With half of the Georgia State Golf Association’s four team members representing Coweta County, Team Georgia fought off a second-round charge from South Carolina to win the seventh annual Georgia-South Carolina Girls’ Junior Challenge Match last weekend at Champions Retreat Golf Club in Evans.
East Coweta senior Ji Eun Baik and fellow Newnan golfer Jordan Daniel, who attends Landmark Christian, each scored points during Sunday’s final match play round to help Georgia hold off a late-charging South Carolina foursome with a 14 1/2 to 9 1/2 victory.
Baik posted the state’s only victory in the final round after Team Georgia jumped out to a 9-3 lead in Saturday’s opening round. She defeated Kelli Murphy of Elgin, S.C., 2-up while contributing five points over the two days.
Capping off a busy summer that included a trip to the USGA Girls Junior Amateur in California, Baik fell behind quickly. After losing her first three holes, the Lady Indians standout won four of her final six while using birdies on the par five 14th hole and par four 16th holes to go 1-up heading onto No. 18.
She parred out to end her round while Murphy bogeyed the 360-yard par 4 hole to clinch the victory.
Daniel, meanwhile, equally finished strong. A day after salvaging a half-point for her team in her opening match, she managed to follow up on Sunday with two points after closing her second day round with Kelsey Badmauv of Blythewood all-square after 18 holes.
The team was comprised from the top four finishers at this year’s GSGA Girls Championship. It was Georgia’s third straight win to give them a 5-2 lead in the series.
LOCALS PLAY IN U.S. MID-AMATEUR QUALIFIER
Gregory Young of Sharpsburg led area finishers in Monday’s U.S. Mid-Amateur golf qualifier at St. Ives Country Club in Duluth.
Young was six strokes off the pace among nine qualifying finishers led by a round of 66 by Chris Waters of Athens. Three players tied for the final qualifying round of 3-under 69.
Newnan golfers Michael Budgen and Brian Templeton added respective rounds of 78 and 79 in Monday’s qualifier.
PLUSKOTA HOSTING KIDS CLINIC, FUND RAISER
Newnan resident and former Northgate High and University of Tennessee tennis star Natalie Pluskota shot up the doubles’ rankings this week on the WTA Tour after reaching the finals of the $100,000 Vancouver Open last week.
Pluskota teamed with Arizona State junior Jacqueline Cako at the event while moving her doubles ranking to a career high 348 in the world with a 19-9 record.
The duo won their first three matches, including a 3-6, 6-3 [10-8] victory over Americans Jessica Pegula and Taylor Townsend in the semifinals.
Pluskota and Cako also went to a tiebreaker in the finals against Julia Glushko of Israel and Australian Olivia Rogowska, before falling 6-7, 5-7, 10-8.
Up next for Pluskota is a berth in the U.S. Open National Tournament at Yale on Aug. 17-20 while among 13 qualifiers bidding for a single wild-card berth at Flushing Meadows.
In an effort to help finance her budding professional career, Pluskota — a four-time Division I All-American — is hosting a free Kid’s Tennis Clinic on Saturday at the Summit Family YMCA, followed by a “Beat the Pro” exhibition and Adult Round Robin events.
The Kid’s Clinic starts at 9 a.m., with ages 4-9, followed by ages 10-17 at 10 a.m.
The “Beat the Pro” event follows at 11:30 a.m., for a $2 donation. Ages 15-and-up can participate in the Adult Round Robin for a $20 donation. To register, contact Alex Thomson at 336-263-1156.
Food and refreshments will be served and a silent auction will be on site.
