Emma Payne couldn’t hold back her emotions when she realized she had just won the Region 2 golf championship for the second year in a row.
Payne’s group was the last to finish Monday’s tournament at Central City Country Club, and when she first took her set at the scorer’s table, the senior from Owensboro Catholic didn’t think she had won.
Once she saw that her round of 75 was better than any score on the board, tears of joy and relief started to flow.
“I’m happy. I can’t believe I’ve done it for the second year in a row,” Payne said. “I didn’t think I won until I got (to the clubhouse), and it’s a great feeling again.”
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For photos of all local golfers in the tournament, click here.
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She barely edged out Apollo’s Macey Brown, whose 76 led the clubhouse scores for more than an hour. Daviess County’s Holly Holton — playing in the same group with Payne — finished third with a 79.
Payne said she has battled a couple of shoulder injuries this season, so she had to focus on making sure her short game was on point.
“I’ve put most of the work over the past few weeks into my short game,” Payne said. “It really showed today and it helped me.”
With the win, Payne qualifies as an individual for the state tournament — held next week in Bowling Green — for the second year in a row, and that’s a big boost for her mentally.
“My confidence has struggled because I’ve put a lot of pressure onto my senior year,” she said. “Finishing like this really helps my confidence to finish out this year.”
Brown’s runner-up finish also earns her a repeat trip to state. Monday’s round started out rocky, though, as she carded a triple bogey and double bogey to go along with a pair of birdies through the first nine holes. At the turn — Brown actually began her day on hole No. 10 — she made some adjustments.
“My first nine was a show, let me tell you,” she said. “My short game was hurting a little bit. My coach (Jarrod Carter) said let’s shoot even par on the next nine. On hole No. 3 I had a bogey, and I knew I had to get it back. I birdied the par 3 No. 7, and I parred all the other holes.”
With the relief of earning a bid to the state tournament, Brown is ready to relax and focus on playing her game.
“I’m just focusing on playing well,” she said. “I’m not putting an expectation on it. I want my mental game to be there and I need to work on some things that I struggled with today.”
Holton’s third-place finish led Daviess County to second as a team with a score of 347. Under the new postseason format, only region champion Madisonville-North Hopkins (328) advances to state as a team.
Still, both Holton and Addison Heady will advance to state for the Lady Panthers. Heady’s round of 84 was enough to earn the seventh and final spot for individual qualifiers.
DC coach Logan Clark couldn’t have been more happy with his team, who showed some struggles during the season.
“We stepped up in a huge way,” he said. “I’m at a loss of words. We’ve been working extremely hard. I knew we were prepared today. These last couple weeks they’ve been grinding hard. They all came out with positive attitudes and just stuck with it. Most importantly they did what I asked them to do, and I can’t ask for anything better than that. I’m just so proud of them.”
Holton and Heady both played in the state tournament last year after the team won region, and Clark is glad the duo gets to return.
“It’s going to be big for these girls,” he said. “We got to go last year as a team, and I think it’s going to mean a little more to them as an individual. It’s a big accomplishment.”
Other scorers for DC were Emilee Clark (89) and Hadleigh Hunter (95), while Kirsten Henderson finished with a 96.
Catholic finished third as a team behind scoring from Payne, Maddi Roberts (85), Abby Bahnick (86) and Conleigh Osborne (104). RC Porter shot 111.
Apollo’s team finished fourth with scores from Brown, Brooke Brown (95), Addison Carter (100) and Mary Ann Lyons (111). Peyton Rust posted a 116.
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2019 golf coverage is presented by The Pearl Club at The Summit.
