Apollo’s Macey Brown finished tied for third, while teammate Claire Reynolds and Holly Holton of Daviess County also qualified for day two of the KHSAA State Golf Championships.
Brown finished the day with a 73, giving her a top-five finish and advancing her to the second day where she will look to earn her second straight state title.
“Overall my game worked well together and my putting was definitely a game changer for me,” Brown said. “I was making putts left and right to save par and make birdies. My mind was in a great place today. I stayed focused even when I hit a bad shot because I was confident in my next shot.”
Brown said if she can stay in check with the mental side of things then she can have a strong finish.
“Tomorrow I’m just going to go in with a calm mind and treat it as another golf tournament,” Brown said. “I want to play solid and whatever the outcome turns out to be I just want to say I went out there and played well.”
Reynolds found herself tied with a number of players, finishing with an overall score of 84. Reynolds just narrowly missed the cut-off of 88, but is thrilled to advance and expand on her game tomorrow.
“I didn’t play that well, but I was good enough to get me to the second round,” Reynolds said. “My chipping was really good, [but] I need to work on control of the ball better.”
Holton also found herself tied in the middle of the pack, finishing with an overall score of 82.
“I’m happy with how I played today,” Holton said. “Bowling Green is a tough course so low 80s is always a decent round.”
Holton said she utilized her clubs well to help set her up with good spots on the fairways.
“My three-wood was definitely my most confident club of the day,” Holton said. “I knew almost every time I was going to hit a great shot when I pulled it out. Landing those fairways helps me stay away from trouble like hazards or trees. I don’t use a driver because I’m still working on getting it consistent, so my three wood really helps with getting nice tee shots.”
Holton has a few things that she’d like to correct for day two and finish state off strong.
“I’m definitely planning on working on my shorter putts,” Holton said. “Today I missed several short putts that should have been one-putts. That’s where I lost most of my strokes today. With the incoming rain, it’s also important to practice putting in the morning to see if the rain slows the green speed at all.”
