By Brent Kennedy, Baltimore Sun
Birdie on first playoff hole lifts Rachel Lee past Atholton’s Bryana Nguyen; Marriotts Ridge girls take team title
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Girls Golf County Championship Tournament. Marriotts Ridge’s Rachel Lee hits the ball off the tee at hole 1. (Staff photo by Jen Rynda /October 8, 2013) |
On the outside, Marriotts Ridge’s Rachel Lee was smiling. On the inside, she was simply trying not to panic.
Her once three-shot lead on the back nine of the county championship tournament Tuesday at Hobbit’s Glen had disappeared and she now found herself headed for a sudden-death playoff against three-time defending champion Bryana Nguyen of Atholton.
“I was walking around telling myself, ‘just keep smiling, just keep smiling,’ … I was forcing myself to smile even though everything was going wrong,” Lee said. “I kept thinking back to sophomore year at states, where I gave up at the end, and I blew it for the team.
“I wasn’t going to let myself give up again, no matter how bad it got. So I just smiled and told myself everything was going to be OK.”
As it turned out, a little positive thinking went a long way. With a birdie on the first playoff hole, sinking a 10-foot putt from beneath hole, Lee ended up securing the first county championship title of her career.
“Being senior year this was my last chance to win a county title, so I think that made that putt extra special,” Lee said. “That’s probably one of the biggest shots I’ve ever hit … better for me actually than the putt I made to win districts last year.”
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full recap by Brent Kennedy, Baltimore Sun.