Course of legends

It wasn’t about their score.

It wasn’t about their placings.

The fact Mason Overstreet and Maddi Kamas were able to follow in the footsteps of golf’s legends last week was all that truly mattered to them.

Overstreet tied for fifth and Kamas placed third in their respective flights Monday at the Junior Master, an invitation-only event held at the historic Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa.

The course has hosted seven major championships and will be the site of the PGA Championship in 2030. It last hosted a major in 2007 when Tiger Woods won the PGA Championship.

“It was amazing to walk the same fairways as Tiger and Phil (Mickelson) and Nick Price and so many other great players,” said Overstreet, who shot a 5-over-par 76.

“The history at Southern Hills made the walk around so much more special as a reunion with the 12 guys that played that day.”

Overstreet played in the alumni division of the invitation-only tournament, which is the first of its kind.

It was created by the Southern Hills staff in conjunction with the Oklahoma Golf Association to provide a special event for some of the state’s top golfers who had their high school and collegiate seasons cut short by the coronavirus pandemic.

Southern Hills recently underwent an $11 million renovation.

“It was truly the most beautiful course I have ever seen and I am so grateful for the opportunity to play there regardless what I shot,” Kamas said. “It was unreal to think I was walking where Tiger Woods had once walked and won!”

The senior-to-be at Kingfisher High School shot a 12-over 83.

She was seven strokes back of girls division champ Raychel Nelke of Pocola. Brooklyn Benn of Edmond took runner-up with a 77.

Kamas shot four strokes better than Edmond’s Olivia Coit and Emily Miller, who tied for fourth.

“The greens were extremely tough, but if I would have hit more greens (in regulation), I think it would have helped my score a lot,” Kamas said.

Regardless, Kamas said she made sure to appreciate the day.

“I always kept a smile on my face during the round. I knew I wasn’t playing my best, but that didn’t stop me from laughing with my friends and smiling at my mistakes,” she said.

“I learned to enjoy the experience rather than be upset about my score.”

Overstreet, a 2016 KHS graduate, recently earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Arkansas, but will return to the Razorbacks next year after being granted an extra year of eligibility by the NCAA.

He was 5-over at the turn before rallying for birdies on the 10th, 11th and 13th holes.

However, Overstreet gave them back with three bogeys down the stretch.

“It was overall a tough day on a really difficult course, but I felt like my short game and irons kept me in the round and gave me an opportunity to sneak into the top-three at the end,” he said.

As it stood, Overstreet tied for fifth, but was just three strokes back of the University of Oklahoma’s Logan McAllister in the alumni division.

McAllister’s OU teammate Quade Cummins along with Oklahoma State’s Austin Eckroat and Grand Canyon State University’s Matthew Braley tied for second at 75.

Had he been more accurate off the tee, Overstreet felt he would have contended with McAllister.

“I drove it awful and playing from the rough out there is not good,” he said. “If I could have kept it in the fairway a little bit better, I would have had a chance coming up 18 to challenge Logan for the win.”

Drew Goodman of Christian Heritage Academy, who will be a senior this fall, won the boys division with an even-par 71, the lowest round of the day. Goodman is an OU commit.

Overstreet will compete beginning Monday in the three-day OGA Stroke Play Amateur at The Territory in Duncan.

After that, Overstreet will take three weeks off before competing for three straight weeks, culminating at the Western Amateur to be held July 27-Aug. 1 at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Ind.

Kamas isn’t slated to compete again until July 14- 15 when she will defend her crown at the 2020 WOGA Girls’ Junior State Championship at Broken Arrow’s Cedar Ridge Country Club.

She’s also one of just 21 girls selected to compete July 22-23 in the Texas Junior Golf Tour Elites Cup Invitational.

It will be played at TPC Four Seasons Las Colinas in Irving and has hosted the Byron Nelson tournament on the PGA Tour.

But, said Kamas, it will be tough to top what Southern Hills offered.

“I think Southern Hills did a great job of hosting the tournament and making it an amazing experience for the players,” she said.