Tors’ Tyree wins LWGA junior title
Published 6:00 pm Thursday, July 13, 2017
Sulphur High School senior Brooke Tyree won her second straight LWGA Junior Girls Amateur state championship on Wednesday at Gray Plantation Golf Course.
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Sulphur High School senior Brooke Tyree fought off a late charge by Alden Wallace to win her second consecutive Louisiana Women’s Golf Association Junior Girls Amateur state championship Wednesday at Gray Plantation Golf Course.
“I definitely had a little bit of nerves,” Tyree said. “I didn’t know where she was.
“I was just trying to play my game and stay in it. I wasn’t keeping Aldon’s score, but I knew that she was playing good. I didn’t even know if I was in the lead when we finished.”
Tyree, who has led Sulphur to three consecutive Louisiana High School Athletic Association Division I state championships, started the day with a five-shot lead on Wallace, who plays for Loyola Prep in Shreveport and is the reigning Division II medalist. But Wallace shot five-under on the back nine to make it interesting and turned in a tournament low round of 67 to finish two shots behind Tyree. Tyree shot rounds of 68 and 70 to finish with a 6-under 138 on the par-72 course that was playing just under 6,000 yards.
Putting was Tyree’s savior and foe. Her short par putt on the par-4 ninth hole lipped out, but she made one for birdie on the 16th hole to give herself enough of a cushion to become the first to win back-to-back titles since Julia Johnson (2013, 2014).
“My putter kind of helped me out and a few times it got me into trouble,” Tyree said. “It kept me in the game.
“I am not hitting it as well as I want to be, but towards the end I started to hit a few shots. It is getting a little better.”
Tyree led by as many as seven shots after back-to-back birdies on Nos. 6 and 7, but Wallace birdied Nos. 10, 12, 15, 16, 18 on the back nine and got within three shots with three holes left.
Tyree opened the tournament on Tuesday by shooting 4 under on the front nine, but a 4-hour rain and lightning delay prevented the round from finishing until late in the evening. The weather slowed Tyree but she managed to birdie the 18th hole to get to 4 under.
“I was 4 under on the front and after the delay I didn’t lose it but I didn’t get anything going again,”’ Tyree said. “It was a little hard to stay in it and not just make a big mess.”
Daphney Tilton (Lacassine HS) finished tied for fourth at 151 with Rachel Dupre.
McKenzie LeDuff (St. Louis Catholic HS) and Carly Whittington (Lacassine HS) finished third and sixth in the first flight, respectively, while Annie Thomas (Barbe HS) and Abbie Richard (Sulphur HS) placed fifth and seventh, respectively, in the second flight.
