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April McCoy swings to 8-shot lead

Owning an eight-shot lead, April McCoy would seem to be able to just dial in cruise control for the final round of the FWJGA Girls City Junior Golf Championship scheduled Wednesday at Rockwood Golf Course. But don't expect her to. ''That's not me,'' she said after a 77 at Glen Garden Golf & Country Club, which gave her a 150 36-hole total. Instead, she'll be charging in an effort to secure the title that eluded her last year. She wants to put as much daylight as she can between her and her nearest competitors.

Her nearest challenger is Courtney Radford, who has a 158 total.

April struggled with her short game at Glen Garden Golf & Country Club, especiall over the final few holes, finishing with a double-bogey and bogey for a 7-over par 77. (The course usually plays to par 71 from the white tees, but because of some course construction, No. 7 played as a par-3 rather than a par-4). But April's challengers also had trouble with the small Glen Garden greens that proved to be hard to hold for incoming shots and chips. Maybe playing these greens were reasons that former Glen Garden caddies and players Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson developed their deft short games that carried them to greatness of the PGA Tour.

After Monday's first round at Diamond Oaks Country Club, Courtney Radford, 18, of Allen was only four shots behind, but she struggled to an 81 at Glen Garden for a 158 total. Brianna Murray, 17, of Southlake shot a 78 at Diamond Oaks, but carded an 82 Tuesday and is at 160. Adriana Morillo, a 14-year-old from Southlake, fell faltered to an 85 after opening with a 79 at Diamond Oaks and is at 164.

April said her two nine were not related to each other. ''The back nine was not good,'' April said. ``The front nine (they started on No. 10)I was up and down everywhere. Good front nine. The back nine was totally opposite. I got up and down one time. Then I had a double-bogey (on her 17th hole) and that wasn't a good ending at all. I had a 77, so I guess that's OK, but it should have been a lot better. I have an 8-shot lead, but we'll have to increase that a lot tomorrow.''

She said she wasn't bothered by the struggles of her playing partners. ''I playing my game and am in my zone,'' she said.

''My short game was just ridiculous the last two holes, '' she said.

Even though April lives in Carrollton, she said she wants to ''really, really'' win the Fort Worth City Junior Championship to help bolster her confidence. ''I could have won it last year, but coming back (and winning) would give me a lot of confidence.''

Johanna Scheeh, 16, of Grapevine was one of three golfers to crack 80 and she finished with a 79 to go with her opening 83. The other was Lindsey Alexander, 18, a Southlake Carroll graduate who also posted a 79. But she shot an 86 at Diamond Oaks.

Courtney said she didn't play very good and was deflated early by struggling to a quadruple-bogey on the par-5 12th hole. ''I tried to come back, but every time I tried, I couldn't get a putt to go in. My short game wasn't too good and the greens weren't holding....it was frustrating.''

Brianna said she just play very good overall, and her chipping was especially shaky. ''My chipping was probably my weakest point. It got me into a lot of situations that I didn't want to be in. The greens are small, and when you hit on them they roll and then they putt slow. It just got into my head.'' She is among some of the contenders who haven't played any of the three courses being played for the championship.

Adriana, who'll be a freshman at Southlake Carroll this year, said her chipping was much better at Diamond Oaks, along with her confidence was better. Her problems at Glen Garden, though, was similar to everyone's else's and she couldn't figure out the greens, either.

In the 9-hole division, Alexandra Batista, 11, is the low scorer with a two-day total of 67. She's ahead of Michelle Zhou, 8, by one shot and four ahead of Quinn Barber, 10. The 9-hole girls play from forward tees. In the Red Tee Division, Payton Andress, 16, is the low scorer through 36 holes with a 179, followed by Kelli Marinez, 15, at 181 and Aimee Mires, 14, and Maggie Edison, 17, at 182.