Bad news for the rest of the top girls golfers in the state: Lauren Slatton is finding her stroke. Everybody else is getting left in the dust.
The junior has dominated in her last two outings, including taking down the competition from Stone Memorial and Cookeville Monday. Slatton shot a 1-under, 71 at McMinnville Country Club, easily dispatching Lady Cavalier Lexus Julian (77) and Lady Panther Sarah Bass (81).
Slatton, who also got to celebrate her 16th birthday Sunday, was coming off an outstanding performance in last week’s Red Raider Invitational. She smoked the competition at WillowBrook, firing an incredible 5-under, 67 to claim the top medal at the event.
Slumps for Slatton aren’t like the average golfer – her bad days would qualify as a career-best for most. Still, she feels like getting back into the swing of things when it comes to winning should give her a boost as the season goes along.
“I feel like I came into this (recent) tournament stretch in a little slump for the last month, but I’m getting back from that. I’m happy with myself,” said Slatton, the two-time district champion who was a top-10 finisher in last year’s state event at Pigeon Forge.
Last week’s win, where Slatton went low on both the front and back nine (33-34), has propelled Slatton back to being at the top of her game. Monday’s round at home was just another step in the right direction, especially when Slatton got cooking in her last 11 holes.
The top girls pairing featuring Slatton, Julian and Bass, went off on the back nine at the Country Club. Slatton was doing her best to pull away from the pack early, but it wasn’t until she got to one of the toughest holes on the course – the Par-3, No. 17 – that she clicked into high gear.
“It wasn’t looking too good early – I started out 2-over on my first four holes. I turned it around on the back though after I got the birdie on No. 17. After those first four, it felt good,” said Slatton.
Slatton decided to club up on the tee box at No. 17, going with a pitching wedge to reach the green. There was plenty of work to do once she climbed the steep hill on the hole though. She was staring at a 20-plus foot putt for birdie, but Slatton didn’t mind attacking it on a green she’s read hundreds of times before.
“It wasn’t a short putt. It was breaking long and I did hit it a little hard, but it dead-center pin and dropped in,” said Slatton.
It was one of three birdies on the day for Slatton to go against just one bogey. Her other two birdies came on the long Par-5s on the front nine, where Slatton could let her driver shine. The junior bashed a pair of long balls off the tee, with the final one on No. 9 estimated to be over 275 yards. With little work to do on her final hole, Slatton found the green in two and two-putted her way to a tap-in birdie to finish the day.
Going long off the tee is something that Slatton has improved on during her recent stretch of success.
“I was happy with a 250-yard average, but two weeks ago I had a driver lesson, so I kind of changed my swing on my driver. I’m getting extra yards on it now, so I have a goal of 260 yards now,” said Slatton, who easily eclipsed those marks a few times Monday.
The victory redeemed an early-season match against Cookeville where Julian was able to edge Slatton at Golden Eagle Country Club.
The two have been going back-and-forth since, with Slatton gaining the upper hand at home and in last week’s tourney. The dueling is all in good fun, with Slatton knowing they’ll be at it again during the postseason.
“It feels good. We get along pretty well, but it’s good to have a little bit of competition going into these high school matches,” said Slatton about playing rounds with Julian.
Other scores from Monday’s play included Lady Pioneer Ella Matheny shooting 116 and Cookeville’s Daniella Pryor firing 80. Matheny shot 123 in last week’s Red Raider Invitational.
Warren County will be back at home Thursday as the golf teams are scheduled to take on Sparta at 1 p.m.
