Stevens wins Oak Tree Junior Classic, Chaney stars at 7,100 yards!

Photo: Champion Dominic Stevens with Oak Tree Tournament Director Kevin Wagner.

Dominic Stevens of Crescent shot rounds of 68-69 for a 3-under total of 137 to win the second annual Oak Tree Country Club Junior Classic Tuesday.

The field of 90 played both the West Course and the East Course in the same day. Jordan Wilson of Edmond, who won the inaugural event in 2020, finished second, shooting rounds of 71-69 to finish at even-par 140.

There was a third place tie between Bryant Polhill of Edmond (70-71) and Mesa Falleur of Muskogee (70-71) at 141, while Ryder Cowan of Edmond was fifth at 143 (71-72).

Stevens is heading for Northeastern State in the fall, while Wilson has signed with Oklahoma State.

While the field was loaded with many of the top junior boys in the state, there is no separate division for girls in this event. That didn’t deter Ardmore’s Reagan Chaney from entering, as the long-hitting signee at Oklahoma City University welcomed the chance to play a course far longer than the 5,000 to 5,500 yard setups she often faces in high school. Three other girls also entered.

With the West Course playing about 6,800 yards and the East 7,100, Chaney consistently drove it 270 yards or longer and shot rounds of  79-78, finishing tied for 26^th  in the field of 90.

“I just wanted to go and compete and see how I would do against the boys and on a longer course,” Chaney said. “I had to hit longer clubs into the greens than normal but I hit some good solid shots and was able to make a lot of pars.”

Chaney also made two birdies on the East Course and earned some serious bragging and needling rights against some of the boys in the field, many of whom she knows from Oklahoma Junior Golf Tour events.

Her father Wes Chaney, the head PGA professional at Lake Murray Golf Course, walked all 36 holes with his daughter and was proud of her accomplishment.

“I’m very proud,” he said. “She knew she would be playing much longer tees than what they ever do in high school and probably 1,000 yards longer than she’ll play in college. Her goal was to go out and make a bunch of pars and she did that.”

Chaney, also a star basketball player at Plainview, is part of a high-powered recruiting class coming into Oklahoma City University next fall that includes Maddi Kamas of Kingfisher and Meghan Charles of Sand Springs, plus two talented Texans and one from Colorado to join a team that just finished fourth in the NAIA National Championship at Rose Creek.

– Ken MacLeod