Jessica Cathey’s hands were shaking as she stood over a 12-foot par putt on the final hole of the City Prep golf tournament Thursday at Bear Trace at Harrison Bay.
The Soddy-Daisy junior thought she needed to make the putt for a one-shot medalist win and to give her team a tie with Baylor for the team championship.
She was wrong on both accounts.
Cathey’s final putt dropped for a two-stroke win over Emily Javadi. But it wasn’t enough for the Lady Trojans to beat the Lady Raiders.
“Being medalist makes me happy,” Cathey said. “That putt was a big sigh of relief. But we didn’t beat Baylor and I’m disappointed with that. But I’m happy with what I shot.”
Baylor shot a 9-over-par 153 with Javadi’s 4-over 76 and a 77 from Elena Baker, which topped the Soddy-Daisy duo of Cathey (74) and Haley Cothran, who contributed an 80.
“It’s a little disappointing,” said Cathey, who teamed with Cothran to win the last two City Prep championships. “We both know that we can play better, and we will. This is getting us ready for district, region and state.”
The Lady Raiders may be ready for the playoffs to start right now. They completed a three-day sweep of three 18-hole tournaments with a different lineup each day. Only Javadi played all three days.
Baylor won the Father Ryan Invitational at Temple Hills on Tuesday, the Lady Raider Invitational at Willowbrook on Wednesday plus Thursday’s City Prep championship.
“Our kids are tired,” Baylor coach Gary Partrick said. “Three tournaments, three cities, two nights in hotels. But it’s been a good week.”
Alyssa Brown won medalist honors Tuesday and Blakesly Warren won on Wednesday. Javadi almost completed the individual sweep Thursday.
“It’s been long and tiring, but it’s been fun,” Javadi said. “I’m glad and happy that we all played well.”