Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Matthews holds on
Rogers sophomore Brooke Matthews (above) plugged away and avoided disaster, and that was good enough Thursday to capture the High School Overall championship at Pleasant Valley Country Club in Little Rock. Matthews shot 4-over-par 76 and didn’t have a single birdie in her round, but she also shot no worse than bogey to hold off Central Arkansas Christian’s Allie Weiner.
Rogers sophomore Brooke Matthews plugged away and avoided disaster, and that was good enough Thursday to win the High School Overall championship at Pleasant Valley Country Club in Little Rock.
Matthews shot 4-over-par 76. She did not have a single birdie in her round, but she shot no worse than bogey.
Wynne freshman Elizabeth Moon, who played one group ahead of Matthews’ threesome, was on pace to match Matthews until she double bogeyed No. 15 and tripled 16 to drop into a threeway tie for third. Central Arkansas Christian sophomore Allie Weiner parred the final four holes to move past Moon, and North Little Rock sophomore Hannah Bakalekos alone in second at 80.
Moon earned the thirdplace trophy with a sudden- death playoff victory over Addison Mitchell of Fort Smith Southside and Mary Claire Meredith of Jonesboro. Each shot 81 in regulation. Bakalekos finished tied for sixth at 82 with Audrey Pulliam of Pulaski County
“I feel good considering I didn’t make any birdies,” Matthews said. “I was pretty consistent all day, and I just tried to eliminate the big miss.”
Matthews’ most significant chance at calamity came late, when her tee shot on the 322-yard, par-4 16th missed the fairway right and was blocked from the green by a tree. But she punched out, hit a wedge from 84 yards to the front fringe, and got up and down for bogie.
Matthews said her coach, Brenda Alexander, told her she had the lead, but after Matthews pressed her for more details Alexander told her to just relax.
“She said, ‘Just start having fun with your friends. Just enjoy it and try to finish strong,’ ” Matthews said. “That’s what I did. We just started telling jokes and having fun.”
Moon was at 4 over par after 14 holes, but a double bogey on 15 and a triple on 16 — after she drove her tee shot into water to the left — dropped her from contention.
“I just started to hit really bad shots,” Moon said.
“Elizabeth is a really good player, and she’s one of my best friends, and I know what she’s capable of,” Weiner said. “The way she finished was kind of disappointing, and I felt really bad for her.”
Weiner’s poor shots came early. She bogeyed the first three holes of the front and back nines, and doubled the ninth. She was three strokes behind playing partners Moon and Bakalekos after 13 holes but played the final five in 1 over par.
Weiner credited a 35-foot putt for birdie on the par-3 fifth hole for confidence she sustained throughout.
“I didn’t expect that to go,” Weiner said.
“Literally, before I hit that, I said, ‘Allie, you just need to get it close. Don’t three-putt from here because you’re only 3 over, so it’s not that big of a deal.’
“I made it, and that gave me some confidence.”