14-year-old Claire Cameron from Martinsville, Ind. proved
that age was irrelevant this week at the Girl’s State Junior Championship held
at Delaware CC. Cameron claimed the
number three seed heading into the match play portion of competition and from
there knocked out players one-by-one.
She advanced to the Championship Match where she faced Yorktown’s Rachel
Johnson and was able to defeat her 3 & 1.
“My strategy was to get up on my opponent by as many as I
could early on,” Cameron said. “Once I had a lead I knew I just had to
close well and I was able to do so.”
Cameron dominated the match throughout the day, never
relinquishing her lead. She made a long
par putt on the par 3, 16th hole to halve the hole and maintain a
2-up lead heading to 17. With a par to
Johnson’s bogey, Cameron was deemed the winner of the Championship Flight.
“It’s definitely overwhelming,” Cameron said. “I’m only 14 so to be able to beat 17 and 18
year-olds is really an honor.”
Although Johnson did not have the finish she had hoped for,
she was still very pleased with her runner-up finish.
“It’s a big accomplishment to finish second,” Johnson
said. “There were so many great players
in this tournament and I’m definitely proud of my finish.”
Other Flight winners include: First Flight –Heidi
Morganthaler (Nappanee), Second Flight – Kayla Benge (Plainfield), Third Flight
– Alexandria Munnicha (Columbus), Fourth Flight – Hannah Holt (Madison), and
Fifth Flight – Jordan Rauh (Wabash).