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Nealy takes command of SOC girls golf By RANDY HAMMERICKSEN EAGLE POINT -- Johnna Nealy's sweet day started out on a sour note. But it got better hole by hole. Nealy, a 15-year-old sophomore for Grants Pass High's girls golf team, continued her dominance in Southern Oregon Conference play on Monday by shooting a 5-over-par 77 to take the first-round lead in district individual competition at Eagle Point Golf Course. But before Nealy got rolling toward what she called one of the best rounds of her season, she had to deal with a double-bogey 6 on the first hole. "I knew I had to birdie the second hole after that start," said Nealy. "I kind of got stuck in the sand, and I couldn't get out." Nealy needed two explosion shots to escape. "It was disappointing," she said. "I was pretty nervous on the first hole." Nealy left her first explosion shot from a greenside bunker in the sand, setting up her double-bogey. Nealy, who has been able to respond under pressure situations all spring in winning medalist honors in seven of her eight tournaments, rallied with a birdie on the second hole to get back to 1 over par. She rolled in a 6-foot birdie putt at No. 2. Her 77 put her two strokes in front of Roseburg's Julie Baylis after 18 holes. Defending champion Tai Kinney of North Medford was third with an 84, and Kacy Clark of South Medford and Kari Gerretson of Roseburg tied for fourth with scores of 86. Baylis shot a season-best 79, thanks to a 5-foot birdie putt on the 18th green. "I predicted I would shoot an 80 today, and I shot 79," said Bayliss. "I'm real happy. I'm going out tomorrow with more confidence, and I'd like to win it (the SOC title) my senior year." Meanwhile, Kinney, a sophomore for North Medford, took a disastrous triple-bogey 8 on the par-5 ninth hole and labored home. Kinney, 16, had to hit her second shot on No. 9 from behind a tree. She hit the shot too hard and it skipped off the cart path to the left of the fairway and jumped out of bounds by about a foot. "It was a bad break for Tai," said Baylis. "She hit a pretty good shot. It would have been fine if she hadn't hit the cart path. But it (the ball) jumped off the path." Kinney admitted it was a frustrating round. "I started off pretty well," she said. "I was even par until the fifth hole, and then I got the triple on nine. "After that, my putter quit on me. I missed a lot of short putts and had several three-putts." After the tough ninth, Kinney took bogeys on the first five holes on the back nine. She finally broke the spell with a par on No. 15. "There's really nothing wrong with my swing," said Kinney. "I'm just missing it a little. But my putting was poor. "Yesterday, I played pretty well out here and shot a 75," said Kinney. "I'll come back tomorrow and try to get it back together." The top five individuals and top two teams will qualify for the Class 4A state meet next Monday and Tuesday at Langdon Farms Golf Course in Wilsonville. Roseburg took the team lead with a score of 349. Grants Pass was three strokes back at 352. South Medford, led by Clark's 86 and an 88 by Abby Fowler, was third at 367. ROSEBURG (349) -- Julie Baylis 79, Kari Gerretson 86, Heather Warner 87, Jennifer Gaston 97, Karin Henriksson 112. GRANTS PASS (352) -- Johnna Nealy 77, Josie Nealy 87, Danae Thomason 90, Erin Schaefer 106, Carly Wright 98. SOUTH MEDFORD (367) -- Kacy Clark 86, Abby Fowler 88, Stephanie Hackstedde 92, Natale Botsford 101, Megan Berru 120. ASHLAND (382) -- Denise Noyes 106, Cristina Kalemkeris 98, Bianca Montganino 102, Ellen Dow 92, Rachel Fish 90. KLAMATH UNION (423) -- Lynne Putnam 108, Catie Dearborn 101, Kelli Garbutt 113, Krystal Flink 101, Annie Muller 116. CRATER (498) -- Callie Goin 105, Sky Hemphill 121, Lindsay Fauble 115, Ashley Ellis 157. NORTH MEDFORD (inc.) -- Tai Kinney 84, Kelly Berry 103, Lacy Lou 125. EAGLE POINT (inc.) -- Christi Dickson 112, Danielle Stanfield 166. HENLEY LEADS FIRST ROUND -- At Cedar Links, Henley fired a 380 to lead the District 6 tournament by 25 strokes after the first of two rounds. Mazama's Nicole Hardin won low-round honors with a 41 on the front nine and a 36 on the back nine for a 77. Katie Johnson led St. Mary's, which was in third at 409, with a 92. Amy Faulkner of Cascade Christian shot 98. The second round is scheduled at Shieldcrest Golf Course in Klamath Falls. At Cedar Links HENLEY (380) -- Kylie St. John 49-44--93, Cheryl Butts 47-47--94, Kellie Dudy 44-50--94, Heather Stanfield 55-44--99, Brandi McElfresh 53-48--101. HIDDEN VALLEY (405) -- Jodi Cope 48-43--91, Heidi Stevenson 47-51--98, Missie Kilbane 54-52--106, Jamie Brown 54-56--110, Sadie Murphy 58-53--111. ST. MARY'S (409) -- Katie Johnson 47-45--92, Heidi Durden 50-46--96, Katie Mania 50-46--96, Cherrywin Kongma 65-60--125, Jodi Luce 67-63--130. MAZAMA (421) -- Nicole Hardin 41-36--77, Mary Dahm 56-54--110, Kelly Gray 62-52--114, April Hargrove 61-59--120, Megan Hardin 56-65--121. NORTH VALLEY (431) -- Denise Leonard 45-41--86, Kelsey Reinhart 51-51--102, Heather Lecouix 54-50--104, Heather Britton 64-75--139. CASCADE CHRISTIAN (462) -- Amy Faulkner 52-46--98, Sarah Radaford 51-51--102, Stephanie Biondi 70-58--128, Riki Abrams 70-64--134, Brook Carpenter 71-64--134. ROGUE RIVER (incomplete) -- Krista Galer 85-76--160. Boys Golf ROSEBURG CLAIMS EARLY LEAD -- At Roseburg Country Club, Roseburg jumped out to a two-stroke lead in the first round of the Southern Oregon Conference district tournament with a 309. Ashland is two strokes back at 311, while Grants Pass is in third at 320. Roseburg's Jeremy Thorburn led the field with a 73. He had nines of 38 and 35, respectively. Ashland's Pete Kirkpatrick was close behind at 75, and Crater's Logan Frenaw was another shot back at 76. Nate Webb shot 78 for South Medford. Ashland had three others in the 70s. Kyle Aldfield fired a 76, while Adam Hooper chipped in with a 79. The second round of the tournament is today at the Roseburg Country Club. At Roseburg Country Club ROSEBURG (309) -- Jeremy Thorburn 73, Tyler Miller 77, Pat Andersen 78, Brian Pile 81, Jason Gaston 83. ASHLAND (311) -- Pete Kirkpatrick 75, Kyle Aldfield 76, Adam Hooper 79, Kyle Allred 81, Pat Oropallo 83. GRANTS PASS (320) -- Erik Hill 77, Jay Slack 77, Geoff Davis 80, Joey Rosscknecht 86, Brian Bigelow 96. SOUTH MEDFORD (323) -- Nate Webb 78, Steve Hilgendorf 80, Noah Horstman 81, Craig Tomlins 84, Tony Guiliano 93. KLAMATH UNION (325) -- Mark Paulsen 76, Craig Paulsen 81, Jeff Barker 83, Justin Leeper 85, Riley Eccles 86. NORTH MEDFORD (330) -- Kyle Freeman 81, Justin Wise 82, Adam Huycke 83, Matt Dunbar 84, Derek Muir 86. CRATER (338) -- Logan Frenaw 76, Steve Lang 82, Randy Herrera 84, Matt Finch 96, Mike Slusher 99. EAGLE POINT (379) -- Chris Lilyz 91, Chris Hurley 91, Zach Heath 97, John Worst 100, Dan Bull 111. Today's Sports Index Mail Tribune Copyright� The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, OR U.S.A.