By Jeremy McDonald
Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
KEIZER, Ore.– Salem Academy’s Chloe Johnston went out on the front nine of Wednesday’s 4A/3A/2A/1A Special District 3 round at the McNary Golf Course on fire.
The Crusader junior shot a two-under through the first six holes thanks to three birdies and two par’s to pace the golfer in the early part of the league round.
“I was staying confident in myself, hitting putts well and just commiting to my process and just hitting the next shot and not worrying about anything else,” said Johnston.
Johnston hit a rough spot between the seventh and tenth holes. A triple Bogey on seven brought her over par that was followed by a par, bogey and a double bogey before the Salem Academy golfer steadied the ship to close out the round. From the 11th hole through the 18th, Johnston made six par’s and had a birdie on 15 to off-set the one bogey she had on the 16th.
She returned to her zone, Johnston points, that helped her finish the round four-over-par, shooting a 75 in Keizer.
“It was kinda hard mentally having a couple rough Par-3’s. But I just decided to recommit to my process and fairways and greens, do what I can and just commit back to my process,” Johnston. “Controlling what I can control. My pre-shot routine, my mental game. What I’m eating and drinking, just anything that I can control.”
Johnston was one of two Crusaders who finished in the Top 5. The other being Ellie Gladow. Gladow finished second, one stroke behind Johnston. A bogey on 18 kept Gladow from tying Johnston for the individual medal win. But Gladow had a strong show with her 76, finishing with two birdies and 11 par’s on the course.
“There’s definitely errors that I can improve on and I know what they are. I’m happy with how I scored, but I know what I need to improve on and I’m excited to keep going for the rest of the season,” said Gladow. “I think for me, I need to be mentally sound before I hit every shot and be fully committed to every shot and not be half-committed because that’s when things go bad
The Crusaders only fielded three athlete’s on the day, Sloane James finished fourth with a 87 round, which allowed another team to take the team title win on this day. That team happened to be Santiam Christian.
The Eagles were led by Akria White, who finished third on the day with a 84 round.
White, a three-time State Golf Qualifier, two with Central in the Central/Santiam Christian Co-Op at the 5A Classification and last year as an Santiam Christian golfer in 4A/3A/2A/1A, said that the experience has driven her entering this year. White is hoping to close out her High School career as a four-time State Qualifier.
“It was really fun, I’ve had some really great coaches and learned along the way. I’ve improved so much since my freshman year. I love going out and meeting so many new people, it’s really fun,” said White. “I’m playing a lot smarter and not making stupid decisions.”
The short game is her focus up to this point. And that short game showed flashes of that improvement so far as she finished the round with an par on 18 thanks to that. The 18th hole par was one seven par’s that the Eagle golfer made on the course.
“I’ve made a putt, I’ve finally made a putt,” laughs White. “I could be scoring a lot better if I could make some putts…The short game is where I always struggle, I’ve had to work on that a lot.”
“Today went pretty good. The front nine was a little rough, but the back-nine I came back and played pretty good,” White said of the round.
Banks Emily Graham finished fifth with a 90 score on the day. Harrisburg’s Peyton Taylor (91) finished sixth, Amity’s Kenzie Kauer (94) finished seventh. Sweet Home’s Victoria Victor finished eighth with a 97 score. Waldport’s Kiana McNeil, Amity’s Carrie Sims and Blanchet’s Hallie Beyer finished tied for ninth. The three shot a round score of 100 on the day.
Photos By Jeremy McDonald
