By Glen Miller/Sports Editor

After a rocky start on the back nine of Wednesday’s final round of the 2006 Lloyd Moody Junior Golf Classic, El Reno’s Madison Haley did something her coach has been preaching for years — stayed calm.

“Her attitude helped her score well,” El Reno High School coach Lanae Goucher said. “She kept it together.”

Madison played the final five holes in one-over-par to card a 41 for the back nine and a 78 for the round. The effort gave her the overall title for the classic with a 36-hole total of 159. She is the first girl from El Reno to grab the title and the 5-foot-tall winner’s trophy.

“I can remember when I was little and asking if I could win that trophy,” Haley said. “They told me no, that I had to be 16. Now that I’m 16 I’ve won it and that’s pretty cool.”

Haley said she thought she was in the running going down the stretch, so she made up her mind to play it smart.
“I’ve learned the hard way. I knew I was close in the tournament and I didn’t want to give it away, so I made safe shots instead of stupid shots,” Haley said.

And Goucher could not have been happier.

“She did play it safe and I told her after she was done how proud of that I was,” Goucher said. “That showed she was thinking about her game and not taking chances. I was excited to see her thinking about the shots and what she needed to do.”

Goucher said a key hole was the par-5 16th hole. After a solid drive landed short of the water, Haley made a layup shot around the hazard and into the fairway short of the green. She then chipped up and two-putted for a par.

“Normally she would have tried to hit it over and around the bunkers near the green,” Goucher said. “She played safe golf and that is not something she has always done in the past.”

The race for the overall title was a close one, with Haley beating out Hinton’s Amanda Arrington by a shot and Mustang’s Cara Horn by two. Horn matched Haley’s round of 78 for the final day and each grabbed five points toward qualifying for the PGA South Central Section Junior Tournament of Champions.

Haley ended the Classic with nine of the 25 points needed to qualify for the TOC, which will be played in August at Battle Creek Golf Club in Broken Arrow.

El Reno teammate Leilani Gradle ended up fourth overall with a 167 total after shooting a final round of 85. She earned four points toward a TOC berth.

In the boys tournament, El Reno’s Cameron Ross tied for first place during day two play with a 78 and grabbed five qualifying points. Ross had a two-day total of 166. EHS’ Jeremy Foreman shot rounds of 95-94 for a 189 total.

The overall boys title went to Jarred Darrough of Kingfisher with rounds of 79-72 for a 151 tally.

Over 60 golfers played the in the event, which is in its third year of being two separate one-day points tournaments instead of one 36-hole event.

“It was outstanding since there were two other tournaments going on in the area,” Crimson Creek Golf Club Pro Roma Tomlinson said. “It was good for an El Reno girl to win it. Our local golfers played well.”