Scott wins PGA Junior Championship qualifier
BEAVER FALLS — She had come so close before.
This time, Paige Scott made it count.
The 2022 Butler graduate won the Tri-State Section Junior PGA Championship Friday at Fox Run Golf Course, beating out Lindsey Powlanda of Mt. Lebanon by a single stroke in the 36-hole event. Scott lost this event by two strokes last year and finished second in 2020, qualifying her for the PGA Junior National Championships.
The 2020 national tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, however.
“I’ve been playing in this qualifier since I was 13,” Scott said. “This was my last shot. All I wanted to do was stay focused and give myself a chance.”
That’s easier said than done in this format. The Junior PGA qualifiers are 36 holes walking, all in one day. After the first 18 holes, golfers are given a 30-minute break for lunch, then it’s back on the course.
Temperatures Friday were in the low 70s, a radical difference from last year’s qualifier.
“It was much hotter last year,” Scott recalled. “Some girls tend to fade during the second 18 holes. You get tired. Playing 36 holes in one day, especially walking, isn’t something we’re used to.
“The first 18, I just wanted to relax and play. Take it hole-by-hole, make my shots, give myself a chance.”
She did that, shooting a 3-over-par 75. Powlanda, one of the girls she was playing with, was four shots in front of Scott after the first 18.
With two holes left on the second 18, Scott trailed by two strokes. Powlanda bogeyed No. 17 while Scott sank a par putt to pull within one.
On the par-5 No. 18, Scott’s third shot landed on the green, setting her up for a 10-foot birdie putt. Powlanda two-putted on 18.
“If I sank the 10-footer, I win. If I missed it, we go to a playoff,” Scott said. “After 36 holes, the last thing I wanted was to play more golf. I was so happy when I sank that putt to win.”
The qualifier lasted 10 hours. Scott bested a 22-golfer field with an overall 1-over par 145. She shot 2-under-par in the second round. Two golfers finished 2-over par for the tournament, others were 3 over.
“There’s not much margin for error in a tournament like that,” Scott said.
She will move on to play in the PGA Junior Championship during the first week of August at Cog Hill Country Club, near Chicago. That event is four consecutive days of 18-hole play.
“For junior players, that is the best tournament you can play in,” Scott said of the PGA Junior Championship. “Win that ... That’s doing something big.”
Scott also plans to play in the U.S. Girls qualifier Wednesday at Shannopin Country Club. The top two placers there advance to the Pa. Junior Championships June 27-28 in Hershey.
She plans to play in some local tournaments this summer as well. Scott also works at Slippery Rock Golf Club, where she’s a member.
“I’m around golf every day,” she said.
Scott will continue her academic and golf career this fall at Oakland (Mich.) University.
