Kilcrease aims for two title runs

BRYANT -- Springdale Har-Ber's Grace Kilcrease has her eyes on two trophies today at Hurricane Golf and Country Club.

Kilcrease, a junior, is a key member of a Wildcats team that enters the final day of competition at the Class 6A girls tournament with a 14-shot lead over conference rival Fayetteville in the team standings.

Kilcrease is also in the running for individual medalist honors after shooting a 1-under 71 on a blustery day that sent scores soaring for many players on the par-72, 5,098-yard layout.

Kilcrease and Isabel Chaidez of Mount St. Mary, who posted her score late in the afternoon, trail two-time defending 6A medalist Mackenzie Lee of North Little Rock by three shots.

They will be the last group off the first tee at 9:50 a.m. today, and they will be the center of attention.

That's fine by Kilcrease.

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"I feel like I definitely have a chance," Kilcrease said. "I'm climbing the ranks myself. And I definitely think our team has a chance to win. We want to win everything."

Har-Ber won the 6A-West title Tuesday, counting the scores of Kilcrease, Abbey Ott (84) and Charlie Whorton (79).

Schools can field five-player teams, but only the three lowest scores are added up.

"It seems like we've got a little cushion, which is always great," Har-Ber Coach Jim Aynes said. "The good thing is I know Grace, she can do that again. Abbey and Charlie are capable of being medalists. Hopefully we can put it away."

Cabot won the 6A-Central championship with a 254 total, using the scores of Emmerson Doyle (76), Holly Heslep (84) and Blyss Miller (94).

Bentonville, a winner of three consecutive team titles, was led by Laura Pleiman's 88, but the Lady Tigers are 42 shots out of the lead in their quest for a fourth consecutive team title.

Helping Har-Ber win the team trophy may be an easier task for Kilcrease than knocking off Lee, but she said her performance against Lee in the Arkansas Junior Amateur back in June gives her reason for optimism.

Kilcrease came into the final round three shots back, then pulled even on the back nine before Lee won the tournament with birdies on the final two holes

"I just feel like my game is really similar and I've really progressed," Kilcrease said.

Lee's 4-under round helped bump her North Little Rock teammates into today's final round. All players on the eight qualifying teams will play today, but only one player -- Bryant's Caitlin LaCerra -- qualified as an individual by shooting an 89, under the individual cut mark of 95.

Lee, who swept the Arkansas State Golf Association stroke and match play titles, said she has respect for Kilcrease and Chaidez.

"I don't really have a strategy when I'm leading," Lee said. "I just try to mind my own business. If you start thinking about other people, that's going to screw you up, and get really paranoid by it. I just try to play my own game."

Lee said she didn't play well in her final two tournaments on the American Junior Golf Association circuit, a sixth-place finish at the Justin Thomas Junior Championship in early August and a tie for 44th at the Rolex Girls Junior Championship two weeks later.

"I'm really trying to pull myself back together for this tournament," said Lee, who still ranks 14th in the AJGA rankings after rising to No. 6 earlier in the summer.

She showed flashes of top-notch play on the back nine, posting a 3-under 33 that included a near hole-in-one on the 123-yard 17th hole.

"It was pretty close," she said, "and when I got up there, it was a lot closer than I thought."

Lee said she doesn't feel the same pressure to win in this state tournament as she did in the ASGA match play back in July when most of the top players in the state, regardless of their high school classification, competed.

"Not as much," she said. "Normally, I would have no pressure. It's not all the best players, just a few of them. There's one other player I'm keeping my eye on."

That player is Kilcrease, who didn't take up golf until she became too tall to compete in gymnastics before entering high school.

"Down by 3, it's going to be tough," Aynes said. "Mackenzie's a great player, and she's not going to make too many mistakes."