has already made plans to continue her stellar career into college, committing to attend Pitt State, in Pittsburg, Kan. next year.
 
The college, she said, has impressive facilities for their golf program. She also sees it as a perfect middle ground, allowing her close proximity to her family, but not so much that she would be a live-at-home, commuting student. 
 
What Allred will pursue outside of the golf course is still undecided. She originally wanted to train to be a dental hygienist, but Pitt State does not offer such a program, so for now, she wants to wait and see.
 
Regardless of her future plans, Allred has left a mark on the girls golf program and the city of Ash Grove as a whole. She saw Collins Rust join the program last year, Allred’s sole teammate. Rust boasted an impressive performance at state as well this year, placing 19th overall, as a sophomore. She moved up 20 positions from last year’s tournament.
 
“Overall, I was very pleased with how Rylee played at the State Golf Tournament,” said Grant Williamson, Ash Grove golf coach. “Obviously her goal was to win. However, placing third, especially with all of the pressure on her to win, is still a great accomplishment. Collins Rust also participated in the state tournament and finished in 19th place just a few shots back from being All-State. This was a 20-place improvement from the previous year. That is a great trajectory for her to be on, and we hope she continues to see improvements for the next few years.”
 
Allred, with a third-place finish and three championships under her belt, will go down as one of the best high school golfers in state history. 
 
“I feel like it will have a good impact,” said Allred of her golf career thus far. “It’s a good story to tell.”