Towers holds off Medders for WOGA Girls Junior crown
Photo: Taylor Towers watches in a mixture of glee and astonishment as her 40-foot birdie putt goes in on the 11th hole at The Club at Indian Springs.
By Ken MacLeod
BROKEN ARROW – Taylor Towers of Owasso studied the 40-foot putt on the two-tiered 11th green at The Club at Indian Springs carefully, trying to plot out how to coax the ball just over the edge of the rise 20 feet away, and let gravity do the rest.
She did it masterfully, as the ball just crested the hill before gathering speed and seconds later disappearing into the heart of the cup, an astounding birdie that helped propel her to victory in the Women’s Oklahoma Golf Association Junior Girls Championship Wednesday.
Towers, a senior-to-be at Rejoice Christian who has committed to play collegiately at Missouri State, shot a second-round 75 after opening with a 79. She began the day with a three-stroke advantage on Meg Medders of Jenks and finished up by four after Medders shot 76.
Towers made a double-bogey seven on her first hole, but was steady thereafter, getting one back with a birdie on the par-4 sixth hole and then came the 11th.
“I was kind of worried about that one,” she said. “I was just trying with my practice stroke to make sure I hit it far enough to just get over the hill.”
Medders played well tee-to-green and gave herself several opportunities to close the gap. She did make birdie after stuffing her tee shot on the par-3 16th hole to about three feet and picked up a shot on the final hole when Towers hit her second shot short and did not get up-and-down.
Towers finished tied for third in the rain-shortened Class 3A State Championship in May at Westwood Park in Norman. Although deeply disappointed not to play the final round, she did allow that she was happy for her friend, ShaeBug Scarberry of Purcell, who won with a 70. Scarberry, a past champion of this event, came out to caddie for another friend and was standing by the 18th green when Towers finished.
“I thought I could have played better today, but I’m happy to have on this event,” Towers said. “Definitely happy to have won this one.”
Towers finished at 154, Medders at 158 and Brooklyn Benn of Edmond placed third at 165.
In other age groups, Beans Factor of Ada recorded the tournament’s best score of 1-under 71 (nine holes each day) to win the 10-11 age group. Kennedy Maybee of Jenks won the 16-17 group at 156 (79-77), Jordan Clayborn of Tahlequah won 14-15 at 155 (78-77), Mimi Hoang of Oklahoma City won ages 12-13 at 171 (89-82) and Natalie Purvis of Norman won ages 8-9 at 92 (45-47.)
2018 WOGA Girls Junior Championship
8-9 Age Division Flight
1 Natalie Purvis, Norman, +20 45 47 92
2 Neely Kight, Tulsa, +24 50 46 96
3 Lorelai Efaw, Tulsa, +25 46 51 97
10-11 Age Division Flight
1 Beans Factor, Ada, -1 34 37 71
2 Ava Kight, Tulsa, +7 41 38 79
3 Natalie Blonien, Altus, +19 49 42 91
4 Megan Kalapura, Tulsa +20 46 46 92
5 Gracie Levonitis, Oklahoma City +22 42 52 94
12-13 Age Division Flight
1 Mimi Hoang, Oklahoma City, +27 89 82 171
2 Adrian Piles, Tulsa, +32 88 88 176
3 Layne Ailshie, Fort Gibson, +57 103 98 201
4 Ella Barbush, Edmond, +63 106 101 207
5 Isabella Suttee, Tulsa +78 111 111 222
14-15 Age Division Flight
1 Jordan Clayborn,Tahlequah, +11 78 77 155
2 Sarah Sherrard, Moore, +21 87 78 165
3 Jenna Triplett, Edmond, +32 91 85 176
4 Kristina Aills, Broken Arrow, +34 86 92 178
5 Mikyla Khan, Jenks, +51 99 96 195
16-17 Age Division Flight
1 Kennedy Maybee, Jenks, +12 79 77 156
2 Sara Armstrong, Guthrie, +22 84 82 166
3 Ashlyn Acosta, Yukon, +25 85 84 169
T4 Campbell Payne, Broken Arrow, +27 83 88 171
T4 Jade Kuykendall, Muskogee, +27 86 85 171
6 Hannah Torres, Oklahoma City, +30 85 89 174
T7 Abby Hunt, Meade, +37 87 94 181
T7 Kenzie Kirkhart, Muskogee, +37 91 90 181
9 Krislyn Andrews, Muldrow, +43 94 93 187
10 Logan Allen, Perkins, +54 100 98 198
11 Victoria Nutt, Prague, +76 114 106 220
12 Ashlyn Williams, Checotah, +77 110 111 221
WD Morgan Page, Oklahoma City, – 119 WD WD
Championship Flight
1 Taylor Towers, Owasso, +10 79 75 154
2 Meg Medders, Tulsa, +14 82 76 158
3 Brooklyn Benn, Edmond, +21 80 85 165
4 Emily Miller, Edmond, +25 83 86 169
5 Grace Griggs, Edmond, +29 88 85 173
6 Kirsten Matlock, Muldrow, +42 87 99 186
7 Elizabeth Ellis, Moore, +57 107 94 201
Taylor Towers
