Meryl Grogan threw her hat in the ring as a contender for the Region 2 golf title last month when she won the Christian County Invitational with a blistering round of 64 at Western Hills Golf Course.
On Monday, the Henderson County junior was able to hang that same hat on a region championship trophy. Grogan shot a 1-under-par 71 to win the delay-riddled Region 2 tournament held on her home course at the Henderson Country Club.
Grogan shot an even par 36 on the front nine with three birdies and three bogeys and was nearly flawless on the back nine with a 1-under 35. She made par on her final seven holes and tapped in a short putt to win the region title for the first time.
Her score helped the Lady Colonels finish with the runner-up trophy at 33 over par, 19 shots behind region champion Daviess County, which took the team title for a fourth straight year.
Claire Reynolds was in the same group as Grogan and also shot a 36 on the front nine. She overcame back-to-back bogeys on holes 10 and 11 with birdies on 14 and 16. She had a chance to send the match to a playoff, but her 8-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole did a horseshoe on her and wouldn’t drop.
For Reynolds, it’s her third consecutive runner-up finish at the region tournament. Ainsley Dalton shot a 7 over par 79 to finish in 7th place for Henderson County, while Lucy Whitfield shot an 11 over par 83 to finish in 11th place.
Cameron Davis tied for 15th place with a 16-over-par 88 as the Lady Colonels only sent four golfers on the course.
Baylie Billingsley finished in third place for Daviess County with a 1-over-par 73 that included an eagle.
Kennedi Minton finished in fifth place with a 5 over par 77, while Alexa Salama tied for eighth place with an 8 over par 80. Briley Billingsley rounded out the scoring for the Lady Panthers with a 15th-place tie and a score of 88 as Daviess County put all five of its golfers in the top 15.
Both Daviess County and Henderson County qualified their full teams to compete at the KHSAA state first round next week at the Calvert City Country Club.
The start of Monday’s match was delayed four hours due to heavy rain and lightning. The golfers got in just over three hours on the course before a nearly one-hour delay halted play just after the golfers made the turn around 3:40.
Play wrapped up just before seven o’clock as another storm rolled through the Henderson area.
