Kamas shines at OGA Junior
KHS senior is stroke play champ and runner-up in match play
Maddi Kamas didn’t get the clean sweep she was looking for, but still managed an exceptional showing last week at the Oklahoma Golf Association Junior Girls Championship.
The Kingfisher High School rising senior won the stroke play championship, which consisted of 36 holes Monday and Tuesday at Kickingbird Golf Course in Edmond.
That made her the No. 1 seed in the match play tournament in which she finished runner-up Thursday afternoon.
“My putting started to get bad on the last few holes on the back-nine,” Kamas said of her 2 and 1 loss to Emily Miller of Edmond North.
It was the second match of the day for Kamas, who earlier went 18 holes with Pocola’s Raychel Nelke before earning the 1-up victory.
Match play started Wednesday with the top-16 golfers from the stroke play portion advancing.
Kamas opened with a 7 and 6 win over Edmond’s Jenna Triplett in the opening round.
That put her up against Sand Springs’ Meghan Charles, the eighth seed, in the quarterfinal round. Charles was dispatched 5 and 4 to send Kamas into the semifinals.
Miller, meanwhile, was the No. 2 seed.
Headed to the University of Central Oklahoma, she defeated Aiden Coffelt of Edmond 7 and 6 in the opening round and then Gracie Doke of Tulsa 2 and 1 in the quarterfinals.
She then bested Jenni Roller of Jenks 2 and 1 in the semifinals to earn a spot against Kamas in the finals.
Once there, Miller quickly took the lead after the first hole with a par as Kamas bogeyed it.
Another bogey on the par-3 third hole by Kamas allowed Miller to go 2-up.
Kamas bounced right back with a birdie on the fourth hole to pull within one.
However, that’s as close as she got.
The golfers played even over the next six holes before Miller won 11 and 12 to go 3-up with five to play.
The duo halved the next three holes before Kamas birdied No. 16 in a mustwin situation to get back within two.
However, both players parred the 17th hole allowing Miller to win.
Although she had to settle for runner-up, Kamas still brought home her share of hardware.
In stroke play, she fired a 1-over 71 on Monday to open that portion of the tournament in a three-way tie for second.
Roller and Nelke joined Kamas in being one stroke behind Edmond’s Brooklyn Benn.
Miller was three strokes back with a 73.
But Benn fell back on Tuesday with a 76. Meanwhile, Kamas and Miller surged.
Kamas had the best round of the tournament with a 69.
She had three birdies on the front nine and then after a bogey on the 12th hole, parred out her final six holes.
The 140 total gave her a three-stroke victory over Miller and Roller. Miller shot 70 Tuesday while Roller had a 72.
The OGA Junior Championship was the start of a busy stretch for Kamas, who already has won tournaments in both the Oklahoma and Texas junior golf tours.
She’ll play Monday and Tuesday in the Women’s Oklahoma Golf Association Stroke Play Championship at the Territory in Duncan.
The event will feature mostly collegiate golfers as Kamas is just one of two high school players entered.
She was one of a select few chosen to play in the Oklahoma Junior Masters at Southern Hills in Tulsa on June 15.
The invitation-only event will feature just 36 boys and 11 girls.
They were chosen based on a combination of OJGT points and national ranking.