HARROD – Brianna Baird says she spends a lot of time practicing her wedges and working on her short game.
That paid off in a big way twice in her semifinal win over Rebekah Rader in the Lima Area Women’s Match Play Golf Tournament on Saturday at Colonial Golfers Club.
Baird’s 1-up win over 2015 champion Rader sent her on to play her University of Northwestern Ohio teammate Morgan Barnett in today’s Championship Flight title match at the Shawnee Country Club.
Barnett, a semifinalist for the last three years, won 5-and-4 over qualifying round medalist Abbey Jettinghoff in the other semifinal.
Baird chipped to within six inches on the eighteenth hole for what would have been a tap-in birdie to clinch her match against Rader. And that came after she chipped in on the ninth hole to turn around a match in which she fell behind early and never led until the final hole.
“I work a lot on my short game because that’s where it’s at,” Baird said.
Rader led the match by three holes after five holes and was still up by a similar margin when Baird chipped in at No. 9 and followed that by winning No. 10 with a birdie.
“That was the turning point, that was definitely the turning point,” Baird said about the chip in at No. 9.
“I was thinking there are a lot of holes to go. Anything can happen. I knew I wasn’t playing my best golf so I could make a comeback. I’ve done it before. So I knew there was hope and I could do it.
“I’d rather chase a lead than defend a lead any day,” she said.
The other championship flight semifinal was not close from the start. Barnett won four of the first five holes and was in control the rest of the way.
“It’s my first trip to the finals. I’m really excited,” Barnett said.
Baird is a sophomore at UNOH and Barnett is a junior. “We know each other’s game. We always have good competition between us, qualifying for tournaments. It will be a good match tomorrow.
“She hits it longer than me and her short game is really good, too. So, we’ll see how tomorrow goes,” Barnett said.
In the First Flight, Carol Mitchell chipped in on the 22nd hole to win 1-up over Brenda Schimmoeller and Connie Shutt won 5-and-3 over Tamara Pope.
Jennifer Mefferd won 5-and-3 over Evie Lenski in the Second Flight and Deb Osburn beat Amy Newland 4-and-3.
In Junior Flight medal play, Megan Spainhower shot a 91 and Geanna Fullom had a 107.
Tee times in today’s finals at the Shawnee Country Club begin at 2:30 p.m. with the Second Flight, followed by the First Flight at 2:40, the Championship Flight at 2:50 and the Junior Flight at 3 p.m.
.neFileBlock {
margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
padding-bottom: 5px;
padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
font-size: 85%;
}
