Arlington 13-year-old leads Fort Worth junior girls tournament by four strokes
A year ago, Trinity King tied for fourth in the Fort Worth girls junior golf championship, shooting in the 70s for two days before slipping to an 87 in the final round.
She could be excused for the late setback. She was 12.
Now a year older, King began the same tournament Monday like a veteran, shooting a 1-under 72 at Woodhaven Country Club to enter the second round leading by four strokes.
King will tee off at 8 a.m. Tuesday. Gabriella Tomanka (76) and Maddie White (77) led at the Ridglea Country Club North Course.
On Monday, with temperatures creeping near triple digits and pace of play slowing her round to six hours, King sank four birdies and stayed in the fairway.
“I wasn’t in any trouble with my drives today,” she said. “And if I was, it didn’t really affect me. It was just a limb or two.”
Monday’s round was a shotgun start, with most starting holes featuring two foursomes. Four hours in, several groups were only through 10 holes.
King’s group, which also featured Aledo’s Mary Katherine Ingram (82) and Quincy Ballard (88) and Arlington Martin’s Allison Wade (85), was slowed early and had to wait awhile before teeing off No. 18. But for the most part, it went about as smooth as possible, King said.
“I stayed in the shade and let the breeze cool me off a little bit and drank a lot of fluids,” she said. “I really didn’t have to wait until the last tee box. The last tee was definitely the most and that didn’t really affect us.”
King, who will be a freshman at Martin this year, finished second at the PGA Junior Tour Mid-summer Open last week at Stonebriar Country Club in Frisco.
While she’s in a good position to win with two rounds left, Tomanka and White are within striking distance and Alexandra Batista isn’t far behind, either.
Batista shot 79 on Monday, but last year she finished second after improving her score each day. She went from an 82 in the first round to a 77 at Ridglea to a 74 at Mira Vista.
Marisa Marquez, who finished sixth last year, carded an 81 on Monday. Marquez and Batista will be in the second group Tuesday along with Tai Barber, who shot a 78.
Ryan Osborne, 817-390-7760
Twitter: @RyanOsborneFWST
This story was originally published July 13, 2015 at 6:59 PM with the headline "Arlington 13-year-old leads Fort Worth junior girls tournament by four strokes."