CABOT — If any of the other competitors in the Class 7A girls state golf tournament had any thoughts of catching Summar Roachell for medalist honors Wednesday, those hopes ended when the Conway sophomore posted a double eagle early in the second round of the two-day event.
Roachell used a 5-iron from 167 yards out to hole her second shot on the 398-yard par 5 on the Mountain Ranch Golf Course at Greystone Country Club.
“I hit a 3-wood off the tee and pushed it a little, but it got a good kick and stopped in the middle of the fairway,” Roachell said. “Out here you have to keep the ball short of the pin. You can’t go long.
...I used the 5-iron, and I hit it exactly the way I wanted to with a little bit of a draw. It hit the front of the green and just rolled in.”
Roachell finished the second round with a 1-over-par 73 and the tournament with a 1-over 145. She started the day with a commanding sevenstroke lead and no one made up any ground on the defending champion. Olivia Lavy, a junior from Fayetteville, also fired a 73 on Wednesday and finished as the runner-up with a 152.
Fayetteville turned the team competition into a rout. The Lady Bulldogs earned their sixth consecutive state title with an impressive twoday score of 466, which was 71 strokes better than runner-up Conway.
Roachell, Lavy and Fayetteville senior Micah Radler (156) all qualified for the Overall tournament at Pleasant Valley Country Club in Little Rock, which is scheduled for Oct. 14.
The double eagle put Roachell at 3 under. She gave a stroke back on No. 7 and moved back to 3 under after a birdie on No. 11, but her round fell apart during the final five holes.
She bogeyed No. 15, missed a f ive-footer for birdie on No. 16, bogeyed No. 17 and then hit her third shot on the 417-yard finishing hole into the edge of the woods. Her double bogey on No. 18 was her only one of the tournament.
“Honestly, I don’t know what happened,” Roachell said. “Luckily, it didn’t cost me the tournament. I did almost everything else right. It all evened out.”
Roachell was 5-under on the front nine during the two days of the tournament, but shot a combined 6-over on the back nine.
Lavy turned in the most impressive back-nine score ofthe tournament on the final day. She was 2-under on the final five holes Wednesday, including a round-ending eagle No. 18.
“I was excited about that,” Lavy said. “It was a good day. ... I had a good drive and when I got to it, I knew I had the option of either laying up and going for the birdie or I could go for it and get on the green.
“I hit it just left of the green and I was thinking I could get it close enough for a birdie, but I chipped it in.”
Lavy had posted a 79 on Tuesday.
“I hit really solid [Tuesday], but a lot of my putts didn’t drop,” Lavy said. “Today I hit it pretty good and more of my putts dropped.”
While Roachell has hit two holes in one in her career, Wednesday’s double eagle was her first. But because of the shadows on the No. 5 green, Roachell did not see the ball fall into the cup.
“I heard my mom screaming,” Roachell said, “so I kind of guessed that it went in.”
Sports, Pages 26 on 09/30/2010