Barren County’s Lucy Zalla hits her ball towards the green on hole 2 during the City Junior Girls' Golf Championship at Paul Walker Golf Course on Wednesday, July 17, 2024. (Grace Ramey McDowell/grace.ramey@bgdailynews.com)

The list of overall winners for the Bowling Green City Girls’ Junior Championship has been pretty limited since the tournament’s inception in 2015.

South Warren’s Sydney McClanahan kept that list fairly exclusive, notching her third straight championship with an even-par 74 on Wednesday at Paul Walker Golf Course.

McClanahan joins South Warren alum Faith Martin as a three-time winner. Martin won her three straight from 2017-19. Kayla Meredith (2015), Lauren Holeman (2016) and Emma Harmon (2021) are the only other golfers to win the event in its brief history.

The 74 was five shots better than last year’s finish for McClanahan, who also took the top prize in the 17-18 age division.

“I didn’t have any expectations for today really,” McClanahan said. “I was just going to try my hardest and I am happy. I came out here last night because my chipping was bad in our qualifiers on Monday. I worked with my dad for like 10 or 15 minutes and we got everything worked out. That really saved me.”

McClanahan’s score was two shots better than teammate Elsie Espinola, who carded a 76 to finish second overall and win the 15-16 division.

“I haven’t played very well over the summer season, but all of a sudden a few days ago I have gone really low,” Espinola said. “I shot my career low yesterday. I feel a lot better now than I did about going into the season.”

McClanahan said she enjoyed getting to play in the same group with Espinola, a rarity with tournaments dividing teammates during the KHSAA season.

“It was really fun,” McClanahan said. “It was one of our qualifiers and I got to play with one of my best friends Elsie. It was one of the funniest rounds I have ever played, to be honest.

“She’s improved so much. I am really so proud of her. She did amazing today.”

Espinola said having McClanahan in her group was helpful.

“I like playing with Sydney because she kind of calms me down,” Espinola said. “I start to get anxious when I play – not today, but earlier in the season. She really helps me through that.”

Barren County’s Lucy Zalla shot a 78 to finish third overall, second in the 15-16 division. Bowling Green’s Caroline Childers (80) was third in the 15-16 division.

Briley Choate (90), who graduated from Warren East in May, finished second in the 17-18 division.

In the 12-14 division, Bowling Green’s Elizabeth Costellow was the winner with a 42. The division was reduced to nine holes due to weather, with some people still on the course at the time the event was halted.

Bowling Green’s Amy Tomblinson (47) finished second, with Warren East’s Mia Meador one shot behind in third.

Around 35 golfers participated in Wednesday’s event.

Wednesday’s tournament was an unofficial tune-up to the KHSAA season, which begins Monday.

McClanahan enters her final season looking to cap a career that has included two region titles and a region runner-up last year, as well as a top-10 finish in the 2022 state tournament. She said she is confident heading into this season.

“My main goal this season is to just have fun since it’s my last one,” McClanahan said. “I don’t really have any expectations, just fun.”

While Wednesday was a big step forward, Espinola said she still has work to do with her chipping and putting still not where she wants it to be.

“I missed a few putts today,” Espinola said. “There’s a few strokes I gave away that I could have done better on.”{&end}