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Verrado’s Kaylee Benton patiently waits her turn to putt at the 18th green at Maryvale golf course in Phoenix on Tuesday. Benton carded a 4-under-par during the two-day tournament to win the Div. II girls state championship.
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This could have been Verrado’s Kaylee Benton’s second Division II golf title. Benton took a lead into the last hole of the 2013 championship round but a drive that failed to carry a fairway bunker added extra strokes that resulted in a third place finish.
Fast forward to Tuesday and the score line suggests there was little doubt Benton, a Senior, had what was needed to win.
“I felt pretty confident. I’ve been taking my coach’s (local pro Matt Currey) advice and playing one shot at a time. So I went into today just knowing it was a new day. I did my very best to play shot-by-shot.”
Benton shot a 5-under-par 67 during the final round of the two day tournament, held at Phoenix’s Maryvale Golf Course, to take a decisive four stroke lead into the clubhouse. The closest challenger was Haylin Harris from Tucson Salpointe who finished the tournament at even par.
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Kaylee Benton poses with her first place
medal after winning the Div. II girls
golf championship.
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Hole 9 at Maryvale was a pivotal hole for Benton during both rounds. She eagled the 407-yard, par-5 hole on both days giving her four strokes that equaled her margin of victory.
“(Hole 9) was a lot shorter than the other par-5s so I had an iron instead of a wood,” Benton said. “It played like a par-4 pretty much so I just made it up and down from the fairway.”
The back 9 was clicking for Benton. “I focused hole-by-hole and tried not to think about 18,” She said. “ I just tried to think about what I was doing and kept increasing my lead and it took the pressure off.”
Benton’s lead increased as the hole progressed and she had a comfortable lead after making birdie on 17 and headed toward the 18th tee.
She made par on the last hole of the tournament, calmly placed the pin back in the cup and walked off the green to the greetings of her teammates.
Benton, who is heading to the University of Nevada Las Vegas to play golf, was not the only winner on the day. The Verrado girls team also won the Section championship and was awarded the section plaque. The lady Viper team finished 5th overall.
Verrado’s boys played in their division championship tournament. Daniel Kirkendall was the top player on the Viper team finishing at 5-over-par and tied for sixth place overall. The Viper boys as a team also finished in sixth place.
