Pueblo – It looked more like a friendly round among friends than the nail-biting final round of the Class 4A girls state golf tournament.
The top threesome traded laughs and advice between shots Tuesday at the Elmwood Golf Course, and despite a near-deadlock at the top for much of the 18 holes, nobody appeared to feel the pressure.
When it was all said and done, Kent Denver sophomore Andrea Watts fended off Mullen’s Maggie Boberg and first-day leader Elizabeth Kresock of Colorado Academy, as well as Pueblo South’s Amanda Bregar and teammate Olivia Garard, who played one group ahead, for a three-stroke victory at the two-day tournament.
Watts trailed Kresock by four strokes going into the second round, but she was unfazed and made up the ground over the first few holes.
“In golf, four strokes is nothing,” said Watts, who shot a 4-over-par 75 for a two-day total of 152.
Boberg, Kresock and Bregar, who caught fire on the back nine, tied for second. Garard, a freshman, rounded out the top five, finishing four shots behind her Sun Devils teammate.
It was a great tournament for Kent Denver, which brought its first team to the state meet in school history. The Sun Devils breezed to the team championship, and although only the top three scores are counted, all four Kent Denver golfers played well.
Freshman Grace Duboc shot 85 on Monday and 86 on Tuesday, and senior Kris Zeschin finished with an 89 and 88.
Led by Bregar and Meagan Chapman, Pueblo South was runner-up for the second year in a row, and Colorado Academy, also with its first team at state, finished a close third.
Watts, Kresock, Boberg and Garard were even after seven holes and stayed fairly close the rest of the way. On No. 12, Watts saved herself with an 80-foot approach shot from behind a patch of trees, and she saved par from there with an 18-foot putt.
But on No. 15 with Watts and Boberg tied, two strokes ahead of Kresock and three up on Garard, who went bogey-bogey on Nos. 10 and 11, Watts separated herself from the rest.
Watts, the longest hitter among the leaders, crushed her drive and eventually birdied the par-5 hole, while Boberg went too hard on a 3-foot par putt and had to settle for a bogey. That ended the tension as Watts held her lead through the last three holes.
“I was trying really hard not to look at the boards,” Watts said. “I didn’t want to know where our scores were at, but it seemed like we were close.”
Watts will not be back to defend her title. Instead, she will join the David Leadbetter Golf Academy in Florida. But Boberg, Kresock and Garard plan to return.
“You bet I will,” Boberg said. “It’s too bad I won’t get a rematch against Andrea. I wish I could go back to No. 15 and start over from there.”
Kresock said she felt a little pressure after ending the first round as the leader, but it was her opponent who helped her relax.
“There were a lot of people coming up to me saying, ‘Win it for me,’ so there was a bit of pressure,” Kresock said. “But Andrea really helped me out. She told me to take deep breaths and kept me laughing.”
