LITTLE ROCK — If Wednesday was Kaylee Benton’s farewell to the Arkansas golf scene, she made sure to leave on top.
With her family poised to move to Arizona, Benton won one final Arkansas State Golf Association title by racing to a early 3-up lead against Hannah Bakalekos en route to a 5-and-4 victory in the final of the Arkansas Junior Girls Match Play Championship at Eagle Hill Golf and Athletic Club in Little Rock.
“It’s awesome to go out this way,” Benton said. “I’ll definitely miss playing here.”
Fatigue set in over the final 15 holes for Bakalekos, 12, who played 33 combined holes in the semifinal and quarterfinal rounds. It resulted in an errant drive and three-putt in the first three holes that fed Benton’s momentum.
On No. 2, a 492-yard par 5 that doglegs right against a lake, Bakalekos’ drive found the rough on the left-hand side. She needed two iron shots after punching out of the Bermuda rough to find the green. But her par putt rolled past the cup, giving Benton an early 1-up lead.
A hole later, Bakalekos reached the green at No. 3 in two shots, while Benton’s second shot landed in a bunker at the front of the green and her chip didn’t escape the rough. But Bakalekos threeputted and Benton got upand-down for bogey to halve the hole.
At No. 4, Benton notched a par on the 135-yard par 3, while Bakalekos’ drive landed 5 yards short of the green and led to a bogey as Bakalekos fell 2 down. Three holes later, Benton took a 3-up lead when Bakalekos’ again missed a chance at No. 8 — a 559-yard par 5 — with a three-put par as Benton managed to get out of a bunker fronting the green to save par.
“I just couldn’t make putts,” said Bakalekos, whose caddie began whispering to her following each putt after that. “He kept telling me to just focus and block out what happened before.”
Pulling up to the back deck of the clubhouse after halving No. 9, Benton took relief from the heat and had a swig of water with one of her biggest leads at the turn.
“I putted better this match than I did in the morning,” Benton said. “She missed a few more, and that’s definitely the biggest lead I’ve had at a turn.”
Benton’s lead reached 4-up on No. 10 when she overcame an errant tee shot that rolled to the base of a pine tree in the rough and chipped back into the fairway with her second shot.
Despite a solid drive at the 515-yard par 5, Bakalekos’ second shot landed in deep rough near a pond, and her third shot found the green near Benton’s ball, which was 8 feet from the cup after her third shot spun back and held firm.
A birdie putt by Benton only buried Bakalekos deeper, and two poor iron shots on No. 11 — a 441-yard par 4 — left her short of the green and allowed Benton, who reached the green in three shots, to win the hole without striking a putt.
Benton’s only miscue was watching her tee shot on the 123-yard, par-3 12th find the water, and having to hit a second drive 80 yards in a ball drop area before eventually conceding the hole to Bakalekos.
“I hit it pretty sound,” Benton said. “I just didn’t have enough club, and it got kind of high and into the wind and it just went into the water.”
Not that it mattered much.
On No. 13, Bakalekos’ second shot at the 388-yard par 4 found the water, with the stroke added for taking a drop costing her the hole. Benton’s victory was all but assured at No. 14 after Bakalekos’ drive failed to clear the water at the 155-yard par 3.
Wednesday’s results
at Eagle Hill Golf and Athletic Club Little Rock Quarterfinals
Hannah Bakalekos, Sherwood def. Peyton Weaver, Benton 1 up Stephanie Leake, Little Rock def. Elizabeth Moon, Forrest City 3 and 2 Casey Ott, Conway def. Kirsten Garner, Hot Springs 5 and 4 Kaylee Benton, Cabot def. Lauren Johnson, DeWitt 4 and 3
Semifinals
Bakalekos def. Leake 3 and 2 Benton def. Ott 2 and 1
Championship
Benton def. Bakalekos 6 and 4
RESULTS from ASGA Boys Junior Match Play. Page 5C.
Sports, Pages 21 on 07/26/2012