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Friday, March 29, 2024

Hatton fires career-low 76 to seize District golf lead

Maya Hatton
Maya Hatton

After nearly two decades of teaching girls golf, no one knows better than Taft High coach Heather Hatton how fickle the sport can be.

She also knows no one or anything can take Monday away from the No. 1 player on her squad and in her heart.

“Today was the most exciting day of golf I have ever played,” Hatton’s daughter and leading player Maya Hatton said Monday night after seizing the first-round lead in the Class 4A/3A/2A/1A Special District 2 Girls Golf Championships with a career-low 76.

Maya Hatton

A 17-year-old senior headed to the College of Idaho to play golf in the fall, Hatton blitzed par-74 Santiam Golf Course in Aumsville for a 37-39—76.

“Everything came together perfectly for me today,” she said. “I had a rough couple of days of practice this weekend, so I was really nervous going into my round.”

Tigers girls golf
From left, Sammy Halferty, Olivia Baker, Violet Palermini, Maya Hatton, Heather Hatton, Jocelyn Arguello and Rick Hatton.

Hatton’s teammates came to play, too, leaving the Tigers in second place, seven shots behind the co-op team of Salem Academy/Blanchet Catholic, which features Hatton’s longtime youth golf rival Katie Goodwin.

“My round was exciting, yes, but where my entire team is at as a whole has me even more proud and excited,” she said. “I am hoping for nothing but good things from all of us tomorrow.”

Sophomore Sammy Halferty, who birdied the par-3 17th, shot 104, junior Olivia Baker 110, and junior Violet Palermini 116 for the Tigers.

Sammy Halferty
Sammy Halferty

“I’m so proud of how Sammy [56-48] and Olivia [58-52] came back on the back nine,” Heather Hatton said.

Maya Hatton said she settled herself down on the driving range prior to her round by telling herself to keep things simple and play shot by shot rather than splitting it up into a front-nine and back-nine score.

The pep talk produced birdies on the par-4 ninth and 11th holes.

Play concludes Tuesday in the 36-hole tournament that determines the field for the State championships May 14-15 at Quail Valley Golf Course near Banks.

This post will be updated

4A/3A/2A/1A Special District 2
Amity (3A)
Central Christian (1A)
Cottage Grove (4A)
Creswell (3A)
Junction City (4A)
La Pine (3A)
Newport (4A)
North Marion (4A)
Regis (2A)
Salem Academy/Blanchet Catholic (3A)
Sisters (4A)
Stayton (4A)
Sutherlin / Oakland (4A)
Sweet Home (4A)
Taft (3A)
Waldport (2A)
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Jim Fossum
Jim Fossumhttp://SilverandBlackToday.com
Homepage Executive Editor and former longtime Sports Editor of the near-200,000 circulation Las Vegas Review-Journal, Fossum brings 40 years of award-winning experience covering virtually every facet of print and digital journalism to Lincoln City Homepage. The former longtime reporter for the Newport News-Times and Lincoln City News Guard is also Editor-in-Chief and Senior Columnist for SilverandBlackToday.com, which covers the NFL's Oakland (Las Vegas) Raiders.

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