4A STATE: Kaui wins individual crown, Gators take team title by 90 strokes

RENO — After shooting a tournament-record 64 Monday, Green Valley’s Alex Kaui bogeyed her first hole at the Class 4A girls state golf tournament Tuesday.

It was a frustrating, up-and-down day, but Kaui was able to keep it together.

Kaui birdied the 18th hole to shoot par 72 Tuesday to finish the tournament at 8-under, winning the individual title and helping the Gators to the team title at Hidden Valley Country Club.

“I started off with a bogey by three-putting, so that wasn’t really fun,” Kaui said. “I was really struggling today. But it worked out.”

Green Valley (608) won the team title by 90 strokes over second-place Faith Lutheran. Arbor View finished fourth while Coronado finished sixth out of six teams.

Green Valley’s Jenny Hahn, who won state last year, finished second overall, six strokes back of Kaui with back-to-back 71s.

Annie Freman of Faith Lutheran had the best round Tuesday with a 69, and finished third at 146. Silverado's Brittany Whatley took fourth at 148 on two rounds of 74. Arbor View's Kiley Ballew shot 78 to finish fifth at 152.

It was still a special two days for Kaui, who broke the one- and two-day state scoring records. Her two-day total of 136 was two strokes better than the previous record set by In-Ah Park of Bishop Gorman in 2006.

Kaui also concluded the high school season shooting every round even par or better.

“She wanted to keep that streak alive and hit that birdie on 18 to wind up even,” Green Valley coach Greg Murphy said.

Kaui’s round consisted of five bogeys and five birdies. She was 3-over after four holes and had three three-putts.

“In my head I thought, 'Oh my God, you’re going completely backwards from yesterday,’ ” Kaui said. “Then on the seventh hole I got a birdie and another on the eighth hole.”

On the 18th hole, Kaui was 1-over and very much aware of her streak of even-or-better rounds was in jeopardy.

The 434-yard, par-5 set up nicely for her. Before she hit her tee shot, she told Murphy she was going for the green in two.

After her drive to the left side of the fairway, Kaui hit a fairway metal to about 20 feet from the pin. She two-putted for birdie to keep the streak intact.

“I didn’t care if I was hitting over water, I was going for that green in two,” she said.

Freman also birdied 18 to finish with a career best 3-under-par.

“I kept calm, that’s the biggest thing I needed to work on,” the sophomore said. “I succeeded. I struck the ball perfect. I left a lot of putts out there, but still, 3-under is pretty good for me.”
 

Green Valley    298-310–608
Faith Lutheran    346-352–698
Spanish Springs    356-349–705
Arbor View    357-364–721
Carson    353-376–729
Coronado    385-364–749

Alex Kaui, Green Valley    64-72–136
Jenny Hahn, Green Valley    71-71–142
Annie Freman, Faith Lutheran    77-69–146
Brittany Whatley, Silverado    74-74–148
Kiley Ballew, Arbor View    74-78–152
Melanie Chambers, Coronado    80-74–154
Tess Jones, Spanish Springs    79-75–154
Alyssa Ballew, Arbor View    80-75–155
Bethany Wurster, Douglas    81-77–158
Christina Kralich, Span. Springs    81-79–160
Sarah Thomas, Green Valley    80-82–162
Brianna Becker, Faith Lutheran    82-81–163
Hilary Pauli, Tech    82-81–163
Kelsey Roberts, McQueen    83-81–164
Julia Graham, Spring Valley    82-82–164
Taylor Candley, Canyon Springs    86-82–168
Kristen Hsu, Green Valley    83-85–168
Maggie Jones, Bish. Manogue    84-85–169
Angie Pitaksarp, Eldorado    82-87–169
Allie Arguello, Bishop Gorman    84-89–173
Denise Wilkerson, Reno    88-86–174
Whitney Nash, Carson    81-93–174
Arianna Bryant, Cimarron    88-89–177
Olivia Greenwald, Coronado    89-89–178
Jamie Donzio, Basic    90-89–179
Aspen Bryant, Cimarron    85-94–179