Evergreen – California girls Mina Harigae and Jane Rah wondered if they would ever get a chance to play together in the last group of a final round.
Yep, might as well be in a big tournament, they said Thursday with a chuckle.
Surviving Hiwan Golf Club’s hills and teeter-totter greens with a solid 2-over-par 72 on Thursday, Harigae enters today’s final round with a one-stroke lead over Rah in the Rolex Girls Junior Championship. This American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) event is an invitational that’s considered the equivalent of a “major” championship for female youth.
Harigae, at 2-over-par 142 through 36 holes, and Rah (143) will be joined by Jessica Wallace (145) of Langley, British Columbia, in the final pairing.
“It should be fun,” Harigae said.
Harigae, 17, is from Monterey, Calif.; Rah, 16, from the Los Angeles suburb of Torrance. They play cards – “Egyptian War” is a favorite – during AJGA road trips. Rah pulled out a deck from her golf bag Thursday when their group was held up on the tee box for a couple of holes.
Today, they will be engaged in another kind of battle. It promises to be competitive, yet totally friendly. Talk about relaxed – Harigae rolled down a hill after hitting her tee shot at No. 13 on Thursday. Rah, the first-round leader with a 68 on Wednesday, took a deep breath Thursday and recovered from a horrid 43 on the front nine that included a triple-bogey 7 on the 393-yard fourth hole. Her 3-under-par 32 on the back nine included birdies on the last two holes.
In last year’s AJGA Tournament of Champions at Hiwan, Rah opened with a 68, then ballooned to a second-round 79 and finished 11th.
“I had flashbacks of that,” she said. “But this time I didn’t get mad at myself and let if affect me.”
Rah only needed a tap-in putt from 18 inches for her birdie on No. 18 after hitting the flagstick with an 8-iron from 134 yards.
Game on, Harigae must have thought.
“I saw it, and told Jane it hit the stick, but she didn’t believe me,” Harigae said.
Wallace climbed into contention with a 1-over-par 71 on Thursday. The Canadian, who said she will make recruiting visits to the University of Denver and CU while she’s here, almost finished with an even-par round but bogeyed No. 18 after failing to save a 4 from a greenside bunker.
Kayley Kempton, a recent Heritage High School graduate who will play golf this fall at Colorado State, challenged while making the turn in even-par 35. But she came in with a 40.
“A lot of my approach shots would hit a hill and bounce off,” said Kempton, who starts the final round six strokes off the lead at 148. “Maybe I can put both nines together tomorrow.”
Staff writer Tom Kensler can be reached at 303-954-1280 or tkensler@denverpost.com.
