Peters third after first round of WJGA state tournament
RICHLAND — The temperatures skyrocketed and the scores plummeted on Tuesday at the Washington Junior Golf Association state tournament at Meadow Springs Country Club in Richland.
Kennewick’s Samantha Hui birdied three of the first four holes to take the first-day lead in the girls 16-18-year-old division with a 4-under-par round of 68. Therese Warner of Kennewick is one stroke off the lead at 69 and Ephrata senior Kenedee Peters currently sits in third with an opening-round 71. The top three players on the leaderboard blistered the Meadow Springs Country Club with a combined score of minus-8 in a brilliant display of junior golf.
The second round continues today at Black Rock Creek Golf Course in Sunnyside. The top seven in the elite junior golfer field will make the cut and play for the Washington state championship back at Meadow Springs Country Club on Thursday.
The cut is currently at plus-3, but if the leaderboard continues to develop as is, it will be a three-player run for the championship.
Peters, a two-time 2A state medalist, had two birdies on the back and a bogey on each side to stay in contention with a steady round. She has played several times at Black Rock Creek during the high school season and goes into the second round with course familiarity and a chance to move up.
Hui got off to the hot start with birdies on three of the first four holes. She added another on the 354-yard, par-4 seventh hole to make the turn at 34. The Southridge star also had a three-birdie stretch on the back, playing the final four holes in 3-under-par.
Warner, who helped Southridge High School girls win the Class 3A state golf title in 2016, had three birdies on the back to put herself in contention.
Peters is coming off one of her best tournaments of the summer where she advanced all the way to the semifinals in the elite field at the 116th PNGA Women's Amateur at Fairwood Golf & Country Club in Renton.
She ended up losing to Samantha Martirez, from California Baptist University, 3 & 2 in the semifinals after an impressive run through the predominantly collegiate field that included just two high school players.
The Tigers senior also finished 20th in the Women’s U.S. Open sectional qualifier in June.