Athens’ Williams 18th after first day of state golf tourney

Published 4:17 pm Thursday, June 21, 2018

Golf can be such a mentally challenging game. One bad shot or missed putt can shake even the best player’s confidence and lead to a bad round.

That’s what Athens’ Ally Williams said happened to her Wednesday in the first round of the Alabama Women’s Stroke Play Championship, being hosted by Canebrake Club in Athens.

Williams bogeyed three of the first four holes and finished the round without making a birdie, posting a 5-over-par 77, good enough for 18^th place out of 37 competitors in the three-round tournament.

Michaela Morard, of Huntsville, has a commanding lead, blistering the course for a 9-under 63, holding a four-shot lead over Hoover’s Mychael O’Berry and Birmingham’s Mary Kate Horton, who both posted scores of 4-under 68. Only six players finished the first rounds with scores under par.

“I didn’t play well at all today,” Williams said following her round, “I started my round by missing a 4-foot putt for par and then on the next hole I missed a 3-footer for par. That doesn’t do anything good for the confidence.”

Williams, a rising senior at Athens High School, has played Canebrake many times, and said Wednesday’s putting woes didn’t have much to do with physical errors, just mental ones.

“For me today, I think it was a mental thing,” Williams said. “I’ve had rounds before where if I make a 3-footer or 5-footer on the first hole, it gives me confidence. But missing those short ones didn’t do me any good. I’ve been working on my (putting) stroke, so it had nothing to do with my stroke. It was just reading the greens and confidence.”

One thing Williams can take some confidence from is her ball striking. She said she hit her tee shots and fairway shots very well, and hopes to build on that in today’s second round.

“I drove a par 4 in one, and got to three of the four par 5s,” Williams said. “My ball striking and tee balls were really good. That’s a positive to take from it.”

Williams said she will be focusing on her putting and wedge shots in practicing before today’s round, but expects to come out with more confidence. She is scheduled to tee off at 8:50 a.m., with Huntsville’s Emily Lankford and Birmingham’s Caroline Waldrop as her playing partners.

“I haven’t been sticking them (wedge shots) as close as I usually have, so my birdie chances are a little longer than I wanted,” she said. “I still expected some of them to fall, but they just didn’t. I’ll be playing with a couple of my good friends (Thursday), so I think it will be a much better day.”