Brooke Matthews had a safe enough lead on the final hole of the Arkansas State Golf Association Junior Championship that a bad kick over the green on her approach shot on the par-4 9th didn't dampen her spirits.
The Rogers High School senior finished Thursday with a bogey, clinching a six-shot victory.
Then she got a congratulatory hug from Conway's Casey Ott, who was watching from the side. It was Ott who beat Matthews by a stroke in October at the girls' High School Overall Championship at the same Pleasant Valley Country Club.
The boys side got dicier on its final hole. Lake City's Thomas DePriest III's par on the 18th was enough to hold off Palmer Hays by a stroke. DePriest's three-shot lead dropped to one after a double bogey on the par-4 15th.
Hays, of Fayetteville, gave a shot back on the par-3 17th, then had his eagle chip on the 18th come up short, giving the championship to DePriest with a 4-over 76 for the round and a 4-over 148 for the tournament.
Matthews, who has orally committed to the University of Arkansas, had a three-stroke lead over Maumelle's Josie Roberson after Wednesday's first round. A birdie on the 10th hole to start Thursday's final round gave her the confidence she was looking for to keep Roberson and the rest of the field at bay.
"I never thought I really had it," said Matthews, who won the Class 7A girls championship over Ott by a single shot at Conway Country Club. "I knew, though, that once I got five or six up that I just had to play smart and go for the middle of the greens."
Matthews started on the back nine and made bogeys at Nos. 12, 15 and 17, but she made the turn with her three-stroke lead intact. She put a 3-wood in the center of the fairway at the par-4 3rd, then hit a pitching wedge to a slope on the right side of the green, which funneled the ball to within 6 feet of the back left pin. Her birdie putt was true to put her six shots ahead of Roberson with six holes to play.
"I was pretty comfortable with my game throughout the day," said Matthews, who finished Thursday with a 4-over 76 after opening with a 1-under 71, both rounds the lowest of any girl in the field. "I'd been playing solid the last few months so it was just a matter of not doing anything dumb and getting in trouble."
Roberson finished at 9-over 153, followed by Hannah Bakalekos of Sherwood, who was 10 strokes behind Matthews at 13 over.
In the group ahead of the leaders was 11-year-old Raychel Nelke of Fort Smith, who was in the 24-player field with girls as old as 18. Nelke, who came into the second round eight strokes behind Matthews in fourth place, finished in a tie for sixth at 21-over 165.
"Yesterday I just played, but I did feel a little pressure today," she said. "My goal was to just get in the top 10."
DePriest, Hays and Evan Griffith of Greenwood were tied going into Thursday's second round after opening with even-par 72s Wednesday. DePriest said he had confidence after hitting his first tee shot.
"I had difficulty off the tee yesterday, so I went to the range with a focus on hitting the first fairway," said DePriest, who hit that initial fairway with a 3-wood, then planted a 54-degree wedge from 105 yards out to within 6 feet, which led to a birdie. "That built me up enough to carry me through the round."
DePriest found himself tied at one point with Fayetteville's Luke Long, who was playing a group ahead, and two clear of Hays at the turn, but consecutive birdies at the par-5 10th and the par-4 11th provided breathing room. As Long faded, DePriest was left to hold off Hays.
"I knew what I needed to do coming in and that was to birdie the par-5s then steal a couple of shots somewhere along the way," Hays said. "I knew 18 was going to be hard, figuring I would need to make eagle to have a shot. I just left my chip too short."
Long finished three shots off the pace and in third place with a 7-over 151. Ryan Spurlock of Maumelle was fourth (8 over), with Wil Gibson of Jonesboro a shot behind that in fifth.
Sports on 06/17/2016