Elizabeth Lacognata of Scarborough, right, is congratulated by Rachel Smith after winning the girls’ division title.
VASSALBORO — It was a tale of two rounds for Scarborough senior Elizabeth Lacognata.
Either of them would have been stellar by most standards, but one was nearly record-shattering.
Lacognata had spectators and fellow competitors at Natanis Golf Course buzzing Saturday after carding a 6-under-par 30 on her opening nine at the Arrowhead course at the MPA Golf State Championships.
On the back nine, things tightened slightly. But even though Lacognata dropped four strokes to shoot a 2-under 70, she had plenty of clearance to defeat Jordan Laplume of Thornton Academy by three shots for the title.
“Yesterday, I spent the whole day at Falmouth (Country Club) with my coach,” Lacognata said. “I felt really good leaving there last night. So ending in a good place last night put me in a good start this morning. I was pretty confident in my swing.”
Lacognata birdied five of the first six holes she played and kept the momentum going with a par save on eight where she chipped it over the green on her second shot. Her birdie chip hit the flag stick and bounced back two inches from the cup.
She almost drove the par-4 ninth hole. The ball landed on the fringe and she made her sixth birdie of the afternoon.
After three straight pars to start the back nine, she bogeyed the par 4 13th after putting her drive in the pine needles. She saved bogey with a bunker shot that landed one foot from the cup. Two holes later, she double-bogeyed the par-5 15th hole when she found the woods again. She found trouble again on 18 when her drive landed under a tree. She was able to punch out, but made another bogey.
“The back was definitely a haul,” Lacognata said. “I had a bad hole with my double, but I knew when I hit the back nine it was a game of everything that I have been practicing. I was trying to battle through the nerves and trying to keep my standing.”
Laplume was steady the whole round, making only three bogeys. She did capitalize with a birdie on No. 15, but she knew that it was going to be too little, too late.
“I was trying to be steady the whole time,” Laplume said. “She could have (slipped up) and on the par-5, she did end up getting a double and I birdied. That was a huge leap (of momentum) back in my side. But she kept it steady after that to finish strong.”
She also had a birdie on the opening hole.
Rachel Smith of Greely finished third with an 80. She was in the same group with Lacognata and Laplume.
Stephanie Rodrigue of Lewiston finished in a tie for fourth with Katie Dixon of Carrabec with a 82.
Rodrigue said she was played inconsistent and was trying to ignore on what her playing partner Lacognata was doing.
“I knew she had a lot of birdies dropping, but I don’t know,” Rodrigue said. “I kind of kept going trying to play my game and not focus on her, focus on my shots.”
Markella Gammaitoni of St. Dom’s finished sixth with an 86. Haley Turcotte of Spruce Mountain finished a tie for ninth with an 89 while Janelle Bryant of St. Dom’s finished 11th with a 91. Haley Perkins of Spruce Mountain shot a 100 to finish in 17th.
Thompson wins another Class C Title
Just like Lacognata, Logan Thompson went low on the front nine on Arrowhead, carding a 5-under 31 on the course’s opening nine. Those were his final nine holes, however after he started his round on No. 10.
Thompson finished the day shooting a 6-under 66 to capture his fourth straight Class C crown.
Thompson said his eagle on the par-5 fourth got his round going. He also had eagles on the par-4 sixth and ninth holes.
“I couldn’t get a lot of putts to fall,” Thompson said. “I couldn’t find a rhythm, but I started to get one on the back nine. I got it done eventually.”
He beat out Mitchell Tarrio of Kents Hill for the second straight year. Tarrio finished with a 71.
Dirigo’s Jacob Gaudin, who also played with Thompson and Tarrio, hung in with them and finished tied for third with a 77 alongside Carson Veilleux of Forest Hills.
“Mitchell Tarrio, who came in second, he played on the Maine Junior Golf Team with me,” Thompson said. He’s a really good player. I expected us to have a battle.”
Callahan Crosby of Rangeley and Demetri Gammaitoni of St. Dom’s tied for sixth with an 84. Adam White of St. Dom’s and Elijah Grammas of Gould Academy tied for 10th with an 88. Trevor Flanagan of Monmouth was one shot behind them for a tie in 12th place. Neil LaRochelle of Lisbon finished in 15th with an 90.
Anderson and Burnham share the Class A Title
It was a tie at the top in Class A as Cole Anderson of Camden Hills won his third straight Class A title, shooting a 70 on the Tomahawk Course at Natanis. He shared the championship with Anthony Burnham of Scarborough.
He became the third golfer to accomplish the feat of winning three Class A titles, joining Ryan Gay of Gardiner (2006-08) and Kevin MacDonald of Morse (1990-92).
Anderson had to hang on at the end after shooting a 37 on the back nine.
“I started off really well,” Anderson said. “I was four under through seven (holes), and then I started going in the wrong direction a little bit. I had to battle towards the end, I didn’t have it towards the end. I felt good through the first nine basically. Then I started to lose my swing a little bit and had to gather it back towards the end just a little bit.”
After shooting an 82 in the qualifier, Burnham had to start on the seventh hole instead of on the first hole like the lowest qualifiers.
“I played pretty steady,” Burnham said. “I would say I got off to a strong start at the beginning. Throughout the round, I coasted and focused on one shot at a time. I played the game I know how to play.”
Lucas Roop of Gorham finished in third with a 72, while Armand Ouellette of Thornton had an 73 and Caleb Manuel of Mt. Ararat rounded out the top five with a 74.
Edward Little golfers Will Cassidy and Dylan Selinger finished in a tie for 20th with 83s. Teammate Aaron Perkins finished in 24th, one shot behind them. Lewiston’s Parker Thibault finished in a tie for 28th with a 90.
Cape Elizabeth teammates battle for the Class B Title
Austin Legge finished three shots clear of his Cape Elizabeth teammate Ryan Collins to capture the Class B Title with a 70.
“It’s always tough going against Ryan.” Legge said. “Ryan is a great player and a friend of mine. It’s always fun to compete against him.”
Samuel Smestad of Nokomis came in third with a 75 while Chris Kaupplia of Old Town shot a 78 for fourth. Cody Pellerin of Waterville and Ethan Haag of Yarmouth each had a 79 for fifth place.
Jonah Bergeron of Oak Hill shot a 92 for a 22nd place tie, while teammate Cohen Donnell of finished in a tie for 25th with a 94. Gray-New Gloucester’s Campbell Macomber was 31st with a 103.
Jordan Laplume smiles as she hold the flag on the final hole. Laplume finished in second place. Cole Anderson won a share of the Class A title, with Anthony Burnham, at the state individual golf championships on Saturday at Natanis Golf Course in Vassalboro.
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