By Chuck Reherman
Sports Editor
EDMOND – After a tough two rounds in stroke play, Alyssa Wilson had her sights set on coming home with the match play title.
She came up just a hole shy.
Wilson finished as runner-up in the Oklahoma Golf Association Girls’ Junior Championships held at Kickingbird Golf Course in Edmond.
Wilson lost to Brooklyn Benn of Edmond 1-up in the finals of the match play round. Wilson had knocked off the No. 2 and three seeds to reach the finals of match play and set her sights on Benn, who was the No. 1 seed after winning the stroke play portion of the championships.
Going into the final three holes, Wilson was one up, but bogeys on the 17th and 18th holes and Benn parring one hole led to Wilson finished one down.
“I feel I played very well,” Wilson said. “I definitely played better than when the stroke play portion of the tournament was.
“It definitely came down to the last few holes,” she said. “She Benn) was two up after 11 but I came back and won 12 and 13. I hadn’t been putting well all day and that’s what it came down to. After 15 I had been one up and i felt if I could par out I had a chance to win, however my putting wasn’t the best and I lost 17 and 18 with bogeys.”
Wilson, who had been seeded 10th (she finished tied for 10th in stroke play after shooting a 160 over two rounds), she faced a tough go to reach the finals. The top 16 players from stroke play advanced to the match play round.
She beat No. 7 seed Maisie Liddell of Ardmore one-up in the opening round.
In the quarterfinals, she faced No. 2 seed Maddi Kamas of Kingfisher two and one that moved her to the semifinals. She had to keep her focus despite a five-hour rain delay in the match.
She then faced No. 3 seed Raychelle Nelke of Pocola and took that match two and one to reach the finals.
“It was very satisfying to beat them, they were both very tight matches and it felt good to come out on top,” Wilson said. “I was less worried about scoring and more about getting up and down for par. I knew par on every hole would be hard to beat.
“I was four up going into 12 and there was a five-hour rain delay,” she said. “So, we went back out at five and I lost 12 and 13 and stayed two up until 17, it was hard to get my mindset the same when we went back out after the rain delay, the course was also completely different conditions.”
In the semi’s she did get to play straight through the match.
She will play in the WOGA Junior Championships June 18-19 at Quail Creek Country Club in Edmond and will play in the All-State match July 22 at Cherokee Hills Golf Club in Catoosa. She goes to a golf camp and then looks forward to college.
“With the way I played in the match play portion I feel more confident then I did going into the tournament for sure,
“I also have a golf camp through the 24-30 of july in Boise Idaho with The First Tee, other than that I might have a couple of tournaments before that but I haven’t decided yet.”
