Monday saw several county golfers compete at their respective regional tournaments, and the top finisher across the county was Chatham Charter junior Mackenzie Crossman, who placed second at the 1A/2A east tournament at Goldsboro Municipal Golf Course.
Crossman shot a 79 in her 18-hole round Monday, a score that qualified her for next week’s state tournament at Foxfire Golf Club, which is located about an hour south of Siler City.
Entering the regionals, Crossman had the best nine-hole average of any golfer in the field at 39.2. This meant Crossman teed off in the latest group of the day, along with NC Science & Math’s Lilly Smith and North Moore’s Paige Ritter.
“Going into it, I was really excited because I was seeded really high and I got a later tee time. I didn’t have to wake up as early, which was really nice,” Crossman said. “I was trying to control my nerves, because I feel like regionals always gets the best of me. But I was able to control my nerves, and I felt like I had a pretty good round. I was really happy that I was able to shoot in the 70s again. I had a couple bad holes, but nothing I wasn’t able to bounce back from.”
Over the season, Crossman has improved her mental and physical game, adding 20 yards to her driver and becoming completely locked in on the putting green. She hopes the mindset will help her as she enters the state tournament for the third time in her young career.
Crossman has finished 10th at each of the past two 1A/2A state championships, including last season where she shot rounds of 82 and 86 over the course of the tournament. This time around, she knows she’ll have to better prepare herself for the mental grind, especially on the second day of play.
“I’m lucky enough that I play a lot of tournaments outside of high school, so I’m used to two-day tournaments with 18 holes each day,” Crossman said. “It’s not a huge change for me. But after playing nine all season, I’ll definitely need more mental toughness, especially going into the second day. Depending how you place that first day, it can be mentally tough. And I know that second day, physically, can also be a struggle sometimes.”
Crossman said she’s feeling more confident heading into this year’s tournament because it is being held at Foxfire Resort and Golf Club. The junior said she has already played there on numerous occasions, and she sees it as her “home course.”
Crossman knows it will be important to start on the right foot, but perhaps even more crucial to perform in the second round after the chaos of the first day. Last year, Crossman was four shots worse in her second round than in her first, something she wants to improve on this time around.
“States last year wasn’t the best. I was grateful to finish 10th, because honestly it felt a lot worse. I’m hoping to go in with a more positive mindset this time around. I’ve done it before, so hopefully I can do it again, and I feel like I’ve improved a lot over this year, especially with my mental game.”
The other three county golfers to qualify for the 1A/2A state meet next week were Woods Charter junior Teddy Taylor, who tied for fourth at the regionals Monday with a score of 82, Chatham Central senior Reagan Mize, who shot 93, and Seaforth junior Olivia Dennis, who shot 100.
Another local golfer who will compete at her respective state tournament next week is Northwood senior Lillian Jordan, who finished third at the 3A central regionals last week to earn a spot in the 3A state tournament.
Jordan is coming off a 2021 season where she finished tied for seventh at the state tournament. Earlier this season, Jordan spoke with the News + Record about her confidence heading into the postseason after a strong display last fall.
“It kind of makes me feel like an “O.G.,” like I’ve been there and done that already,” Jordan said. “And knowing the girls and how they score and the course ... it’s nice going to an environment where you’re comfortable. Freshman year states was definitely nerve-wracking, and having those nerves can make you not score great. It feels nice to have that under my belt already, and hopefully I can move up a bit in the rankings this year.”
Sports Editor Jeremy Vernon can be reached at jeremy@chathamnr.com or on Twitter at @jbo_vernon.