LITTLE ROCK — Conway’s Summar Roachell recovered from a near-disastrous start Tuesday and held on to win the Arkansas Women’s Golf Association Junior Championship.
Roachell, 15, shot 76-78-154 over the two rounds to win her second consecutive championship at Pleasant Valley Country Club in Little Rock.
Roachell also won last year’s tournament at Chenal Country Club in Little Rock.
“It feels good,” Roachell said. “I didn’t play how I wanted to and as good as I wanted to, but I got the job done.”
Roachell is the first repeat winner at the tournament since Valerie Luehrs won in 1993, 1994, 1995 and 1996.
Russellville’s Libby Croom was second at 78-79-157, while Clarksville’s Madison Talley was third at 78-80-158.
Shelby Daniels (84-77-161) won the first flight, Casey Ott (101) won the nine-hole division and Katelyn Dunstan (53) won the five-hole division.
Roachell, who won a spot in the U.S. Junior Girls Championship last week, was tied with Fayetteville’s Anna Grace Lavy after Monday’s first round.
Lavy fell off the pace with an 85 Tuesday.
Roachell didn’t get off to a smooth start Tuesday in a round that saw her fire her caddie early in the round and carry her own bag the remainder of the day.
Roachell made a double bogey on the first and third holes and a bogey on the fourth hole to start 5 over after the first four holes.
“I don’t think so,” Roachell said when asked if she could have gotten off to a worse start. “Five over through four is pretty bad. I got a couple bad breaks on one and three that really killed me, but I hung in there.”
After the par on the seventh hole, she made a birdie on the par-5 eighth hole to shoot 40 on the front nine.
“I got up and down from a bunker on No. 7 for a par. I can make pars if I miss the greens, and on No. 8 I made about a 10-footer for birdie,” Roachell said.
The tournament tightened up a bit when Talley made a hole in one on the 13th hole, but there just weren’t many birdies being made to put pressure on Roachell.
“On the back nine, I had some opportunities to make birdies but barely missed them,” Roachell said.
Roachell made bogeys on the 15th and 16th holes but finished up with pars on the 17th and 18th holes to hold on.
“I knew where my group was at, but I didn’t know where anybody else was at,” Roachell said. “Any of those girls in the championship flight can go low. On the last couple holes, I just wanted to make par.
“Those last three holes can really decide the tournament.”AWGA Junior Championship
Sports, Pages 24 on 06/30/2010