By JAMES BROWN
104TheScore.com
Chloe Witcher, for the second-consecutive season, has punched her ticket to Bowling Green.
The Barren County sophomore shot a 6-over 77 at Hopkinsville Country Club on Tuesday to finish fourth. She was one stroke behind a trio of golfers who each shot 5-over. Witcher’s round pushed her to Girls’ State Golf Tournament next week at Bowling Green Country Club.
Witcher shot par through her first four holes in the first round tournament in Hopkinsville, then birdied her fifth hole to put herself in the hunt for the individual title. She finished her first nine holes at 1-over.
Witcher, who started play on Hole 10, bogeyed Hole 1 and double-bogeyed Hole 2 after making the turn. Despite those two blips, she remained a stroke off the leader pace for the rest of her round.
While Witcher hovered around the leaderboard throughout the day, the three other Barren County golfers struggled.
Senior Kinsey Edwards shot a 90, while fellow senior Tinsley Neagle fired a 96, and junior Lucy Zalla posted a 97.
Glasgow senior Emory Gardner finished with a 90, as well. She and Tinsley were both making their first appearances in the first round tournament. For Witcher, Edwards and Zalla, it was each their third trip.
The top three teams and next 15 individuals not on one of those teams qualified for the state finals next week.
Daviess County was first in team scoring with a plus-47, while South Warren shot plus-55 and West Jessamine was third at plus-62.
Barren County, despite having a team’s worth of players competing, could not register a team score since it did not qualify as a team from the Girls’ Region 3 Tournament.
Claire Reynolds of Daviess County, Kenzie Willen of Cumberland County and Madison Glisson of Ballard Memorial each finished at 5-over 76.
Unofficially, Willen, and Glisson will join Witcher as individual qualifiers in Bowling Green. Other individuals to make the cut are, Conlee Lindsey of University Heights, Kenzie England of Taylor County, Macy Taylor of Murray, Avery Sullivan of Mayfield, Katie Roberts of Marshall County, Caroline Childers of Bowling Green, Cate Blane of Hopkinsville, Katie Abernathy of Hickman County, and Cecelia Ray of Marshall County. There were five golfers tied at 16-over for the final three individual slots. The official qualifiers will be released later this week.
The girls’ final rounds will be played Oct. 10-12 at Bowling Green Country Club.
Comments