Dyar, White Plains lead tight girls race
- Updated: April 10, 2015
Wildcats lead Alexandria by 1 on team leaderboard, Dyar leads two players by 1 for medalist
White Plains’ Layne Dyar retrieves her ball from the cup on the eighth green after sinking her third birdie in a four-hole stretch Friday; JCA’s Chloe Borders had a front-row seat. On the cover, Dyar discusses the day’s round with her teammates.
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
Everybody said the Calhoun County Girls Golf Championship was up for grabs before it started and it lived up to that billing Friday.
After a storm-delayed first round at Pine Hill Country Club, White Plains holds a one-shot lead over Alexandria in the team race. Wildcats junior Layne Dyar holds a one-shot lead over teammate Morgan Prickett and Alexandria’s Katie Roberts in the race for medalist.
“We knew White Plains is a great team and they’re a great team on their own course; we have our hands full with them,” said Alexandria coach Scott Ginn, whose team has had a lock on the tournament longer than anyone can remember. “I’d rather be up one than down one, but the tournament will be decided tomorrow.”
“We have two great teams; I’m just glad we have an opportunity to battle it out tomorrow,” White Plains coach Marcus Harrell said.
The Wildcats posted a 238 as a team, counting Dyar’s 4-over-par 77, a 78 by Prickett and an 83 by Raegan Thompson.
The Valley Cubs shot 239 that included Roberts’ 78, two-time defending champion Jordan Gregoria’s 80 and Morgan Mayfield’s 81. Donoho is a distant third at 294.
“We had two completely different halves (of the round),” Harrell said. “We started out very poorly and Alexandria started out pretty good, and then we finished pretty good and they finished pretty bad. It kind of equalled everything out.
“For Layne Dyar and Morgan Prickett holding it together after the poor start both of them had about halfway through I think was absolutely huge. They kept us in the tournament, for sure.”
Dyar played her last 10 holes in 3-under-par. Prickett birdied three of her last six holes and would’ve held the lead if she didn’t double bogey her final hole.
Dyar was 7-over after eight holes and trailed Gregoria by as many as four. At the height of her rally, she had three birdies in a four-hole stretch, including a bomb on No. 8.
“She just needed a few words of encouragement,” Harrell said. “I told her to quit worrying about what the event was and worry about her game; take it one shot at a time, and she did that.
“She just needed one good swing and she had that good swing on No. 5, and everything changed after that.”
Dyar birdied 5, nearly eagled 6, bogeyed 7 and made a long birdie on 8. Then, at the height of her momentum, she drove into the water on 9, but kept it together to save par (while Gregoria birdied to retake the lead) and later made a nice downhill putt to save par on 13.
The turnaround, Dyar said, was deciding to “play my game on my course.”
“I just wasn’t playing my game; I wasn’t playing my own golf,” she said. “I wasn’t focused on me and I wasn’t playing the way I know how.
“I had to play my game on my course, because this is a course I know very well how to play and I needed to play my best golf here. It was so much better than how I started. It was just a really good way to finish.”
Gregoria, meanwhile, had the upper hand early in the round, but fell into a dogfight after going 5-4 on the back-to-back par-3s on the front. She remained tied with Dyar until her final two holes when she finished bogey-double bogey. She played the par-3s in 5-over.
“It wasn’t the course’s fault; I’ve just got to go home and work on my swing,” she said. “It was just a tough day. Knowing that I needed to par or maybe birdie both holes just to stay under 80 and I didn’t, I feel like I underachieved.”
Despite the finish, she remains confident about making a run at an unprecedented third straight Calhoun County girls championship.
“I’m only down by three; I’ve just got to come back tomorrow,” she said. “I can do a lot better (than Friday), so that’s what I’ll have to do.”
Play resumes Saturday with an 8 a.m. shotgun start.
Alexandria’s two-time defending champion Jordan Gregoria holds the finish on her first drive of the round Friday.
Calhoun County Girls Championship
At Pine Hill CC
First-round results
Team scores: White Plains 238, Alexandria 239, Donoho 294, Oxford 327, Jacksonville 369.
Individual scores
Layne Dyar, White Plains 40-37—77
Katie Roberts, Alexandria 40-38—78
Morgan Prickett, White Plains 39-39—78
Jordan Gregoria, Alexandria 40-40—80
Morgan Mayfield, Alexandria 39-42—81
Raegan Thompson, White Plains 40-43—83
Taylor Snow, Alexandria 42-42—84
Savannah Chaffin, Alexandria 42-43—85
Abby Stevens, Alexandria 41-44—85
Chloe Borders, JCA 44-43—87
Macey Pressley, White Plains 48-41—89
Olivia Parsons, Alexandria 43-47—90
Jordan Pope, Saks 48-43—91
Madilyn Turner, Pleasant Val 48-45—93
Keaton Beam, White Plains 45-50—95
Hannah Dyar, White Plains 48-47—95
Sarah Campbell, Donoho 45-51—96
Anna Marie Woodfin, Donoho 51-47—98
Kayla Huckeba, Oxford 50-49—99
Madison Huckaby, Donoho 49-51—100
Brylea Holden, Pleasant Val 46-54—100
Cheyenne James, Saks 52-56—108
Jacqueline Lopez, Anniston 55-54—109
Morgan Patterson, Oxford 56-53–109
Maria Limberis, Jacksonville 58-58—116
Tia Collins, Saks 57-59—116
Abbie Vingers, Sacred Heart 59-58—117
Candace Gagnon, Oxford 60-59—119
Caitlyn Roland, Jacksonville 56-64—120
Cindy Lopez, Anniston 61-62—123
Alexa Cunningham, Donoho 61-63—124
Cassia Rissler, Ohatchee 66-64—130
Celia Landers, Jacksonville 65-68—133
Autumn Arenth, Saks 74-64—137
LEADERS SCORECARDS
PLAYER (ST) 453 345 445 37 444 435 345 36 73
Dyar (15) 574 434 535 40 443 436 346 37 77
Roberts (14) 464 445 436 40 455 336 345 38 78
Prickett (13) 563 455 344 39 436 536 345 39 78
Gregoria (15) 455 445 454 40 444 555 346 40 80
Saturday’s Tee Assignments
Hole 1 – Cindy Lopez, Anniston; Autumn Arenth, Saks.
2 – Cassia Rissler, Ohatchee; Caitlyn Roland, Jacksonville; Jacqueline Lopez, Anniston.
3 – Celia Landers, Jacksonville; Brylea Holden, Pleasant Valley; Cheyenne James, Saks.
5 – Maria Limberis, Jacksonville; Tia Collins, Saks.
6 – Jordan Pope, Saks; Candice Gagnon, Oxford; Abbie Vingers, Sacred Heart.
8 – Hannah Dyar, White Plains; Taylor Snow, Alexandria; Morgan Patterson, Oxford.
9 – Madilyn Turner, Pleasant Valley; Olivia Parsons, Alexandria; Kayla Huckeba, Oxford.
10 – Keaton Beam, White Plains; Savannah Chaffin, Alexandria; Alexa Cunningham, Donoho.
12 – Macey Pressley, White Plains; Morgan Mayfield, Alexandria; Madison Huckaby, Donoho.
13 – Morgan Prickett, White Plains; Abby Stevens, Alexandria; Sarah Campbell, Donoho.
14 – Raegan Thompson, White Plains; Katie Roberts, Alexandria; Anna Marie Woodfin, Donoho.
15 – Layne Dyar, White Plains; Jordan Gregoria, Alexandria; Chloe Borders, JCA.
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