Elizabeth Moon knew to have any chance at winning her third consecutive Arkansas State Golfers Association Junior Match Play Championship she would have to go through the player on the biggest roll this summer.
Moon, 16, of Forrest City was able to do just that, polishing off Taylor Loeb, 18, of Maumelle 4 and 3 in the semifinals to advance to today's championship at Eagle Hill Golf & Athletic Club in Little Rock. She will face Brooke Matthews of Rogers, who defeated Sydney Staton of Fort Smith 1 up in the other semifinal.
Loeb, who finished runner-up earlier this summer in both the Arkansas Women's Golf Association Match Play Championship and the ASGA Amateur Championship, never led in Wednesday's match, going 3 down at the turn and not getting any closer than 2 down the remainder of the way.
"I couldn't do anything about the way she was playing because she was playing great," said Loeb, a Mount St. Mary graduate who will play for Henderson State in the fall. "I am pretty proud of the way I played this summer, and it seems like things are really falling into place with my game."
The two had to wait out a one hour, 15-minute lightning delay after going all-square the first four holes. They matched each other shot-for-shot, especially off the tee where they would hit side-by-side, including the fifth when Moon's drive kissed off Loeb's in the center of the fairway. Moon won the par-4 fifth on her way to winning three of four holes to go 3 up after the eighth.
Loeb got a hole back on the par-5 10th with a bogey. The pair exchanged winning holes on the 11th and 12th, where Loeb curled in a 25-foot birdie to go 2 down, but her momentum was short-lived when she pushed her drive right into a hazard on the 13th. Moon stuck her tee shot at the par-3 14th to within 8 feet, made the birdie putt and took the match to dormie with four holes remaining.
"I'm not the best putter in the world, but I have been getting better and better," said the Wynne junior, who finished 13th in this year's junior amateur championship, 24 strokes behind Matthews. "I know tomorrow I am going to be nervous, but I feel like I have been playing decent lately and just have to be consistent."
Matthews, 17, and a senior at Rogers High School, jumped out early on Staton, 16, a junior at Fort Smith Southside, going 2 up after 5. Staton rallied to win the next four holes to go 2 up at the turn. Matthews fought back to even the match at the par-4 15th, then took the lead at 16.
After both bogeyed the par-4 17th, Matthews left the door open at the short par-5, 400-yard 18th, sending her drive through the fairway before punching out to the front of the green. Staton went over the flag about 15 feet and missed her eagle attempt coming back. Matthews got up and down for birdie from 20 yards out to seal the victory.
"I wasn't having a great day in the middle of the round and was making a lot of bogeys," Matthews said. "I felt good about punching out from where I was because I had to punch out a lot today. I knew I had to get my pitch close because she was making some good birdies today and knew she probably would at 18.
"I'm looking forward to playing Elizabeth. She's a good player, and I know we both are going have to play really well if we want to win it."
Sports on 07/21/2016