Parker Watson leads a Smithfield-Selma sweep of Two Rivers 3A golf titles

Tuesday’s round at Reedy Creek Golf Course had a little bit of everything for Smithfield-Selma senior Parker Watson. The Spartan standout who had come close before to wining a girls golf conference individual title and fought through overflowing emotions, huge downs, then a lot of ups.

The result was the Two Rivers 3A Conference individual crown with a score of 37 on her final nine holes of the season.

“It means so much. I’ve come close the past two years but winning it my senior year makes it so special,” Watson said. “I got down on myself. I really put a lot of pressure on myself today. It did get really rough. I had a lot of help from my coach and teammates as well to get me back on track.”

After teeing off on the seventh hole, the SSS senior went to the 10th tee just one over par but struggled to a 49 over the next nine holes. Her confidence was shaken, but her coach knew her resolve wasn’t.

“I knew she would come back strong after that back nine,” said SSS coach Anthony Duca. “I just told her before she teed off at No. 1, ‘That 49 is gone, because it’s your high nine-hole score of the season.’ She was completely capable of going out and finishing those last six holes strong, putting up a front nine score of one or two over par, which is exactly what she did.”

Scoring for the season allows all players to drop their highest nine-hole score for their average and the 49 was six strokes higher than any of the previous four nines Watson had played entering Tuesday’s match.

Watson bogeyed the par-4 first hole after the talk, but came back with a birdie at the short, par-4, second. Another bogey followed before she striped her drive off of the tee on the par-5, 338-yard fifth.

Watson hit her 130-yard approach to within six feet, then dropped the eagle putt. She finished par, bogey to play her last six holes at even par and a 1-over, 37 total on the front nine, clinching the individual conference championship.

The SSS standout edged Corinth Holders’ Peyton LaBonte, who entered the day tied with Watson in total strokes for the season.

After their highest nine-hole scores were discarded, Watson finished with a 41.83 average and LaBonte came in at 42.

Triton’s Kathryn Elliott was the individual medalist at Reedy Creek on Tuesday with an 85, one ahead of Watson and two ahead of LaBonte. Elliott finished third on the year, just ahead of South Johnston’s Sydney Wheeless.

SSS and Triton shared the team lead at 283. The Spartans finished the season with three match wins and a second place finish to Triton last week.

“We have done so amazing this year, we were undefeated for eight rounds,” Watson said of her team’s work. “We’ve practiced a lot to get where we are. It feels great.”

Corinth Holders was third, South Johnston fourth and Cleveland fifth.

Smithfield-Selma’s Maggie Riley took fifth on the season and teammate Natalie Hill was ninth.

“The girls have worked hard every day on the range, but we lost some momentum the last two weeks with all of the rain and not being able to do much for those two weeks basically,” Duca said. “They’ll be ready for regionals because their desire to get better is great.”

The regional is set for Monday at Wedgewood in Wilson.

Any player with a stroke average of 55 or lower qualified for the regional. In the Two Rivers that group also included Brooke Blackmon of Triton (49.83), Kelsie Baker of Cleveland (50.5), Taylor Capps of Corinth Holders (51.67), Devon Shea of Triton (51.87), Lana Wang of Corinth Holders (52.33), Megan Long of Cleveland (53.67), Mackenzie Honeycutt of South Johnston (53.67), Taylor Hasick of South Johnston (53.87) and Reece Patterson of Western Harnett (54.33).

This story was originally published October 14, 2015 at 11:50 AM with the headline "Parker Watson leads a Smithfield-Selma sweep of Two Rivers 3A golf titles."