Carlee Rogers, all 4 feet and change of her, stood over three chips Sunday morning at The Honors Course knowing the stakes.
She was in third place among the 10 girls in the 10-11 age group of the sectional event at the renowned Ooltewah golf course.
The winner of each group - four boys and four girls - would qualify for the 2018 Drive, Chip & Putt Championship at Augusta National Golf Club. The national event is April 1, the Sunday before the Masters begins.
After getting within one round of advancing last year, Rogers, a 10-year-old Whitwell Elementary School student, knew what was on the line.
THE HONORS HONOREES
Eight youth golfers won their age groups Sunday at The Honors Course in Ooltewah and qualified for the championships in April at Augusta National Golf Club.Boys: 7-9 — Thaxton Cheyne, 106 points; 10-11 — Patmon Malcom, 116; 12-13: Andrew Lim, 129; 14-15: Jay Nimmo, 151.Girls: 7-9 — Julie Waldo, 101 points; 10-11 — Trinity Beth, 129; 12-13 — Sara Im, 131; 14-15 — Carla Kay Hickam, 127.
And she knew the pressure. Sort of.
"Yes, I knew a win would mean a trip to the Masters," she said after winning the chipping event and the putting event but falling four points short of Trinity Beth of Kentucky for the invitation to Augusta.
As for the pressure?
"Not really," Rogers said.
Ah, the joys of youth.
While the parents were nervous wrecks - Chris Rogers, Carlee's dad, quickly admitted he was far more worried than his pure-swinging daughter - and at times tear-soaked messes from joy and heartache, the kids put on a clinic.
Long-range putts, 7-year-olds hitting drivers 150 yards and 14-year-olds crushing 300-yard bombs and delivering pressure-filled chip shots that would make even the best players' knees knock. It was all on display at The Honors on a glorious Sunday as the braces-filled faces with the neon-colored shirts and the smack-talking socks - one 7-year-old donned a pair of black knee-highs that on the back read "Leaving the Rest Behind" - betrayed the notion of golf being an old man's game.
That's the goal of Drive, Chip & Putt, an initiative by the PGA of America, the United States Golf Association and Augusta National. And it blends perfectly with the mission of The Honors, which was opened almost 35 years ago by Jack Lupton with the goal of honoring amateur golf. Lupton died in 2010.
"Jack would have loved this event," Honors member and longtime Lupton friend Charlie Arant said Sunday behind the driving range as the 10-11 boys were bombing 220-plus-yard tee shots.
"We are all about amateurs here at The Honors, and you can't have better amateurs than these kids. Their enthusiasm is great. And their skills are pretty good, too."
Which brings us back to Beth, the 10-year-old girl from Kentucky whose parents, Aaron and Leah, played college basketball at Vanderbilt and Western Kentucky, respectively. Trinity, who had finished in the top three at the regional round but a step short of Augusta the past two years, displayed a complete game to finally land a spot at the championship event.
"I knew she was close," Beth said of Rogers, "but I didn't know how close."
Not many did. After hitting three chips within six feet of the hole, Rogers netted 60 points. Beth needed no fewer than 10 points - points were awarded for chips that stopped with various circles surrounding the hole - on her final chip to avoid a third straight year of heartbreak.
Her final swing landed within six feet and led to 10 points and a 129-125 win over Rogers.
"I practiced a whole lot (after last year)," said Beth, who finished second in points in each of the three skills. "I know what she's feeling for sure."
Come April, Beth and the seven other winners from The Honors will know another feeling.
The feeling of competing for a title at Augusta National.
Contract Jay Greeson at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6343.