Birdie to Win!
NICHOLASVILLE, Ky. -- Leila Raines birdied the final hole to cap a torrid back-nine in winning the Girls 15-19 division at the Golf Club of the Bluegrass.
Raines, who made double bogey on the final round's opening hole, fell five shots behind Lynn Lim and three behind Angelina Chan as they all headed to the inward nine. Raines proceeded to card birdies at Nos. 11, 12 and 13 to set up a tight battle at the end.
With Lim a shot ahead of Raines and Chan with one hole to go, Raines made a closing birdie against Lim's bogey and Chan's par to seal the win.
Raines finished at 74-71-145 while Lim (73-73-146) and Chan (74-72-146) shared second place.
Mallory Lovell shot 76-76-152 to finish in a tie for fourth place with Marissa Wenzler (78-74-152).
Kuc rolls field in Girls 14-and-Under
Katelyn Kuc fired rounds of 75-73-148 to post a 9-shot win in the Girls 14-and-under division at the Golf Club of the Bluegrass.
Kuc birdied two of her first three holes in the event and never trailed throughout. Her opening 75 gave her a 4-shot advantage over Jenna Estravillo and she would extend that lead with a steady round of 15 pars.
Casey Powell finished alone in second place with rounds of 80-77-157, followed in third place by Anna Ritter who shot 81-78-159.
Knisley goes 6-under in Keene Run victory
Micah Knisley put together a pair of 3-under-par 69s en route to running away with a 6-shot victory in the Boys 16-19 and overall division at the GJT event at Keene Run Country Club.
After making bogey on two of the first three holes of the event, Knisley was nearly flawless the rest of the way. He would go on to birdie five of the next 10 holes to broker a 2-shot lead after the first round.
Leading Carson Stohler by two shots to start the second round, Knisley birdied the first hole and never looked back. His only bogey of the day would come at his fifth hole and he responded with birdies on the next two holes.
Stohler would finish at 71-74-145 to claim sole possession of fifth place.
Aidan Lafferty made the strongest final push with a closing round 70 to finish at even-par 144. That put him in a tie for second place with Jude Cummings (73-71-144) and Andrew Sullivan (72-72-144).
Pope claims Boys 14-15 title
Cayden Pope fired rounds of 72-72-144 to win the Boys 14-15 division by two shots over Hayes Mason in addition to tying for second place in the overall boys division at Keene Run.
Pope carried a 1-shot lead over Andrew Marrs into the second round, but Marrs held close until faltering on the back nine.
Mason applied the most heat in the final round by carding birdies on three of the first seven holes and pulling within two shots of the lead. Mason would par 10 of the final 11 holes, but his bogey at the 12th kept him from eventually catching Pope.
Mason finished alone in second with rounds of 75-71-146 while Luke Coyle placed third with rounds of 74-73-147. Stephen Warren shot 74-74-148 to claim sole possession of fourth while Peyton Short's final-round 69 put him in a tie for fifth with Conan Pan (74-75-149) and Allan Lockwood (74-75-149).
