Golf: Robertson shocks herself with championship

ROGERS -- As Kate Robertson approached her final season of high school golf, thoughts of becoming this year's Class 7A state girls individual championship never entered her mind.

It never entered the picture until the final nine holes of the Class 7A state girls golf tournament, when the Bentonville High senior rallied from a three-stroke deficit and claimed a two-stroke victory over defending overall champion Casey Ott of Conway at The Greens of North Hills.

"I wouldn't have believed it," Robertson said earlier this week at Shadow Valley Country Club. "Starting off the season, I hadn't come off a good summer tournament. Playing against (Rogers High golfer) Brooke (Matthews) and Casey and so many talented girls going into it, I wouldn't have believed it."

Bentonville coach Lindsey Davis, however, had a feeling this season would be something special for her top player. She saw something from the outset, when Robertson shot a 74 in the Wildcat Invitational at Springdale Country Club.

Robertson then continued that kind of play throughout the season. Robertson finished the season shooting a 35.9 average during the Lady Tigers' nine-hole matches and a 75.6 average score over 18-hole contests.

"From her freshman year, she's gotten better and better each year," Davis said. "She's always been an all-conference and all-state player, and she put a lot of work into her senior year. We were looking forward to that happening.

"She had perseverance this year. She didn't have many bad shots, but when she had one, she let it go and went right on."

When the Class 7A state tournament began last week, Robertson said her mindset was strictly on her team. She had her sights on shooting a low enough score to give Bentonville a chance at the team state championship, and she did just that with her first-day score of 75.

It also allowed her the opportunity to play the final round with Ott, who took the early lead with her opening-round 72, and North Little Rock's Hannah Bakalekos, who also shot a 75.

"Knowing Casey, she can post some really low numbers," said Robertson, who has verbally committed to play next year at Newman University, an NCAA Division II school in Wichita, Kan. "I was just happy to be up there with her, and I felt good about how I played. Casey played really well, and I wasn't thinking about trying to win.

"The second day, I was playing with them. I can see where they were, and it was a little more like match play because we are all competing to go to overall. We were feeding off each other and getting birdies, getting pars. It made it different than the first day when I couldn't see what they were doing."

Robertson caught up with Ott after eight holes, but fell behind again when she had a double bogey on the par-4 No. 9. It wasn't until No. 13 when she caught up again as she hit a birdie and forced a three-way tie with Ott and Bakalekos.

Robertson eventually took the lead on No. 16, when she collected another birdie while Ott settled for par. Another birdie on No. 17 -- coupled with Ott's bogey on that hole -- gave Robertson the cushion she needed, even with a bogey on the final hole.

"It was No. 13 when I specifically thought I had a shot at it," Robertson said. "I knew it was close. I was trying not to keep track of scores in my head. I pulled out a birdie, and she had a little trouble on the green.

"That was a two-stroke swing, and I knew it was really close after that. It was probably the swing for me. I felt pretty calm from the beginning until about hole 17, and it all started hitting me on 18. I think the butterflies starting hitting on 18."

Sports on 10/06/2016