Casey Campbell | Gazette-Times Crescent Valley’s Hayley Brown and West Albany’s Katie Ortman walk up the seventh fairway at the Oregon Golf Association Course during the Mid-Willamette Conference District Tournament on Tuesday. Ortman and Brown finished first and second as individuals, while West Albany took the team title with Crescent Valley finishing second.

Raiders, three Spartans advance to state tournament

WOODBURN — Hayley Brown let out a combination of a laugh and a sigh as she missed a putt on the 16th hole late Tuesday afternoon at the OGA course.

The Crescent Valley High junior knew her chances at an individual Mid-Willamette Conference district title had just ended.

Two holes earlier her dreams of a title were well within reach after a stellar first 14 holes.

She had eliminated the five-stroke lead West Albany’s Katie Ortman had built after the first round on Monday.

She was playing 2-over par golf at the time and had the momentum as Ortman was coming off a double bogey on 14.

But Ortman hit her second shot a few feet from the cup on the par-4 15 to put the pressure back on Brown. She delivered with a beautiful second shot.

However, while Ortman tapped in for a birdie, Brown three-putted and trailed by two strokes with three holes to play.

Ortman pulled away to win medalist honors, finishing Tuesday with a 79 for a two-day total of 162. Brown ended with an 80 Tuesday and a two-day total 168 to place second.

The 80 was a personal best for Brown, and it helped her team place second behind West Albany and earn a trip to next week’s 5A state tournament

West Albany finished with a two-day total of 739, while the Raiders finished with a 764. Corvallis placed third with a 791. While the Spartans won’t go to state as a team, three players — Katie Zajicek, Karly Laney and Kayla Laney — will as they were the top three finishers not on the top two teams.

It was a frustrating finish for Brown, but a round she can be proud of, especially up to the 15th hole.

All three players in the final group — Ortman, Brown and Zajicek— hit on to the green on 15 with Zajicek and Ortman each putting in for birdie.

“It was very frustrating when both of them had threes, and it’s like, I had three but it was in putts, so that was frustrating,” Brown said with a smile afterward.

A triple-bogey on the 16th followed and the realization set in. Especially after Ortman made a big putt for bogey on 16 that put her up four strokes.

“You get to the last four holes and its like four holes to go and I got it, I got it and that’s when you screw up and that’s what I did for two holes,” Brown said. “I tried to pull it back together after that and I kind of managed.”

She did that, and finished with her best round ever.

Ortman, who shared medalist honors last year, said she just kept trying to answer the big shots that Brown kept making.

“I was just trying to keep it steady and even-par,” Ortman said. “If she made a good hole, I would try to come back the next hole and try to beat her on the next hole.”

Zajicek, a sophomore, will make her second trip to the state tournament. She was impressed with the way all three in the final group played all day.

“We were all playing amazing today,” she said. “The last few holes I could definitely feel the pressure. I think I played OK. I’m happy with what I got knowing it’s districts and state is coming up and I have a lot of room for improvement.“

The Raiders entered the tournament in third place after the five regular season meets, but came on strong, especially on Tuesday. The Raiders held an 8-shot lead over Corvallis for second heading into Tuesday. They were 18 strokes better than Monday as a team.

“We had a difficult year this year for sure but Caitlyn (Doyle) really stepped up and took a lot of it for us,” Brown said. “It was a great team effort for sure.“

Doyle, who played No. 1 most of the year, rebounded from a 99 on Monday with an 88 on Tuesday. Doyle, Brown and Ali Cook, who didn’t play Monday, all made big improvements in scoring from Monday.

Doyle said the Raiders had confidence entering the tournament.

“We just said we’re all capable of doing it so let’s just do it and get it done,” she said.

Team scores: West Albany 378-361—739, Crescent Valley 391-373—764, Corvallis 399-392—791, Lebanon 540-526—1,066, South Albany 684-675—1,359

Crescent Valley scores Tuesday: Hayley Brown 37-43—80, Caitlyn Doyle 46-42—88, Ali Cook 53-49—102, Char Grossnicklaus 58-45—103, Shannon McCoy 55-54—109

Crescent Valley tournament scores: Hayley Brown 88-80—168, Caitlyn Doyle 99-88—187, Char Grossnicklaus 97—103—200, Shannon McCoy 107-109—216

Corvallis scores Tuesday: Katie Zajicek 40-44—84, Karly Laney 45-49—94, Kayla Laney 52-49—101, Dani Brenneman 54-59—113, Megan Mattravers 58-58—116

Corvallis tournament scores: Katie Zajicek 88-84—172, Karly Laney 98-94—192, Kayla Laney 109-101—210, Megan Mattravers 104-116 — 220, Dani Brenneman 112-113—225

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