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Kinney within one stroke of top spot at state By KRIS HENRY Tai Kinney had a great vantage point in trying to keep pace with the rabbit at the Class 4A girls state golf tournament Monday at Trysting Tree Golf Club in Corvallis. Paired with tourney favorite Allison Hanna, last year's state champion from David Douglas, the North Medford junior knew exactly where she stood throughout Monday's first round of action at the 7,014-yard, par-72 course. "I knew that I was playing with Allison Hanna and she'd be right at the top," said Kinney. "I knew if I could just stick with her I'd be right there. "It wasn't exactly an advantage, but it lets you know where you're at. I knew some other scores were going to be low, I just didn't know how low." Hanna and Rene Krause of St. Mary's came in the lowest at 2-under-par 70, while Kinney carded a 71, tied with Sandy Kim of West Linn. Kim finished third at last year's state meet, while Krause tied with Kailin Downs of Mountain View for fourth. "She's in a good spot one stroke back of the lead," North Medford coach Tim Sam said of Kinney. "If she could get her driver going she could probably shave about three or four shots off her score from today." Paced by Abby Fowler's 75, South Medford put itself in good position after the opening round. Fowler enters today's final round tied for seventh with three others, while the Panthers stand seventh out of 18 teams. Helping South to a 339 opening round were Natalie Botsford (84), Kacy Clark (87) and Sara Friend (93). Not scoring for the Panthers was Kellie Thomas with a 103. "They all did exceptionally well," South Medford coach Lowell Masters said. "That was a career-best score for Natalie and Sara for competition and Abby's lowest score at the state meet." Grants Pass is eighth in the team competition at 340, with Johnna Nealy paving the way with a 73. St. Mary's leads the tournament at 316. Starting on the 10th hole, Kinney went out with a 34 and came back with a 37. She stumbled on her final hole with a double bogey. Kinney's drive on No. 9, her 18th hole, faded off the fairway and landed behind a tree. After punching out, her third shot from about 175 yards sailed wide of the green and plugged in an unmarked drainage area. Her ensuing shot rolled down the two-tiered green about 30 feet from the cup. "I didn't really have much green to work with," Kinney said. Despite the ill-fated ending to an otherwise strong day, Kinney said she won't make much of what might have been had she not earned a double bogey. "It happens," she said. "You have some good holes and you have some bad holes. We'll just see where we can go from here." Chief to Kinney mounting a second-round surge will be improved play from the tee box. The Black Tornado golfer said she missed "too many fairways to count." "My short game saved me on so many holes," she said, adding that she planned to spend the brunt of Monday night working on her driver. "I just need to get the ball in the fairway and from there just hit pins coming in," said Kinney. "I think I could take it lower, I just have to straighten a few things out." One of her shots from the tee box was almost as straight as you can get, with Kinney nearly posting a hole-in-one at the par-3, No. 13 hole. "From where I was standing it looked to me like it hit the back edge of the cup and then went backwards and stopped about six inches away," said Sam. Fowler credited her short game with helping her erase some bad memories from last year's state tournament. She posted a 98 and an 87 last year and was eager to put on a better showing this year. "I was pretty nervous on the first tee but after that it wasn't so bad," said Fowler. "My 75 puts me in pretty good contention. Now I just have to go out and do good (today)." TEAM SCORES (Top 10) -- 1, St. Mary's, 316; 2, Mountain View, 320; 3, Lakeridge, 323; 4, Crescent Valley, 325; 5, Bend, 331; 6, Central Catholic, 337; 7, South Medford, 339; 8, Grants Pass, 340; 9, West Linn, 344; 10, Sprague, 347. INDIVIDUAL RESULTS (Top 10) -- 1, (tie) Allison Hanna, David Douglas, and Rene Krause, St. Mary's, 70; 3, (tie) Tai Kinney, North Medford, and Sandy Kim, West Linn, 71; 5, (tie) Johnna Nealy, Grants Pass, and Kelly Ferris, West Albany, 73; 7, (tie) Abby Fowler, South Medford, Nikki Mack, Central Catholic, Kailin Downs, Mt. View, and Mari Nado, Reynolds, 75. SOC First Round Results NORTH MEDFORD -- Tai Kinney 37-34--71. SOUTH MEDFORD (339) -- Abby Fowler 38-37--75, Natalie Botsford 40-44--84, Kacy Clark 44-43--87, Sara Friend 42-51--93, (Kellie Thomas 52-51--103). GRANTS PASS (340) -- Johnna Nealy 34-39--73, Danae Thomason 36-41--77, Erin Schaefer 46-47--93, Carly Wright 47-50--97, (Ally Codington 50-54--104). Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA