HAMILTON — For 13-year-old Taylor Lewis, hitting golf shots has been the easy part.
The hard part at the beginning of the summer was getting used to playing 18 holes and walking the course.
“I just started walking 18 holes this summer and it was hard at first, but after a couple of times, it gets easier,” she said.
Lewis handled the walk and the competition Wednesday afternoon to win the girls 12-13 division in the Potter Park Junior Championship. Lewis held off Kelly Wells by two strokes to win her second tournament of the summer.
“It was a close match,” Lewis said after carding a 99 to follow up a win earlier this summer at Twin Run. “Kelly played really well.”
Coco Farquis claimed the girls 14-15 division with a 103.
Joe Persiani carded a 77 for a three-stroke win over Derek Whaley in the boys 16-18, Jake Miller’s 73 was enough to win the boys 14-15 while Adam Leugers won the boys 11-U title with a 57.
Reid Ruhl had a back-nine 39 on his way to an 83 for a four-stroke win over Vincent Whitehead in the boys 12-13 division.
“It is probably the best I have ever shot back there,” Ruhl said. “I always wanted to get under 40, but it is tough back there because you have to keep it straight.”
One of the reasons for the strong finish was Ruhl’s putting on the day.
“My goal was to have no three putts (holes) and I had one,” Ruhl said. “My putting was really good today. Things just kind of clicked.”
Whitehead, a 12-year-old seventh grader at Talawanda, was playing in his first 18-hole tournament.
Whitehead said he felt good heading into the day after carding a 71 in a practice round on Tuesday.
“Yesterday it was easier because I was just playing and it was easier to concentrate on my shots,” Whitehead said. “When you play in a tournament, you want to win and you get more focused on that.”