Qualifying for 4th U.S. Junior Girls' Championship quite a feat for Maggio

Mary Michael Maggio of Conway may have done what no other Arkansas golfer has done.

Maggio, 17, who has committed to sign with LSU, qualified last week for her fourth United States Junior Girls' Championship. This reporter, who has followed Arkansas golf for nearly a quarter of a century, can't recall another to have done so. Some of the big names in Arkansas women's golf indicated to Maggio last week that they can't remember another one either.

"Once you get to the Junior, they give out a four-year plaque, and I sat there my first year in awe of those who were getting a four-year plaque," Maggio said. "That's been my goal."

She finished second in qualifying last week at Persimmon Ridge in St. Louis and will play at Hartford Golf Club in Connecticut July 21-26. Maggio reached the round of 16 last year.

"If I had never qualified, I wouldn't have been disappointed (to miss it), but it's the greatest tournament I've ever played in," she said. "You get there and it opens your eyes to how they treat you, and the golf course is unbelievable it's basically a Tour event for kids under 18.

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"If I'd never experienced it, I could've never been bummed about it, but after I did, I had to get back. The first year I went, it was fun; the second year I got some good experience, and last year I made a little noise. Now it's this year, and I think it's going to be a good one."

As of last week, Arkansas will have four golfers in the event, all from the 2009 class. Chelsey Cothren of Springdale won the Persimmon Ridge qualifier, Taylor Fisher of Hot Springs took second in the Arkansas qualifier and Haley Sanders of Rogers was exempt from qualifying after reaching the quarterfinals last year. Had Maggio won another match, she would have been exempt.

"Why make anything easy?" she said. "I'm glad I went to St. Louis to qualify. The course was set up so much like the Junior is going to be a long, hard course with fast greens, and the rough is going to be tough. It's good that I got to work on that."

Maggio left Sunday for the Rolex Tournament of Champions at Victoria National Golf Club in Newburgh, Ind. She'll play a practice round today. The field will be cut Wednesday after 36 holes for the final 36 Thursday and Friday.

Following that, she'll head to San Antonio to defend her title in the Valero Texas Junior Open at The Dominion Country Club July 7-10.

CAMPBELL REACHES THIRD ROUND

AT COTTON STATES

Conway's Jeff Campbell reached the third round of the W.E. Cole Cotton States Amateur Championship at Bayou DeSiard Country Club in Monroe, La., last week, falling to one of the co-medalists.

Campbell, who played at Baylor last year and will transfer to the University of Central Arkansas in the fall, tied for 13th in qualifying at 74-69143. He defeated Sean Burch in the first round, 4 and 3, and Luke Bleumink in the second, 2-up, before falling to Hudson Johnson, who plays for Vanderbilt, 4 and 2.

"He was seven-under through 16 holes and I was 3-under," Campbell said. "You can't do much about that."

Campbell has been working six days a week at The Aloatian Club outside Little Rock and said he hadn't had much practice time.

"I was a little rusty in the first round," he said. "Now I'm going to work a little bit, practice as much as I can, play the state match play and get ready for the fall."

He said he liked Baylor but didn't enjoy the golf and decided after the first semester he'd look to transfer. He considered Arkansas but decided to come home "primarily because of the two coaches."

He said of Ryke Dismuke and Jack O'Keefe, "It doesn't get much better than those two."

A sophomore finance major, he'll be eligible immediately.

Jason Cuthbertson of Conway shot 70-75145 in qualifying at the Cotton States and lost his first-round match to Trey Herring in 23 holes.

LOCALS IN U.S. KIDS QUALIFIER

Several Faulkner County youth will attempt to qualify for the U.S. Kids Golf World Championship in qualifying at Russellville Country Club on Tuesday.

Whit Parker of Conway has already qualified by winning a qualifier in New Orleans, but he has registered to play at Russellville. Other local boys in the field are Konner McEntire of Greenbrier, Cole Hoover and Jarrett Hoover of Conway in the 8-year-old division. McEntire finished fourth in the age group at Meadowlake Country Club in Memphis.

The girls field will include Lauren Chappell in the 9-year-old division, Casey Ott in the 8s and Olivia Parker in the 7-and-under. Parker finished second in her age group at Meadowlake, 54-54; Ott finished second in the Memphis qualifier. Her mother, Deanna Ott, said she thought Casey would receive an invitation to the national tournament because the girl who won had already qualified.

UPCOMING ASGA EVENTS

Up next on the Arkansas State Golf Association designated schedule is the Trusted Choice Big "I" State Championship (boys and girls) at RidgePointe CC in Jonesboro July 1-2; the Fourth of July Classic at War Memorial Park in Little Rock (amateurs, mid-seniors, seniors, super-seniors) July 4-6; the First Community Bank Junior Stroke (boys and girls) at The Course at River Oaks in Searcy July 7-8; the AWGA Junior Girls Stroke at Hot Springs CC July 8-9; the Conway CC Junior Stroke (boys and girls) July 10-11; the Lost Springs Men's Stroke (amateurs, mid-seniors, seniors, super-seniors) at Rogers July 12-13; the Indian Hills Men's Stroke (amateurs, mid-seniors, seniors, super-seniors) at Fairfield Bay also July 12-13; Ben I. Mayo Junior Stroke, Hardscrabble CC, Fort Smith, July 14-15; South Arkansas Junior Stroke, El Dorado CC, Lions Club GC in El Dorado, Camden CC, July 14-16; Chuck Morton Memorial Junior Stroke, Big Creek CC, Mountain Home, July 17-18; Ouachita Valley Invitational (amateurs, seniors, super-seniors), Camden CC, July 18-20; Tom Milliken Memorial Junior Stroke, Harrison CC, July 19-20; and Eagle Crest Men's Stroke (amateurs, mid-seniors, seniors, super-seniors), Alma, July 19-20.

See the ASGA's Web site at www.asga.org for entry information.

(Golf writer Donna Lampkin Stephens may be reached at donnaken@mac.com).