Overall golf
North Little Rock’s Mackenzie Lee shot an even-par 72 and took a 2-stroke victory over Bailey Grace Dunstan of Baptist Prep in the state girls Overall tournament Thursday at Pleasant Valley Country Club in Little Rock. Jonesboro’s Ben Sherman won the boys title. For more photos, go to arkansasonline.com/1018stategolf.
One hole made the difference.
Results for North Little Rock sophomore Mackenzie Lee and Baptist Prep senior Bailey Grace Dunstan on the 377-yard, par-4 14th hole at Little Rock’s Pleasant Valley Country Club in the girls Overall championship Thursday gave Lee a significant enough advantage for her to hold on for a two-stroke victory.
Lee, the runner-up to Dunstan in last season’s Overall, won with an even-par 72 on the 5,885-yard layout. Duncan finished second with a 74. Lauren Loeb of Mount St. Mary was third in 79.
Lee was 3-under-par through 15 holes and held a seven-stroke lead over Dunstan, whose group was a hole in front of the winner’s threesome. Dunstan played her final three holes in 2 under. Lee bogeyed each of her last three.
“I’m glad I could win, but the scored could’ve been better,” Lee said.
Lee’s performance relative to Dunstan’s on No. 14 gave her the cushion she needed.
Dunstan played the downhill 377-yard hole first. Her approach to the green missed 20 yards short and left in trees and on hard ground. She stubbed her pitch into a bunker, from which her sand shot rolled downhill 10 feet past the pin. From there, she two-putted for a double bogey.
“I just chunked that pitch,” Dunstan said.
Lee’s approach from 150 yards also missed short and left, but her shot hit a ridge that served to funnel it right. Her ball rolled onto the green and continued to turn right and toward the pin. It stopped 6 inches short of the hole.
Lee’s birdie put her at 3 under.
“I didn’t hit it good, but it was drawing a little,” Lee said. “Actually, when it hit that hill, I hoped it would bounce onto the green. It did, but I didn’t expect it to be that close. That was real lucky.”
Lee said her 3-over-par run through the final holes was a product of self-induced pressure.
“I was just trying to get pars, but I guess I just got stressed out,” Lee said.
Lee played a 12-hole stretch, from Nos. 3-14, in a cumulative 5-under par, a run of excellence countered by her start and finish. Her start on No. 1, a 338-yard par4, included a green hit in regulation followed by four putts from 60 feet for a double bogey. She used a total of 26 putts over the next 17 holes.
“I think the nerves got into me,” Lee said.
Dunstan has committed to play for Samford, in Birmingham, Ala., as a freshman next fall. She said she has enjoyed her rivalry with Lee.
“We’ve been very much back and forth,” Dunstan said. “I like her. We’re good friends.”