Dyar, White Plains lead girls county

By EASportsToday.com
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Updated: April 8, 2016

Defending medalist leads by 4, Lady Wildcats hold a commanding lead in the team race

Tournament leader Layne Dyar listens to White Plains coach Marcus Harrell on the 16th tee Friday. (Photo by B.J. Franklin/GungHo Photos)

By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today

Layne Dyar came off the 18th green with a four-shot lead in her defense of the Calhoun County Girls Golf Championship and the first thing she wanted to talk about with coach Marcus Harrell was all the things she needed to work on.

Dyar, a Jacksonville State signee, shot 2-over-par 75 at Pine Hill Country Club Friday and leads teammate Morgan Prickett by four shots going into Saturday’s final round.

Together, they helped power the Lady Wildcats to a commanding lead in the team race. White Plains shot 238 as a team, 43 shots ahead of second-place Alexandria, which makes locking up its first county crown Saturday a virtual gimme.

JCA’s Chloe Borders is third at 80. Four players are tied at 84 — White Plains’ Hannah Dyar and Lexee Cunningham, Oxford’s Kayla Huckeba and Pleasant Valley’s Madilyn Turner.

Dyar won last year’s individual title in a playoff. Despite holding a bigger lead at the midway point this year, she lamented her putting and wedge play.

Three of her four three-putts came on the front nine and there might have been more if she hadn’t made a few six-footers to save par. And she didn’t take advantage of the five par-5s, which is typically a strength with her length; she played them in 2-over.

“I did not play my best golf today, not at all,” Dyar said. “I’m mad. I didn’t play like I needed to; there’s always room for improvement.

“I’m glad I have the lead. It takes off pressure, but it adds more pressure because I need to shoot under par tomorrow.”

She played the back nine in even par.

“She battled all day, kept grinding, kept working,” Harrell said. “I’m very proud of the way she hung in there.”

Dyar, Prickett and Borders all had the lead at some point in the round. Prickett made back-to-back birdies at 4 and 5 to get her round back to even-par and birdied 9 to turn even, but she wasn’t as lucky with the putter on the back nine. Borders made three birdies in a row — 7, 8, 9 — and shared the lead at the turn before losing her driver off the tee and running into a string of bogeys on the back.

“I probably got a little too excited,” Borders said. “I didn’t know I was in the lead or anything. If my driver gives me trouble I have a hard time coming back. I guess I started doing something funny with that.

“I would rather have shot lower than I did today, but tomorrow is a new day. Last year I think I shot 87 the first day and a 78 the second, so you never know.”

The Lady Wildcats carried a one-shot lead into the final round last year, but couldn’t close. That doesn’t appear to be an issue this year. They were 20 shots ahead at the turn Friday and doubled their lead before the end of the day.

“It was just nice to get off to a fast start for a change,” Harrell said. “Every year I’ve been here the first nine holes have just put us out of the tournament. We’ve always battled back, but we never got off to a fast start, so when I was getting word our girls were making birdies early that was a sigh of relief, really.

“If we do win it tomorrow, it’ll mean more than people think it would. We set goals when I first got here, this is the only one we haven’t gotten. The county championship is a big deal, especially around here and especially to our community. It’s something we want to bring home.”

On the cover: Layne Dyar (L) holds a four-shot lead over White Plains teammate Morgan Prickett (C) and a five-point edge on JCA’s Chloe Borders entering the final round. (Photos by B.J. Franklin/GungHo Photos)

White Plains’ Morgan Prickett hits her tee shot on the par-3 14th. (Photo by B.J. Franklin/GungHo Photos)

CALHOUN COUNTY GIRLS CHAMPIONSHIP
At Pine Hill Country Club
First-round results

TEAM SCORES
White Plains 238
Alexandria 281
Oxford 303
White Plains B 309
Pleasant Valley 340
Saks 346
Jacksonville 362

INDIVIDUAL SCORES
Layne Dyar, White Plains 39-36—75
Morgan Prickett, White Plains 37-42—79
Chloe Borders, JCA 37-43—80
Kayla Huckeba, Oxford 42-42—84
Hanna Dyar, White Plains 43-41—84
Lexee Cunningham, White Plains 39-45—84
Madilyn Turner, Pleasant Valley 41-43—84
Abby Stevens, Alexandria 42-45—87
Taylor Snow, Alexandria 45-47—92
Ary Rosario, WP B 48-46—94
Allison Arenth, Alexandria 48-54—102
Hailey Tidwell, WP B 50-54—104
Anna Bolton, Oxford 52-55—107
Jordan Pope, Saks 60-50—110
Katelyn Barnett, WP B 55-56—111
Cheyenne James, Saks 59-53—112
Kaylee Reaves, Oxford 57-55—112
Maria Limberis, Jacksonville 58-57—115
Abbie Vingers, Sacred Heart 61-54—115
Celia Landers, Jacksonville 55-61—116
Madison Spivey, Piedmont 60-57—117
Cindy Lopez, Anniston 59-61—120
Ally Ledbetter, WP B 57-64—121
Jennifer Torres, Saks 64-60—124
Sarah Ford, Pleasant Valley 62-64—126
Cara Burgess, Weaver 63-65—128
Autumn Ray, Weaver 62-67—129
Gabby Fagan, Pleasant Valley 64-66—130
Callie McFall, Jacksonville 70-61—131
Caitlyn Lewis, WP B 65-68—133
Lacy Williams, Pleasant Valley 68-69—137

LEADERS SCORECARDS
Player 453 345 445 37 444 435 345 36 73
L. Dyar 554 245 536 39 344 436 345 36 75
Prickett 554 235 454 37 563 447 445 42 79
Borders 454 446 334 37 555 545 455 43 80

SATURDAY’s PAIRINGS
8 a.m. shotgun start
Hole 1: Layne Dyar, Chloe Borders, Madilyn Turner.
2: Morgan Prickett, Abby Stevens, Kayla Huckeba.
3: Hanna Dyar, Anna Bolton, Taylor Snow.
5: Lexee Cunningham, Allison Arenth, Jordan Pope.
7: Sarah Ford, Abbie Vingers, Kaylee Reaves.
9: Maria Limeris, Katelyn Barnett, Cara Burgess.
10: Ary Rosario, Cheyenne James, Gabby Fagan.
12: Autumn Ray, Celia Landers, Hailey Tidwell.
14: Ally Ledbetter, Madison Spivey.
15: Callie McGall, Cindy Lopez.
17: Lacy Williams, Caitlyn Lewis, Jennifer Torres.