Tracy Duncan could have left Maumelle Country Club on Tuesday lamenting missed opportunities following the final round of the AWGA Stroke Play Championship.
Then again, Grier Bennett made sure Duncan’s slight shortcomings didn’t matter too much.
“Not really,” said Duncan when asked if she could have made a run at Bennett with a few more breaks. “Grier was playing really well.”
Bennett shot a final-round 4-over 76 to finish with a three-day total of 11-over 227, recovering from a double bogey on No. 10 and a bogey on No. 11 that helped Duncan get within two strokes.
Bennett birdied No. 12 and Duncan was never closer than two strokes after that. She finished four strokes back at 231, and Tanna Richard (233) finished six back.
It was Bennett’s second consecutive stroke play championship after edging Jennifer Loiacano by one stroke last year.
“It did get interesting, but thankfully I had a little bit of a cushion,” Bennett said. “I tried to keep a cool head and I didn’t let the big numbers pile up.”
Bennett, a 20-year-old former state champion at Jessieville who will enter her junior year at High Point (N.C.) University in the fall, entered the final round with a three stroke lead over Richard and a four-stroke lead over Duncan.
She figured if she managed the narrow fairways and tricky greens as well as she had Sunday and Monday, when she shot 76 and 75, respectively, she would be just fine. She didn’t have any problems for most of the day.
Richard bogeyed the first five holes to fall out of convention, while Duncan parred the first six to keep pace.
Bennett bogeyed Nos. 2 and 3 but birdied Nos. 4, 6 and 8 to head into the ninth hole with a four-stroke lead over Duncan.
Then her second shot from the fairway on the par-4 ninth hole went wide left into a pile of brush, just like it had Monday. She had to chip onto the raised green, then make a putt to save par and maintain a four-stroke lead.
“That was huge as far as a confidence booster going into the back,” Bennett said.
She lost that confidence almost as quickly as she gained it. On the par-4 No. 10, one of the course’s toughest, Bennett’s second shot landed in the water that sits just in front of the green. She had to chip over the water, then two-putted to make a 6, her first double bogey of the tournament.
Her tee shot on No. 11 was right off the fairway and she two-putted for bogey to fall to 10 over, but she maintained a two-stroke lead when Duncan missed a birdie putt on 10 and settled for par and then bogeyed No. 11 along with Bennett.
Had Duncan made the birdie putt on No. 10, she would have pulled to within a stroke of Bennett’s lead. Still, she didn’t think it would have made much of a difference.
“Probably not,” said Duncan, from Blytheville. “[Bennett] hits it a long way. She’s real strong, and she putts it well. She’s a really good player.”
After birdieing No. 12, Bennett bogeyed 15 and 17, but Duncan made double bogey on 14 when her approach shot landed in a bunker. She bogeyed 16 after her second shot hit a tree near the fairway.
Duncan’s rough back nine - she bogeyed three holes and doubled one - allowed Bennett to ride away from the award ceremony in a cart with a trophy riding beside her.
The 2009 and 2010 Class 3A state champion will soon head back to High Point to continue her college career, but before that she’ll play in two more competitive tournaments in Arkansas.
“I’m just trying to get in some competitive atmosphere and work on what I need to work on so I can be prepared for the fall,” she said. “I’m not going too crazy [with summer tournaments]. I’m just trying to be consistent and improve where I need to.”
Tuesday’s results AWGA Stroke Play Championship at Maumelle Country Club CHAMPIONSHIP FLIGHT Grier Bennett ...........................76-75-76-227 Tracy Duncan ..........................75-80-76-231 Tanna Richard .........................82-72-79-233 Pam Spikes .............................79-78-77-234 Endsley Evans .........................79-80-79-238 Katie Speir ...............................83-78-78-239 PRESIDENT’S FLIGHT Jennifer Loiacano ...................81-82-71-234 Heidi Rice ................................81-83-81-245 Doris Herren ...........................85-82-81-248 Linda Black..............................84-83-82-249 Bryce Wolfe.............................84-79-88-251 Kerry Lareau ...........................88-81-84-253 GOVERNOR’S FLIGHT Brenda Carr .............................84-87-77-248 Rosetta Parks ..........................87-83-81-251 Joan Archer .............................85-87-80-252 Denise Hogue .........................86-89-82-257 Marlena Weatherly ..................88-84-86-258 Brenda Alexandar ...................88-85-85-258 OPEN FIRST FLIGHT Jean Mowry ............................74-85-81-240 Pam Evans ..............................77-82-84-243 Pat Elliott .................................79-85-83-247 Karen Carter ............................87-87-82-256 Phyllis Thomas .......................88-89-89-266 Kay Shurgar ..........................88-87-102-277 OPEN SECOND FLIGHT Kathy Norris ............................88-90-84-262 Norma Hartney .......................88-92-92-272 Mimi Evans .............................85-93-95-273 Wanda Jett ............................91-101-88-280 Ann Massey ............................98-95-96-289 Sandy Carpenter ...................93-99-102-294 OPEN THIRD FLIGHT Jerry Hyde ...............................98-97-88-283 Patti Simon .............................97-98-97-292 Esther Tompkins ...................97-101-96-294 Nedra Wood ......................109-101-100-310 Ruth Smith ........................112-116-103-331 Diana Beene ......................120-111-109-340
AWGA Stroke Play Championship Tuesday’s results at Maumelle Country Club CHAMPIONSHIP FLIGHT Grier Bennett ..................76-75-76-227 Tracy Duncan .................75-80-76-231 Tanna Richard ................82-72-79-233 Pam Spikes ....................79-78-77-234 Endsley Evans ................79-80-79-238 Katie Speir ......................83-78-78-239 More results, Page 6C
Sports, Pages 17 on 07/10/2013