Kamas gets playoff payoff
Senior sinks birdie on 2nd extra hole to win individual honors
More than an hour after her round was completed, Maddi Kamas had to go back to work.
On the golf course, that is.
Kamas and Oklahoma Christian School’s Brooklyn Benn both shot 4-over-par 76s on Wednesday during the Kingfisher Large-School Invitational.
Benn’s OCS squad won the team title, but Kamas was able to exact some revenge in the playoff.
The KHS senior sank a 20-foot birdie putt on the second playoff hole to earn medalist honors.
The putt came on the 18th green and it was Kamas and Benn’s third time to play it.
The first came in their original round.
The second was the first playoff hole in which both players notched a par.
Both players missed the green with their approach shots on the initial extra hole.
However, both chipped close enough for easy par putts, necessitating another trip back to the tee box.
Kamas hit her drive a little to the right of the fairway, but in virtually the same spot as the two previous times she’d played the hole.
“I was 98 yards out,” she said. “In the regular tournament, I was 104 out and on the first playoff hole, I had 104.
“So it was relatively the same shot all three times.”
But this time Kamas soared it over the water and within 20 feet of the pin.
Benn’s second shot was further up the green.
Her birdie put left her an easy par, meaning if Kamas couldn’t find the cup, a third playoff hole would be in order.
“I wasn’t really nervous,” she said. “I was calm and relaxed.”
Her putt was not only moving downhill, but also into a stiff northwesterly wind that roared all day long.
When she drew back her putter, the wind caught it.
“I had an ‘oh no’ moment, but it was too late to do anything, so I just went for it,” Kamas said.
She played the ball for some extra break because of
the wind.
It snaked its way and finally found the edge of the cup for the win.
The victory came despite having a quadruple-bogey on the fifth hole and a four-putt on the 13th.
“She had a few bad holes, but she never let that carry over to the next hole,” KHS golf coach Audra Smalley said.
After carding an 8 on that fifth hole, Kamas was 1-under through her next six holes.
Kingfisher was the first team to finish its round. OCS was the last team, more than an hour later.
Once she learned of Benn’s score, Kamas quickly loosened herself up for the extra golf.
Smalley walked every step with her.
“She definitely saved her best putt for the second playoff hole,” Smalley said. “That putt while the wind was blowing 25-30 in her face was impressive.”