(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
LITTLETON — Does Jaylee Tait have the home-course advantage?
The Columbine senior certainly hopes so as she heads into Tuesday’s final round of the Colorado Class 5A girls state golf championship.
Raccoon Creek Golf Club, the site of the two-day, 36-hole tournament, is Columbine’s home course.
Tait has even more of an advantage. Her father, Pat, is the club’s head pro. She even works at the course. And, as expected, she plays a lot of rounds there.
Her round on Monday of 3-over-par 75 put her in a tie for first place with Grandview’s Morgan Sahm.
“It’s a total different feeling than coming out with my friends,” Tait admitted of playing with a state title on the line.
In actuality, “The scores were higher coming in than I expected,” she said.
(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
Denver East’s Sarah Hunt held the lead at the mid-point at 2-under and made the turn at even par. She lost four strokes on the final three holes to finish at 4-over 76.
Still, “This has been my best day,” Hunt said of her best round of the season. At one behind the leaders, she’ll be in the lead threesome on Tuesday.
Tait at one point was one over. She was hoping to finish at least in the top six, which would put her in the top two groups heading into Tuesday. She thought she might have lost that chance when she double-bogeyed 17.
At 3-over, “I didn’t putt as well as I had liked,” she said.
With rain and snow on the course within the previous week, it was softer than she was used to. In addition, she normally plays Raccoon Creek from the blue or black tees. The tournament is being played from the white tees and she had to club down on many tee shots.
Tait has qualified for the state tournament in each of her four years. Her best finish was 13th as a sophomore. Last year she won the regional tournament but did not play well at state, something she is hoping to rectify this year.
Course conditions might differ in the afternoon, when she plays half her round.
“As far as how the course changes, that should be all right,” she said.
It’s packed at the top in the battle for the team title.
Legacy, Regis Jesuit and Rock Canyon are all tied for first place at 29-over. Legacy is the only one of the three with just three golfers competing, so all three count toward the team score.
Hunt’s score helped Denver East stay close to the leaders; the Angels are in fourth at 250, six strokes ahead of Arapahoe.
Defending champion Calli Ringsby of Cherry Creek ended her first round at 6-over, as did Arapahoe’s Hannah Wood, an expected challenger for the title. The two played in the same group Monday. Dakota Ridge’s Sydney Merchant, another challenger, is 5-over.