CLARION, Pa. (EYT/D9) — It wasn’t the start McKayla Kerle was hoping for on her home course in her biggest round of the season.
Not even close.
Double-bogey. Double-bogey.
(Above photo, District 9 Class 2A girls golf champion, Clarion’s McKayla Kerle)
When she topped her tee shot on the No. 3 hole at Clarion Oaks Golf Club during the District 9 Class 2A Girls Golf Individual Championships Monday, her worst fears popped into her head. It was like last year all over again, when she shot a 105 on a disastrous day at the district championship tournament.
“Yeah, from the start it didn’t look like it was going to be good,” Kerle said, chuckling. “Last year I got in a lot of trouble in a lot of places, and that’s what it was starting to look like today.”
Kerle, though, pulled herself out of her early funk with a superb second shot on No. 3, played well around the green and on it, and shot an 80 to cruise to the championship.
Kerle beat runner-up, Chloe Fritch of Karns City, by eight strokes.
“I guess I wasn’t really nervous, it was just a lot of pressure because it was my home course,” Kerle said. “Shooting a good score was kind of what people expected. As soon as I began hitting the ball how I typically hit it, it was easier after that.”
Kerle led Fritch by only two strokes after the front nine, but pulled away with a 39 on the back to win the title.
“It means a lot, especially not making it this far the last two years,” Kerle said. “I learned from that experience that the short game is really important.”
That’s where Kerle was at her best on Monday.
“It really saved me when the drives weren’t working,” Kerle said. “I was chipping well today. I think I stuck four of five within a foot that were easy tap-ins.”
On the surface, Fritch’s round of 88 and second-place finish seems unremarkable.
It’s not.
The Karns City freshman shot a 43 on the front and a 45 on the back while playing on a broken left foot.
Fritch hadn’t even stepped onto a golf course in nearly a month after fracturing the metatarsal at the base of her big toe during the first soccer match of her career for the Gremlins in early September.
She played all 18 holes with a special brace to protect the break. She prepared for the tournament over the weekend by hitting shots on the range while wearing a walking boot.
“There wasn’t any expectations going in,” Fritch said. “We weren’t sure how much my foot could take, even with the brace, so we brought my boot just in case.
“I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to go, just because I haven’t played in so long,” she added. “It ended up working out well.”
Fritch was surprised she was in the hunt the entire day. She knew she was striking the ball well and felt little pain from her foot, but didn’t realize she was so close to the leader, Kerle, until late in her round.
(Karns City freshman Chloe Fritch and her father and Gremlins’ golf coach, Eric Fritch)
That’s when the nerves kicked in.
“I knew I was playing decent, but I didn’t want to look at my scores,” Fritch said. “I didn’t want to get my hopes up or anything. When I did see my score, I started freaking out. I was trying to calm myself down toward the end, but my nerves did get to me and I kind of fell downhill a little bit over the final three holes.”
Fritch’s father, Eric, is the golf coach at Karns City.
Like Chloe Fritch, McKayla Kerle comes from a golfing family. Her father, Jay, and mother, Jackie, are the golf coaches at Clarion. Her younger brother, freshman Kameron, was third in the District 9 Class 2A boys championships over the weekend.
McKayla, though, didn’t take a shine for golf until she was 10. She didn’t develop a true passion for it until last summer.
“(Kameron) started taking it more seriously at a younger age than I did,” McKayla said. “I was down there a lot, riding along with them a lot. Then, I got to the point where I just got bored and started playing.”
Kerle, Fritch, and Moniteau’s Emma Covert, who shot a 96, all advanced to the PIAA individual championships, which will be held on October 18 at Heritage Hills Golf Resort in York.
Covert also helped Moniteau claim the Class 2A team title.
The Warriors shot a 314 as a team with Brynne Barger shooting a 104 and Autumn Stewart a 114. Moniteau beat second-place Punxsutawney by just one stroke.
Maeve Hanley carded a 97, Kiersten Riley a 1-2, and Neveah Parente a 116 for the Chucks.
In Class 3A, Sarah Henninger, of DuBois, won the individual title with a 100. Cadence Stiles, of Bradford, was second with a 104. Both will advance to the state tournament, which will be held on October 19 at Heritage Hills.
Punxsutawney won the 3A team title.
Kerle said she knows she can’t get off to a slow start at the state championships in a couple of weeks.
“I just have to get my driver figured out,” Kerle said. “Get more confident in all my clubs.”
Fritch just simply has to play more golf again, she said.
“Now I can actually prepare for it,” she said, laughing.
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